Peaceful Ta So village, Chieng Hac commune, Moc Chau district, Son La province. Photo: Phuong Lien

Ta So community tourism village, Chieng Hac commune is likened to a plateau on Moc Chau plateau, Son La province. This place is an emerging destination attracting tourists because of the majestic beauty bestowed by Mother Nature and the unique cultural identity of nearly 200 households and 1,200 Mong people. Having gone through many ups and downs with the times, the Mong people here still preserve the original culture and unique traditional customs of their people. Ta So village also makes tourists admire and admire the diligence and creativity of the Mong people here when they are the owners who create majestic terraced fields, pure white plum blossom gardens in spring, and rammed earth houses all built according to a traditional model.

Like many other rural areas, in the past, the Mong people in Ta So only knew how to rely on a plum harvest to earn extra money to cover their living expenses. Now it is different. The plum trees are still there, but they no longer only function to harvest fruit. Experiencing the plum blossom season when spring comes is becoming an interesting tourism product for visitors. Ta So brings visitors unforgettable impressions when they get lost in the plum blossom season, sit at the weaving loom themselves, embroider brocade products, enjoy Mong dishes, and sleep in the rammed earth houses of the people. Mr. Mua A Hang, a son of Ta So village, happily said that when tourists come to the village, people will take advantage of the free time to increase their income. Therefore, everyone wants to contribute to preserving the natural scenery and traditional culture of the Mong people to attract more tourists to the village.

Ta So village is one of about 300 community tourism villages in Vietnam - according to the estimated data of the General Department of Tourism. Vietnam also has about 5,000 homestays. Most of the tourist villages and homestays are in ethnic minority and mountainous areas - areas with the richest community tourism resources in our country. Community tourism is a type of tourism based on community resources, with the community actively participating in building management products and for the benefit of the community. According to a study by Dr. Tran Huu Son, Director of the Institute of Applied Folk Culture Research, community tourism has contributed to poverty reduction, creating new sources of livelihood for people in the highlands. In community tourism spots in Sa Pa (Lao Cai), the rate of poverty reduction is 3 times faster than in villages without tourism.

Unique national cultural identity is a very important factor for tourism development (In the photo: The shoe-embroidering profession of the Xa Phang people in Then Pa village, Sa Long commune, Muong Cha district, Dien Bien province). Photo: Phuong Lien

Discussing the experience of preserving and promoting the value of traditional cultural heritage associated with tourism development in Lao Cai province, Ms. Giang Thi Dung, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, said that with the motto of taking ethnic culture as the foundation and guideline for creating strengths and tourism products, at the same time, linking tourism exploitation with preserving the culture of ethnic minorities to attract tourists, since 1998, on the basis of piloting two community tourism models associated with hunger eradication and poverty reduction in Ban Den village, Ban Ho commune and Cat Cat village, San Sa Ho commune (Sa Pa), the province has expanded the community tourism model to other localities and is the pioneer in launching the initiative of "turning heritage into assets".

In addition, Lao Cai province has also actively preserved the cultural space of the typical ancient village of Cat Cat of the Mong people in San Sa Ho; Sa Chen village of the Red Dao people in Ta Phin commune; Ban Den village of the Tay people in Ban Ho commune; Trung Do village of the Tay people in Bao Nhai commune, Bac Ha district; and the traditional cultural village of the Ha Nhin people in Choan Then village, Y Ty commune, Bat Xat district. Lao Cai's creative approach is based on exploiting the strengths of cultural tourism and scenic spots to become unique and quality tourism products.

The potential and benefits are like that, but the problem now is that the majority of people are doing spontaneous tourism, so they really need to be trained in standard knowledge, skills in providing tourism services, communication attitudes, and measures to ensure security and safety for tourists - Mr. Nguyen Trung Khanh, Director of the National Tourism Administration, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism expressed his opinion.

Developing community tourism in ethnic minority areas is an important driving force for building new rural areas, contributing to promoting socio-economic development. However, to develop sustainable community tourism, localities must promote the cultural identity of ethnic groups to build tourism products with specific characteristics, suitable for each region, with planning and selection, attractive to each type of tourist. No one else but the ethnic minorities themselves must be responsible for preserving their cultural identity, because this is the potential for tourism development - according to Ms. Le Thi Thanh Hoa, Vice President and General Secretary of the Vietnam Community Tourism Association.

To put it simply, people must preserve traditional crafts, preserve intangible cultural treasures such as cuisine, folk art, folk games, folk beliefs... as well as beautiful natural landscapes, and house architecture with their own ethnic characteristics. In addition, people need to research and develop experiential programs such as stream fishing competitions, casting nets, catching pond fish, participating in brocade weaving, cooking... to create unique and different products to attract and retain tourists to their villages, thereby generating income for themselves. For tourism to develop sustainably, it is necessary to preserve and promote the value of traditional cultural heritage and need the active participation of ethnic minority communities.

According to: bienphong.com.vn