Agritourism - a sustainable direction for Nghe An tourism

From the red land of Phu Quy

Agritourism(also known as agricultural tourism) has been formed and developed in European countries for a long time, followed by some Asian countries such as Japan, Korea and India. In Vietnam, in recent years, agricultural tourism has also begun to develop in some localities such as Lam Dong, Quang Nam and the provinces of the Mekong Delta.

Tourists come to enjoy the flower fields in Nghia Dan district (2019). Photo: Sach Nguyen

Considered a "miniature Vietnam", Nghe An has a lot of potential to develop.tourism developmentwith all types: Culture - spirituality, sea - resort, ecology, community. And speaking of the potential of agricultural tourism, this land has a great premise from the agriculture that was exploited and formed thousands of years ago and is still maintained, expanded in scale, and improved in quality today.

On these cool autumn days, Mr. Le Dai Loc, owner of Phu Quy flower valley in Nam Kim hamlet, Nghia Long commune (Nghia Dan) is actively taking care of the flower beds to serve tourists. It is expected that in about a month, buckwheat flowers, daisies and butterflies will bloom, welcoming visitors from near and far to enjoy and explore.

Tourists frolic among the blooming spring flowers in Nghia Dan district. Photo: Sach Nguyen

Mr. Loc's flower valley has a poetic landscape, and is located next to Ho Chi Minh road, so it will certainly "attract" many people to stop and admire the scenery. This is the third season that Phu Quy flower valley has been put into operation and served tourism needs. Since the end of 2018, many people have known and come to Phu Quy land to admire the beauty of the vast flower fields, stretching seemingly endlessly.

This year, according to Mr. Loc,flower fieldThere will be many new flowers blooming in late autumn and early winter and the redesign will surprise visitors. Coming here, visitors will have an interesting experience, immerse themselves in the beautiful scenery and have unique check-in photos, recording memorable moments on the journey.

Charming spring flower fields in Nghia Dan. Photo: Sach Nguyen

Also in late autumn and early winter, the sunflower field of TH Company in Nghia Dan will bloom bright yellow all over the area. In recent years, the vast flower fields - the food source for dairy cows when in full bloom - have attracted tens of thousands of tourists to come here to enjoy. Not only local people, visitors from neighboring provinces, even Hanoi also come to Phu Quy land during this time.

The beauty of the sunflower field in Nghia Dan has contributed to the tourism brand of Nghe An. Photo: Sach Nguyen

The sunflower field in Nghia Dan has attracted hundreds of thousands of tourists to admire. Photo: Sach Nguyen

It can be said that the beauty of the sunflower field has contributed to the brand of Nghe An tourism, creating an increasingly widespread spread. This year, to prepare to welcome and serve tourists, the owner of the flower field is also focusing on taking care of, expanding the scale of planting and repairing the roads to facilitate the travel and admiration of tourists.

Phu Quy is a fertile land with favorable conditions for agricultural development. Along with the fields and valleys of flowers blooming, there are also farms and orange and grapefruit gardens in Quy Hop, Nghia Dan and Thai Hoa town. These fruit gardens have recently attracted many visitors to enjoy the flavors, experience the care, harvesting and processing processes to grasp the value of labor, and more deeply, the cultural layers hidden in rural life.

To the life and scenery of the countryside

Not only Phu Quy area, many other rural areas in Nghe An also have great potential for developing agricultural tourism. Recently, not only Nghe An people but also almost all over the country, including foreign tourists have come to Thanh An commune (Thanh Chuong) to visit the tea island.

Tea Island (Thanh Chuong) is known to many tourists for its majestic and poetic beauty. Photo: Sach Nguyen

There are nearly 300 hectares of tea hills surrounded by 80 hectares of water, creating a beautiful landscape that is both majestic and poetic, yet equally romantic. The magnificence of the landscape is created by the hands of the simple farmers who dig the land to plant tea on the hills and build dams to retain water.

Tourists have been coming to the tea island for about 5 years, in all seasons to sightsee, cruise, enjoy the products and experience the production and processing of this raw material plant. Having visited the tea island, Mr. Nguyen Cong Tuong, a tourist in Hanoi, shared: “The tea island in Thanh Chuong is truly an attractive and unique destination, the result of the labor of Nghe An farmers, contributing to protecting the ecological environment and developing tourism”.

Tourists visit the tea island (Thanh Chuong). Photo: Nguyen Sach

There are also other agricultural tourism destinations that are in the process of being formed and developed, such as the Homestay model in Kim Lien (Nam Dan) with fruit gardens and cool lotus ponds. Here, 4 families are piloting a community tourism model based on gardens, lotus ponds and standard accommodation. There have been tourists coming to experience the space and life in Uncle Ho's hometown, a locality that meets the standards.new rural model.

Lotus in Kim Lien commune is preserved and processed into goods. Photo courtesy of Thanh Le

The vast orange farms in Dong Thanh commune (Yen Thanh), tea hills in Hung Son (Anh Son), bamboo forests in Chau Khe (Con Cuong) and dozens of craft villages in the area are also being built into tourist destinations. Soon, tourists from all over will come to the countryside of Nghe An to immerse themselves in the beautiful scenery, enjoy the products, experience life and cultural values ​​that have been cultivated for thousands of years.

Open sustainable direction

Mr. Nguyen Manh Cuong - Director of the Department of Tourism said that due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic re-emerging since the beginning of August, it is estimated that in September 2020, the total number of tourists is estimated to reach 137,000, of which about 125,000 are staying guests (equal to 43% compared to September 2019). Total revenue from tourists is estimated at 221 billion VND, of which tourism revenue is estimated at 116 billion VND (equal to 48% compared to September 2019).

In total, in 9 months, the number of visitors is estimated at nearly 2.86 million (equal to 49% compared to the same period in 2019); total revenue from tourists is VND 3,841 billion, of which tourism revenue is estimated at VND 2,092 billion (equal to 48% compared to the same period in 2019). Up to now, the epidemic situation has had positive changes.

The countryside in Kim Lien commune (Nam Dan) has been inviting tourists. Photo: Sach Nguyen

Furthermore, during the two Covid-19 outbreaks, Nghe An had no cases of infection, and tourist destinations remained safe for domestic visitors in the remaining months of 2020. Therefore, the Department of Tourism is preparing to restart tourism stimulus, both to meet the needs of the people and to target revenue expectations for the tourism industry. The focus of the stimulus activitiesstimulus is tourismagriculture, towards the countryside. Currently, the tourism industry is directing destinations to ensure security, order and traffic safety so that tourists always feel secure and excited.

“Agricultural tourism is a type of tourism that not only brings economic benefits to farmers, but also plays a huge role in preserving the countryside landscape, preserving the cultural identity of the homeland, increasing income for farmers right on their homeland, creating unique, attractive and highly competitive tourism products.”

Mr. Nguyen Manh Cuong - Director of Nghe An Department of Tourism

And to promote efficiency, the tourism industry is focusing on proposing mechanisms and policies for agricultural tourism, improving the quality of agricultural tourism by attracting investment capital, upgrading infrastructure, training human resources, strengthening management, promoting and introducing products, finding markets, etc.

In Nghe An, there are many orange farms that can develop agricultural tourism. Photo: Sach Nguyen

Currently, a number of agricultural tourism models have been proposed to exploit, develop and build into tours and routes. A typical model is the model of experiencing high-tech agricultural products in Nghia Dan district along the Ho Chi Minh route: visiting the farm model of FVF Clean Vegetable Company combined with visiting flower hills. The model of visiting Sen Cooperative in Uncle Ho's hometown, visiting the fruit garden in Kim Lien (Nam Dan) combined with exploring the tea island (Thanh Chuong). The agricultural tourism model in Pha village, Yen Khe commune associated with orange products, connecting with bamboo forests and bamboo handicraft processing in Chau Khe (Con Cuong)...

A corner of Sen Village, Kim Lien Commune (Nam Dan) - the hometown of President Ho Chi Minh. Photo courtesy of Sach Nguyen

In the Message of World Tourism Day 2020 (September 27), Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Zurab Pololikashvili affirmed:“Putting rural development at the heart of tourism policies through education, investment, innovation and technology can transform the livelihoods of millions of people, protecting our environment and culture”.

Tourists who need to learn more information about destinations and tours, agricultural tourism routes in Nghe An can contact the Travel Management Department, Nghe An Department of Tourism at phone number 0931.363768 (MR Chung) for support and advice.