Unleashing the potential of rural tourism in Thanh Chuong

Thanh Chuong has Ho Chi Minh Road passing through 11 communes. National Highway 46 and other routes have connected Thanh Chuong with tourist destinations from Thanh Thuy - Nam On Border Gate of Laos to Kim Lien Special National Relic Site (Nam Dan), through Vinh city and Cua Lo town. With these advantages, Thanh Chuong is veryhas potential for developmentTourism - Service industry.

Tea Island in Thanh An Commune (Thanh Chuong). Photo: Huy Thu

Thanh Chuong is famous for its rich historical, cultural, patriotic and studious traditions. The district has a rich system of historical and cultural relics with 66 national and provincial historical relics; 244 relics have been reviewed by the province.

The procession of gods in Bach Ma Temple Festival.. Photo: Trung Ha

Bach Ma Temple was recognized as a national historical and cultural relic by the Ministry of Culture and Information (now the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) on March 24, 1994. Bach Ma Temple has become a spiritual and cultural site with great potential for exploiting unique local tourism. The traditional Bach Ma Temple Festival is held from the 9th to the 10th of the second lunar month every year. Every year, it attracts 30,000 - 60,000 people and tourists from all over the world to worship.

Thanh Chuong's terrain is complex, with many hills, mountains, rivers and streams. These characteristics have created a Thanh Chuong with mixed difficulties and advantages in socio-economic development, but also many beautiful landscapes and landscapes that captivate people's hearts.

Cau Cau Irrigation Dam in Thanh An Commune is a symbol of the combination of human labor with majestic mountains and rivers. In 2017, Cau Cau Dam was known by a new name, spreading throughout the country, which is “Tea Island”. In 2018, “Tea Island” welcomed more than 15,000 visitors.

Experiencing new rural agricultural products is a trend attracting visitors in Thanh Chuong district. Photo: Huy Thu

Not far from Che Island, there is Liep Waterfall, which is often mentioned on the online community. The story of the "Liep Waterfall Fairy" waiting for her lover to turn into the sweet Ly stream in the remote land of Thanh Son commune has attracted thousands of young couples here. In the summer, every day, Liep Waterfall welcomes no less than 300 people and tourists to bathe and experience. The culinary service with the unique features of the Thai people, although still simple, has brought visitors interesting experiences. Liep Waterfall ecological area is like a "sleeping girl in the forest" that has just been awakened, carrying the dream of brightening up the border area with the unique culinary culture of the Thai Nam Non people.

Besides Che Island and Liep Waterfall, Thanh Chuong also has many famous landscapes and scenic spots that have not been invested in and exploited, such as: Mua Waterfall in Thanh Son Commune, Coi Waterfall, Cay Tram Waterfall in Thanh Ha Commune, Song Ro Dam in Thanh Thuy Commune... potential that needs to be awakened and invested in.

“Ecotourism associated with agriculture and rural areas” is a new concept when the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism built the Project “Developing rural tourism associated with building new rural areas”. The trend of experiential and educational tourism has become popular in many provinces and cities across the country. Typical tourism products include: Visiting Duong Lam ancient village (Hanoi); visiting tea hills and dairy farms in Moc Chau Farm (Son La); enjoying terraced fields in the ripe rice season in Mu Cang Chai (Yen Bai), Sa Pa (Lao Cai)... which have brought stable income to farmers and businesses and contributed significantly to the local economy.

Canola flower fields in Thanh Long commune (Thanh Chuong) attract tourists. Photo: Sach Nguyen

Thanh Chuong is a district with strong agricultural economy. Therefore, tourism products are alsoassociated with agriculture, indigenous rural areas, such as jackfruit, canarium, hill chicken. Canarium and canarium are produced in many establishments supplying domestic and foreign markets. Brands such as "Lieu Van Canarium", "Hieu Thuan Canarium" in Thanh Chuong town, "Ba Que Canarium" in Hanh Lam, "Trong Anh Canarium" in Thanh Luong commune and many other small establishments are gradually becoming known to consumers. Chicken farms and households raising chickens in Thanh An, Thanh Thuy, Thanh Xuan, Thanh Phong, Cat Van communes, etc. are bringing the collective brand "Thanh Chuong Chicken" with quite impressive restaurant chains across the country. The product "Thanh Chuong Hill Chicken" is being favored by customers on the menu at luxury restaurants.

If taking the eco-tourism site of Tea Island as the center, visitors can come to experience the process of making and processing “Nhut Ba Que” located on the Ho Chi Minh road, not far from Tea Island and Tong Doi oranges. From here, visitors can visit the clean tea production model, enjoy local green tea products, especially enjoy the “Che dam” product of the Thai people in the two communes of Thanh Son and Ngoc Lam.

Thanh Chuong Orange is as famous as Vinh Orange or Huong Son Orange of Ha Tinh. The special thing is thatclean orange productsby people and units taking care of oranges using the "Covering" method to replace pesticides during the orange fruiting season. This method has become an innovative model that needs to be replicated in agriculture.

Oranges hanging from mosquito nets in Thanh Duc commune. Photo: Huu Thinh

In a survey conducted by the Central Steering Committee for New Rural Areas in November 2020 in Thanh Chuong, experts highly appreciated the "Chain of agricultural and rural tourism destinations of Dao Che - Thac Liep - Nhut Mit - Clean Oranges" of the district. However, the Central Steering Committee for New Rural Areas also pointed out that there are not many areas with sufficient conditions for professional exploitation. Tourism activities are spontaneous and small-scale. The locality does not have a strategic project to chain tourism products. Agricultural tourism products are not really attractive to tourists and have not focused on branding. Most farmers are only familiar with agricultural production and do not have enough skills to serve tourists professionally. Some "agricultural tourism products" are still very simple, not taking advantage of the advantages to attract visitors, as well as increase spending capacity from tourists. These are the core issues that Thanh Chuong district needs to focus on solving.

Delegates learn about the black canarium processing process. Photo: Mai Hoa

With the shortcut, the project "Developing rural tourism associated with building new rural areas", it is hoped that the Party Committee and the government will soon direct the relevant agencies to conduct an assessment of the current situation, thereby proposing solutions, mechanisms and policies to create development momentum for Thanh Chuong rural tourism to promote the advantages of agriculture and rural areas, build a tourism value chain to contribute to achieving the national goal ofnew rural developmentsustainable in the next stages.