A myriad of difficulties

Realising that Son Dong district has huge potential to develop community-based tourism, in 2014, the provincial People's Committee issued a project on community-based tourism development in Bac Giang province in the 2014-2020 period. 

The provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism organizes a survey at the Khe Ro tourist area in An Lac commune (Son Dong district) in May 2019.

The investment capital was estimated at over 41 billion VND (1.76 million USD), with 20 billion VND coming from the state budget and the rest from social sources.

From the support sources, An Lac commune has built a community house; households have been equipped with winter blankets, mosquito-nets, televisions, disc readers, sound amplifiers, and toilets... 

At the same time, the commune has developed thee websites to promote tourism and improve professional activities, and organized training courses and experience-learning trips for participating households.

An Lac commune ever received the support of non-governmental organizations to develop community-based tourism, but the maintenance and enhancement of the efficiency of this model face many difficulties.

At present, there remains only the An Lac Community-based Tourism Cooperative, which was established in 2012. From 20 members, now the cooperative has only 5 member households. Because the cooperative does not have enough accommodation conditions, tourists only come and leave in the day.

Since the beginning of this year, the Khe Ro tourist area (An Lac) has welcomed about 5,000 visitors. The number of tourists increased over the years but they were mostly domestic holidaymakers, with few days of stay and low spending. 

The main reasons are inconvenient roads and lack of typical tourism products. Most of the units operating in the field of tourism in the province are currently small in scale and have not yet developed inner-province tours.

People are organizers

To change that situation, since early September 2018, three households including: Vu Ngoc Huan, Nguyen Van Tu and Dang Thi Hien (all are Tay ethnic people, and members of the cooperative) in Na O village have invested in upgrading facilities and preparing accommodation conditions to serve tourists.

Da Nang tourists experience then singing and dan tinh (handmade gourd lute) performance at Vu Ngoc Huan's family in Na O village, An Lac commune (Son Dong district).

Huan borrowed more than 900 million VND (38,650 USD) to build houses, parking area and green campus, and upgrade toilets. The works are expected to be completed in July 2019, meeting the accommodation needs of 30-40 tourists at the same time.

Vu Ngoc Huan, Director of An Lac Community-based Tourism Cooperative, said that the cooperative still maintains the activities of the then singing and dan tinh (handmade gourd lute) performance team, provide locals with skills to receive tourists, and persuade them to preserve the typical language and clothes of the Tay ethnic group.

Tran Van Dung, Deputy Director of the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said: "In the coming time, the department will advise the provincial People's Committee to build a more systematic tourism plan with solutions to turn the local cultural strengths into specific tourism products. It will provide support through organizing training courses on skills to host tourists, and guiding people how to ensure the quality of catering, accommodation and entertainment services to meet demand and lure visitors back. The agency will also coordinate with the Son Dong district People's Committee to promote and introduce specialty products".

In particular, the households themselves also need skills to host visitors, prepare dishes and introduce local cuisine. To make community-based tourism really sustainable, the local Party Committees and authorities, as well as relevant departments and agencies need to survey and evaluate fully and in detail the potential and strengths; and connect tours and tourism routes suitably. 

Based on that, they should build a tourist plan and map, and launch more reasonable support policies to call for investment.

Suoi Mo temple festival - an attractive destination

(BGO) – The Suoi Mo eco-tourism area in Nghia Phuong commune (Luc Nam district, Bac Giang province) is an attractive address that lures tourists near and far, especially during the Suoi Mo temple festival (from the 30th day of the third lunar month to the first day of the fourth lunar month).

 

Turning Bac Giang an attractive, safe destination

(BGO) – After the Tay Yen Tu Spring Festival and the Culture-Tourism Week themed "Exploring the sacred land of Tay Yen Tu" concluded, Bac Giang newspaper’s reporters had an interview with Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Le Anh Duong, who was head of the organizing board.

 

Suoi Mo – famous destination in Tay Yen Tu

(BGO) – Vuc Mo (Mo Canyon) is the old name for the whole complex of Suoi Mo (Mo Spring) landscape and relic site located at the present Nghia Phuong commune, Luc Nam district, Bac Giang province. 

 

Attractive destinations on spiritual road

(BGO) – Owning transport and geological advantages, the northern province of Bac Giang converges three traits of delta, middle and mountainous area. Particularly, the highland of Son Dong district is well-known for its spectacular ranges of mountain, charming landscapes with numerous natural waterfall and primitive forests …which are the potentials for tourism development. 

 

Luc Nam: Impressive destination on journey to Tay Yen Tu

(BGO)- In response to the Launching Ceremony of the Spring Festival and Culture- Tourism Week  2019 themed “Discovering the holy land Tay Yen Tu” of Bac Giang province, Luc Nam district is preparing for the event with many new and interesting contents. Nguyen Duc Toan, Permanent Vice Chairman of the People’s Committee of Luc Nam district, Head of the organization board for the festivals of the district provides readers with more details on this issue.

 

Tuyet Mai