Need to awaken the tourism potential of Western Nghe An

(Baonghean) - Western Nghe An includes 10 districts and 1 town, with an area of ​​1.4 million hectares, accounting for 84% of the province's total land area. The population is 1,153,933 people, including 440,000 ethnic minorities. This is a region with great potential for community tourism development (DLCĐ). Western Nghe An is one of the core areas of natural heritage with conservation areas: Pu Mat National Park with 2,494 species of plants, 1,781 species of animals; Pu Hoat Conservation Area with 763 species of plants, 184 species of animals; Pu Huong Conservation Area with 1,122 species of plants, 362 species of animals and majestic natural landscapes such as Sao Va Waterfall, Khe Kem, Giang River, ... are destinations for tourists to visit, admire and research.

Western Cuisine Competition. Photo: Sy Minh

Being a land with many historical, cultural relics, archaeological sites: Vac village relic - a national archaeological relic; Tham Om cave, Bua cave (Quy Chau) are both natural landscapes and historical relics; Western Nghe An is also a land of cultural diversity with many traditional cultural and artistic forms: Bamboo dance, Xoe dance of the Thai ethnic group; Panpipe dance of the Mong ethnic group; "Suoi, Lam, Khap" dance of the Thai people; Tom singing of the Kho Mu ethnic group; ... have become cultural activities with unique characteristics of the ethnic groups in Western Nghe An. Customs, practices and festivals are very diverse and rich, imbued with folk culture: Vac village festival in Nghia Hoa commune (Thai Hoa town); Chin Gian temple festival in Que Phong; Bua cave festival in Quy Chau; Muong Ngam festival in Quy Hop ...

Western Nghe An has Kinh, Thai, Tho, Kho Mu, Mong ethnic groups... with abundant human resources, most of the people are very hospitable, friendly, and open. According to the survey results of the Project "Developing community tourism associated with hunger eradication and poverty reduction in Western Nghe An": 93% of the people surveyed affirmed that they like tourists to visit their community, 99.4% affirmed that they support investment in developing community tourism in the locality; 98.8% want tourists to visit their houses and 96.9% want tourists to stay at their houses. When learning about tourists through the survey, 65.2% said that the attitude of the people is friendly and open to visitors. The above results, along with the potential of natural resources and human resources, are important foundations in building community tourism in Western Nghe An.

In recent years, implementing tourism development and community tourism in Western Nghe An, the Western districts and Nghe An Tourism Promotion Center have built a number of community tourism model sites such as Yen Thanh village, Nua village, Xieng village (Con Cuong district), Hoa Tien village (Quy Chau district) and tourist routes connecting regional and provincial tourist sites. Despite certain efforts, the number of visitors to community tourism sites in Western Nghe An in recent years has been very low, tourism revenue is very low, contributing insignificantly to the community's income. In 2009, Yen Thanh village had 126 visitors, with revenue of 40 million VND; in 2010, there were 127 visitors, with revenue of 39 million VND; in 2011, there were 108 visitors, with revenue of 32 million VND. Through sociological investigation, the length of stay of guests is very low: 1 day stay 43%; 2-3 days 21.7%; over 3 days 14.3% (percentage of total survey sample).

The causes of the above situation must first be mentioned as the quality of local labor resources has not met the needs of tourists; lack of investment capital, lack of connection in the direction of departments and branches; lack of initial support projects on community tourism for people... To fully exploit the potential for community tourism development in Western Nghe An, contributing to hunger eradication, poverty reduction, increasing income for the community and localities, first of all, it is necessary to develop a plan for community tourism development in the entire Western Nghe An area.

With its potential, Western Nghe An can develop many types of tourism such as: Ecotourism associated with natural potential such as Pu Mat National Park, nature reserves...; Adventure tourism, Travel tourism. In which, it is necessary to clearly identify community tourism as a type of tourism associated with the community, solving jobs and income for the community. Second, build a tourist market strategy and solutions to attract visitors. It is necessary to segment tourists in Western Nghe An: ecological research tours, research on humanistic tourism resources, focusing on customs, practices, festivals, community tourism, exploration... Third, increase support for the community to develop tourism, create local human resources in tourism services. The Western Nghe An region is still facing many difficulties. In order to develop community tourism, it is necessary to support infrastructure to serve people's lives and tourism, improve the intellectual level of the people, especially the professional level in tourism, support the community with basic facilities and equipment in terms of tourism techniques to create initial conditions to serve tourists. Fourthly, enhance the cultural values ​​of the community through the preservation and embellishment of the human resources of the ethnic community, the cultural identity of the ethnic groups, ensuring the sustainability of community tourism development. Fifthly, socialize investment in community tourism: call for investment capital from businesses, international tour groups and local authorities. Integrate policies on hunger eradication and poverty reduction in community tourism development. Sixthly, continue to promote propaganda work on community tourism in the Western Nghe An region on a regular basis, both in the province, domestically, regionally and internationally.

With the great potential of Western Nghe An, developing community-based tourism contributes significantly to improving people's lives and developing the local economy. The relevant agencies need to really get involved to create all conditions for Western Nghe An to develop community-based tourism in the coming time, contributing to hunger eradication, poverty reduction, and sustainable socio-economic development of Nghe An.

Quoc Minh