Economic prospects from community tourism development model

(Baothanhhoa.vn) - With the advantage of natural landscapes and many unique features in production, daily life and cuisine of local ethnic minorities, in recent years, Lap Thang village, Thach Lap commune (Ngoc Lac), now the new Thach Lap commune, has become an attractive community tourism destination, attracting a large number of domestic and foreign tourists. The new step in tourism development has created jobs and increased income for the people.

Tourists visit the silkworm farming process in Lap Thang village, Thach Lap commune.

Lap Thang village has 143 households of the Muong ethnic minority. Local people still preserve many unique features in production and daily life, such as living in stilt houses, weaving brocade, basket weaving, and mulberry cultivation and silkworm farming. In 2021, when the People's Committee of Ngoc Lac district (formerly) developed the Project "Preservation and Development of Traditional Stilt Houses of the Muong Ethnic Minority Associated with Community Tourism Development giai đoạn 2021-2025", it opened up a new economic development direction for the local people. Accordingly, in Lap Thang village, 4 households received support of 20 million VND/household to renovate gardens, fences, restore and renovate stilt houses and auxiliary structures according to standards for community tourism, and about 40 households proactively renovated and beautified their houses and grounds to serve tourists.

The family of Ms. Pham Thi Vinh, owner of Hich Homestay, is one of the pioneering households in community-based tourism in Lap Thang village. With support for renovating and upgrading their stilt house and grounds, as well as training in community-based tourism, Ms. Vinh's family can now serve approximately 80 guests with meals and 30 with accommodation. Although only operating for nearly two years, the development of community-based tourism has helped her family achieve a stable income and improve their quality of life. Ms. Vinh said: "Since participating in community-based tourism development, my family has proactively invested in and improved facilities, beautifying the grounds to meet the requirements for accommodation and food services. At the same time, participating in tourism training courses has improved the quality of service, leading to an increasing number of visitors and positive feedback about the establishment. As a result, our family's income has increased, and we have also developed a supply chain for agricultural products and local specialties for the people."

The people of Lap Thang village are mainly of the Muong ethnic group, living in traditional stilt houses. This is a long-standing and unique cultural feature that attracts tourists. Ms. Pham Thi Chien, director of Thach Lap Agricultural and Tourism Cooperative, said: "To develop community tourism, local people have renovated and preserved traditional stilt houses and maintained and promoted unique traditional activities such as brocade weaving, mulberry cultivation and silkworm rearing, basket weaving, etc., to create a distinctive and unique character for the village. In addition, households wishing to develop community tourism have linked up and established cooperatives with production groups such as food supply groups, basket weaving groups, brocade weaving groups, performing arts groups, tour guide groups, service groups, etc., to ensure proactive management in all aspects of tourism development."

The Thach Lap Agricultural and Tourism Cooperative was established in 2024 with 5 official members to support, share experiences, and link local households to participate in the development, supply, and service of community-based tourism. After just over a year of development, the cooperative has made significant progress and attracted nearly 300 additional members, divided into product groups serving community tourism. In particular, the cooperative has gradually revived traditional crafts such as mulberry cultivation, silkworm rearing, silk reeling and weaving, and rattan and bamboo weaving – crafts that were thought to be dying out in the locality. The preservation and development of brocade weaving has created a highlight and established a unique character in tourism development.

Mr. Pham Van Ruong, from Lap Thang village, said: "The rattan and bamboo weaving craft has been associated with my family for over 30 years. It had been inactive for a while, but when the local area developed tourism and we recognized the demand from tourists for exploration, experiences, and product use, we resumed the craft. Besides supplying products to accommodation establishments in the area, my family also participates in welcoming some tourist groups to visit and experience the weaving craft... Through participating in tourism development, we not only preserve the craft but also develop the economy from it."

According to statistics from the People's Committee of Thach Lap commune, from the end of 2021 to the present, nearly 90 tourist groups have visited Lap Thang village, with over 3,000 visitors. Total revenue from tourism services is approximately 400 million VND. Although this figure is quite small, it is a significant motivation, encouraging the people of Lap Thang village to continue investing in community tourism development. In particular, to create more unique tourism products to attract visitors, the Thach Lap Agricultural and Tourism Service Cooperative has introduced a night market operating every Saturday in Lap Thang village to showcase and promote the beauty of local culture, arts, and specialties. Furthermore, connecting and linking tourist attractions such as Hich Hill, Quan Cave, Gio Cave, Hon Ke, etc., will open up more prospects for Lap Thang village to attract more tourists to the area.

Although community-based tourism development is still relatively new, it is believed that Thach Lap commune in general, and Lap Thang village in particular, will exploit its potential in the right direction, so that the beauty and uniqueness of the local nature and people can be spread; contributing to helping the people here develop their economy and improve their quality of life.

Article and photos: Thanh Hoa

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/trien-vong-kinh-te-tu-mo-hinh-phat-trien-du-lich-cong-dong-253875.htm