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Driven by a desire to develop tourism, especially after entrepreneurs had already explored the potential and some families in Ngoi Tu village had successfully established tourism businesses, in 2012, young Pham Van Dai invested in renovating his family's stilt house to create a community-based tourism destination. Benefiting from a stunning natural landscape – a lush, century-old palm grove, bamboo hills behind the house, and free-range chickens providing a source of fresh, locally sourced food – Dai's Homestay House Vu Linh Palm is verdant and picturesque. During the dry season, fragrant rice paddies stretch out before the house; during the rainy season, guests can enjoy the breeze and water of Thac Ba Lake from the bungalows. The peaceful and idyllic countryside, coupled with the friendliness and hospitality of this young couple, has instilled a positive impression of Yen Bai and its people. As a result, many domestic and international tourists regularly book tours each year to return to this homestay.
The pretty Dao girl, Ban Thi Chung - Dai's wife - confided: "Our family's homestay currently has one communal stilt house and eight bungalows serving tourists in groups - mainly domestic and individual foreign tourists. Many people in this area are involved in tourism, and many homestays have been built with modern facilities, but my husband and I have decided not to follow that path. Instead, we will preserve and beautify the existing landscape, using it as a foundation for developing experiential tourism. I believe that with experiential tourism, the most important thing is the friendly service style and attitude so that both guests and hosts have the best experience when living together in the space of the family community and the village community.”
It is from this same philosophy that Vu Linh Palm's services are highly appreciated by tourists. On average, Vu Linh Palm House Homestay welcomes about 1,000 tourists each year, mainly vacationers, with up to 70% being foreign visitors. Almost every day, Vu Linh Palm has guests. Homestay House Vu Linh Palm is always willing to share guests with other homestays in the village to jointly develop services to best meet the needs of tourists. It is known that before Vu Linh Palm owned by Pham Van Dai, there were families with long-standing tourism businesses in Ngoi Tu such as the families of Mr. Tuong Van Thanh, Mr. Tuong Van Boi, Ms. Trieu Thi Hong, and the Vu Linh Family Homestay model of Ly Thi Sam Sung...
In Vu Linh commune, over 70% of the population are ethnic minorities, mainly Tay, Dao, and Cao Lan people. The commune has 16 households engaged in tourism businesses and 20 households meeting tourism standards. Of these, Ngoi Tu village, with nearly 160 households, has 15 involved in tourism. Chairman of the Vu Linh Commune People's Committee, Tran Van Hien, stated: "Resolution 10, followed by Resolution 81 of the Provincial People's Council, has issued many policies supporting tourism development, along with support policies from the district. These have facilitated numerous training courses and guidance sessions to help people in the commune, especially in Ngoi Tu village, develop community tourism. Vu Linh tourism is gradually becoming known to many foreign and domestic tourists through experiential tourism linked with sharing and assistance. Ngoi Tu tourism has seen village-to-village and regional linkages to develop more professionally."
Currently, establishments and homestays in the area have actively collaborated and built information channels on social media platforms such as Facebook, Zalo, and YouTube to guide, promote, and interact with customers. As a result, most bookings and payments are done online. Undeniably, tourism has contributed to creating many jobs, not only for tourism businesses and families involved in tourism, but also for a significant number of seasonal workers in the locality; it also encourages the consumption of agricultural products and clean food for local people. Although there are no specific statistics, it is certain that the income of households involved in tourism in the area will be significantly higher than that of households engaged in purely agricultural production. By the end of 2024, the average income of people in the commune is expected to reach 56 million VND, with a significant contribution from tourism.
Looking at the potential, advantages, and realities of community-based tourism in Vu Linh, the concerns of local leaders regarding environmental sanitation are noteworthy. The linkages in community-based tourism development need to focus on common benefits and a positive image of the community. Achieving this requires not only the efforts of the local government but also the self-awareness, sense of responsibility, and participation of each citizen. The expectation is that the development of community-based tourism will also motivate the people of Vu Linh to improve their awareness of preserving cultural identity and building a brighter, greener, cleaner, and more beautiful living environment each day, so that Ngoi Tu - Vu Linh can soon become a tourist village in the near future.
Minh Thuy
Source: https://baoyenbai.com.vn/226/347927/Vu-Linh-phat-develop-community-tourism.aspx
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