Exploiting tourism potential: Must start from small things

(Baonghean) - Considered a locality with potential for tourism development, especially eco-tourism and community tourism, however, in Con Cuong district, the exploitation of these potentials is still limited.

Over the past 10 years, some scenic spots in the border district of Con Cuong have formed some quite attractive tourist destinations. Although they are not big and famous tourist destinations, the tourist destinations in Con Cuong have their own strengths that other places do not have or have been lost, which are the pristine nature, fresh environment and above all, the simplicity and sincerity of the people here, the village still retains the traditional stilt houses. Here, there are some community tourist destinations that have also received certain investment attention from the local government. In addition, historical relics such as Ma Nhai stele from the Tran Dynasty, the historical relic of the house of Mr. Vi Van Khang, the first secretary of the Party Cell of Mon Son commune since 1931 are also quite impressive destinations for those who love to learn about history.

Khe Nuoc Moc in tourist season.

However, there is one thing that we have mentioned many times, that is, the exploitation of tourism potential in Con Cuong is still not effective. To find out part of the cause of this problem, we have penetrated the reality at some tourist spots in Con Cuong, listening to the feelings of tourists and people working in tourism in some villages.

The tourist season is approaching, tourists have started to look for "cooling off" spots such as Nuoc Moc stream in Tan Huong village (Yen Khe), Pha Lai dam (Mon Son), Kem waterfall (Luc Da)... Among these tourist spots, on hot days, people really like to go to Nuoc Moc stream. From early afternoon, there are quite a lot of people and vehicles. The most crowded are still school-age children. After school, children from the outer areas such as Con Cuong town, Bong Khe commune, Chi Khe often come here to cool off. Here, we met Mr. Nguyen Dinh Quang (Nghi Thai - Nghi Loc), when he first came to Nuoc Moc stream. Before that, he had read about tourist spots in Con Cuong on the internet and then went there. Mr. Quang said that he had a hard time finding this cool stream. He expressed regret: "If only people had posted a sign, for example how many kilometers to Nuoc Moc stream, or how many kilometers to Kem waterfall, it would have been so convenient. But there isn't even a simple sign like that?"

Another tourist, Vu The Nam (Dien Bich - Dien Chau), shared that he has been to Nuoc Moc stream many times, including times when the stream had not been built with concrete around it like it is now. According to him, this way of construction has destroyed the natural beauty of the stream. “I do not oppose the construction and opening of services at tourist attractions because it is necessary to attract people. But concrete is already hard, if we build it with a hard mindset, it will destroy the natural beauty that it has,” said Nam.

Wine festival in Nua village.

Back to Nua village, a quite famous community tourism spot in the Southwest of Nghe An. Here, there is a Thai Folk Song Club, a weaving group... always ready to serve tourists when requested. The village also has 2 families opening a service to welcome guests, including the family of Mr. Vi Van Thu. He said that in 2015, he welcomed 2 groups of tourists from Japan, they were quite satisfied with the tourism products in the village such as stilt houses, Thai folk songs. However, tourists also feel inconvenienced because the auxiliary works are separate from the accommodation, and there are no hot and cold bathrooms or air conditioning.

Currently, Con Cuong district has built a tourism development project until 2020 with strategic plans. However, there are things that seem quite small, such as signs for tourist attractions, or investing in developing a reception point at the local people's house instead of building a motel for tourist attractions as well as equipping people with skills to do community tourism, but have not been focused on.

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