Building ancient Muong village into OCOP product

People of Luy Ai hamlet, Phong Phu commune (Tan Lac) introduce traditional brocade products.

Luy Ai hamlet is one of 20 typical traditional villages of ethnic minorities that have been invested in by the State to preserve and restore. More than 10 years ago (2009), the project "Preserving and restoring typical traditional villages of the Muong ethnic group" in Luy Ai hamlet was implemented, with the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism as the investor. In 2014, the provincial People's Committee recognized Luy Ai hamlet as a community tourism destination. After more than ten years of tourism development, in recent years, the hamlet has changed. The village roads are increasingly wider, the stilt houses are renovated and restored to be cleaner and more beautiful. However, that change does not correspond to the hamlet's potential, as well as the expectations of tourists for an ancient Muong village.

This was also agreed by Comrade Cao Ba Chinh, Chairman of Phong Phu Commune People's Committee: Luy Ai Hamlet has a very favorable location for developing community tourism. The Hamlet has beautiful landscapes, many ancient stilt houses are preserved. The Hamlet is also located near National Highway 6, a transit point with famous community tourism villages such as Lac Village of Mai Chau District, or Mu Waterfall of Lac Son District. However, due to difficulties in investment capital, along with the mentality of still waiting for the State, so far, Luy Ai Hamlet community tourism has not yet made a breakthrough. In the OCOP Program, the commune has selected Luy Ai Hamlet community tourism products to widely promote, as well as improve the quality of tourism products, to meet the needs of tourists and increase income for the people.

In Luy Ai hamlet, Mr. Dinh Cong Lon's family is one of the first households to do tourism. The stilt house of Mr. Lon's family, over 30 years old, has been renovated and renovated, but still retains the traditional features of the ancient stilt house of the Muong people. To serve tourists, Mr. Lon's family invested in building clean outbuildings, digging ponds to raise fish, and growing vegetables to ensure adequate supply of clean food on site. Since 2016, the number of visitors has gradually increased, helping his family have a stable monthly income. However, according to Mr. Lon, the development of community tourism by the people has encountered many difficulties. That is the difficulty in infrastructure serving tourism, when it was not until 2019 that the hamlet invested in hardening some traffic roads, before that, the hamlet invested in building a cultural house, and households were supported in building toilets. Image promotion has not been done regularly, so despite favorable geographical conditions, the number of visitors to Ai hamlet is still modest.

Sharing about Luy Ai hamlet being selected by the commune to build OCOP products, Mr. Lon was excited but also expressed many concerns: "Although it is a community tourism hamlet, in reality, many children in the hamlet have to go far away to work, only a few households have a stable source of income thanks to tourism. Participating in OCOP is a very good opportunity to improve the quality of the hamlet's tourism products. We will continue to restore and promote the cultural and culinary values ​​of the Muong ethnic group. At the same time, we hope to receive more attention and support from authorities at all levels in promoting the image of the hamlet. As well as guiding tourism skills, training us in English to better serve foreign visitors".

To develop the ancient Muong village into an OCOP product, Comrade Cao Ba Chinh, Chairman of Phong Phu Commune People's Committee, said: The commune will direct the responsible officials to closely follow the locality, grasp the thoughts and aspirations of the people, and guide them to achieve OCOP standards. At the same time, promote the restoration of local specialties to create a local supply source for tourism development, so that visitors to Phong Phu commune can enjoy the products made by the people themselves.

Source: https://baodantoc.vn/xay-dung-lang-muong-co-thanh-san-pham-ocop-1744338713614.htm