Welcoming guests home to 'do' tourism in Con Cuong

(Baonghean) - By exploiting potential advantages to develop tourism, the lives of households doing homestay tourism in Con Cuong district are better off thanks to revenue from activities serving tourists.

This is a fairly sustainable direction in tourism development in this mountainous district of Nghe An.

Nua Village, Yen Khe Commune is the leading Thai village implementing the community tourism model in Con Cuong District; currently there are 3 households providing homestay services - serving the needs of eating and staying on-site of tourists in their clean and spacious stilt houses.

Coming here, in addition to enjoying local dishes and enjoying performances by artisans of the local folk song and dance club, visitors also have the opportunity to visit the traditional weaving craft, buy handmade souvenirs such as handbags, brocade wallets, ethnic clothes...

Ms. Lo Thi Hoa in Nua village, Yen Khe commune (Con Cuong) prepares to welcome guests staying at her house. Photo: Hanh Hau

In 2016, the homestay group in Con Cuong alone welcomed 900 domestic and foreign visitors. This year, by mid-September, there were more than 1,200 visitors to this service.

Tourists choose which homestay to stay in, that homestay will take care of their food and accommodation. If the group is large, they will share with other homestays. The culinary team will take care of food and drinks, and the folk music group will take care of singing and dancing. The sisters advise each other to divide the work, work together, and enjoy together.

Ms. Vi Thi Mo, a member of the Nua village community tourism team, shared: “In the past, the economy depended entirely on farming. Every time I needed money to pay my children's school fees or pay the electricity bill, I had to borrow money or sell 2-3 chickens. But since I joined the tourism industry, I have an income of about 3 million VND per month, enough to cover expenses.... Working in tourism not only gives me a stable income but also allows me to meet many domestic and foreign tourists, learn many things, and introduce the cultural features of my people."

Tourists using homestay services in Con Cuong district. Photo: Hanh Hau

Since working in tourism, the lives of the members have improved significantly. Ms. Vi Thi Hoa, the team leader, has also renovated a house with an area of ​​nearly 100 square meters to serve guests. Each guest staying overnight costs 60,000 VND, and during peak times, 20-30 guests stay at the family's house.

Ms. Lo Thi Hoa - head of the community tourism group in Nua village, Yen Khe commune said: "Participating in tourism under the homestay model has helped my family earn an income of 70 - 80 million VND/year, higher than previous agricultural production. Currently, in the village, there are more households learning to do homestay.

"We are happy and always support because if more households in the village do tourism, the village will be more beautiful, tourism will be better. More visitors will come, the villagers will have income and be happy" - Ms. Hoa added.

Attractive Thai dishes served by skillful women at Homestay locations. Photo: Hanh Hau

Currently, Con Cuong district has 4 community tourism sites in operation, which are: Khe Ran village, Bong Khe commune; Nua village, Pha village, Yen Khe commune and Xieng village, Mon Son commune. The community tourism sites in operation have contributed to helping local people promote the potential and existing strengths of the locality, promote economic development, and increase family income.

Mr. Nguyen Xuan Nam - Head of the Department of Culture of Con Cuong district emphasized: "The model of community cultural tourism village is an advantage of Con Cuong district. Hopefully, the authorities at all levels and functional sectors will have more appropriate mechanisms and policies to encourage people to actively participate in tourism activities, so that tourism business becomes a main occupation of the ethnic people here."

Minh Hanh - Ba Hau