Homestay - tourist highlight of Western Nghe An.

(Baonghean) - On this occasion, when coming to the Western region of Nghe An, tourists will experience a completely new and interesting type of tourism: community accommodation, also known as "homestay". Tourists rest and live at the homes of local people and explore the local cultural life and cuisine with them.

Tourists take a boat trip on the Giang River.

Try being a local

The meeting atmosphere of Ms. Lo Thi Hoa's family (Nua village, Yen Khe commune, Con Cuong district) these days is more bustling than usual because of the presence of guests from many different countries. They are Japanese experts from Nghi Son Refinery (Thanh Hoa), American teachers in Nghe An, Korean students, some Vietnamese tourists and interpreters. Everyone comes here with the common purpose of exploring the beauty of the Western region of Nghe An, and enjoys experiencing community tourism (also known as homestay) with Ms. Hoa's family.

Enjoy a meal with Thai specialties.

The first time experiencing a “homestay” in Western Nghe An, Duong Thu Phuong (22 years old, Hanoi) said: “The three days staying with Hoa’s family were very interesting. We got to wear Thai dresses, weave brocade scarves, and practice cooking some traditional dishes such as mooc, sticky rice, grilled fish… just like a real Thai girl. I also did not forget to buy some handmade textile products as gifts.”

For foreign guests, cultural differences are no longer a barrier when they are mentally prepared to "when in Rome, do as the Romans do". Mr. Hiroshi Akiya (Japan) shared his impressions of the custom of sleeping together on wooden floors. Akiya said: "The custom of Thai people here is to sleep on the floor. At first, we were a bit shy because we were not used to it, but we wanted to blend in with the local people's life, so we slept together. The floor was not as cold as I thought because the host had prepared cotton mattresses, warm and clean blankets. I had a good sleep."

Tourists watch Thai ethnic women weaving brocade.

As for Alex Gentry's group (USA), what they enjoyed most was dancing the Lam Vong, drinking Can wine and dancing with Thai women. Alex said: "The word 'happiness' is the only word to describe my special feelings. The people are very friendly and hospitable, the Thai folk music club invited us to participate in the performances with innocence and passion. They wanted us to feel and love the culture of that community, not for commercial reasons."

Potential tourism type

Mr. Nguyen Xuan Nam (Head of the Culture Department of Con Cuong district) said: “Ecotourism combined with community accommodation is a special type of tourism, bringing many benefits that the district is promoting and calling for investment. Currently, Con Cuong district is coordinating with the implementation of the Japanese Jica Project to select and train human resources from households to replicate the “homestay” model, increasing livelihoods and income for people”.

Immerse yourself in the cultural and artistic activities of the people.

According to Mr. Nguyen Xuan Nam, on February 29, experts from the Jica Project conducted interviews and selections to train cooking and performing groups and households capable of providing “homestay” services. The selected households must meet the requirements of the environment, living facilities, and especially the skills of the household owner in welcoming and serving tourists.

Like Ms. Hoa's family, after being selected, they participated in many local training courses, and also visited and learned about the community tourism model in Lac village, Mai Chau district, Hoa Binh province. Wishing to serve customers more effectively, her family renovated the resting area, made it more airy and clean, and planted more trees.

Ms. Hoa said: “This is the first step of implementing a “homestay”, so we are still in the process of perfecting, from the attitude towards guests to the facilities and the quality of meals. Most of the guests who stop here have good feedback. I am confident that in the future we will welcome many groups of guests and receive satisfaction from them.”

In general, the implementation of community tourism projects still faces some limitations such as: information on tourist destinations and routes has not been widely promoted; traffic planning on tourist routes is still inconvenient; the general awareness of "doing tourism" among households in areas with homestay families is not uniform; foreign language ability of local people is still limited, etc.

Therefore, in order for this form of tourism to develop into a complete tourism product, there needs to be synchronous participation in propaganda work, investment in improving accommodation quality, upgrading infrastructure systems, training local human resources, and strengthening security and environmental work.

Hoang Van