Con Cuong develops eco-community tourism

(Baonghean) -When mentioning Con Cuong (Nghe An), visitors from near and far often think of Pu Mat National Park, a majestic and poetic landscape with the specialty dish "Muong Qua rice, Giang river fish" that has been passed down for generations. In particular, UNESCO has recently officially recognized the Western Nghe An World Biosphere Reserve, of which Pu Mat National Park is the central area. This is an opportunity for Con Cuong district to promote the development of tourism potential.

For a long time, tourists have been coming to Con Cuong to explore beautiful landscapes such as Khe Kem waterfall, Pha Lai dam, Giang river and other rare species. It is easy to see that the tours to explore Pu Mat, the duration of the tours here are all no more than one day.

Partly because of the lack of accommodation facilities, partly because “there is nothing more to explore” as a tourist from Hanoi said. Objectively speaking, it is true that tourists come to Pu Mat just to visit a few scenic spots, see some animals, bathe in Khe Kem waterfall and cool off at Pha Lai dam, which is considered the end of the tour.

Many tourists want to cruise along the Giang River to enjoy the majestic and poetic beauty of the great forest landscape, to the source of the river to explore the life of the Dan Lai ethnic group, but when they see the simple wooden boats, they are hesitant. Some tourists want to stay in the Mon Son - Luc Da area to learn about the customs and cultural identity of the Thai ethnic group, but do not know how to contact them...

Faced with the above reality, local authorities are accelerating the planning and construction of infrastructure systems to serve the needs of accommodation, entertainment and exploration of tourists. The current trend of tourism development is to combine eco-tourism - community and spiritual tourism. That is, in addition to protecting scenic spots and rare species, it is necessary to promote the preservation of ethnic cultural identities, while at the same time carrying out the restoration, embellishment and reconstruction of the system of cultural and spiritual works.

Muong Qua area (Mon Son and Luc Da communes) is a long-standing residence of the Thai ethnic people. This is a fairly large and fertile basin, the people here still preserve some of the traditional cultural beauty. From wedding customs, festivals, costumes to smooth, profound folk songs are still cared for and preserved by the people.

In previous years, in Con Cuong, a number of Thai Folk Song and Musical Instrument Clubs have been established with the aim of preserving the ethnic musical identity and implementing the construction of a number of purely Thai cultural villages with the aim of preserving the Thai cultural space.

At the same time, the brocade weaving craft of Thai women has also been initially revived in Con Cuong. These are favorable conditions for combining the development of community tourism. As mentioned, Muong Qua is an ancient land, the elders said that there used to be many sacred temples here, associated with legends about the people who opened the village, established the village and protected the people from natural disasters and invaders. After the ups and downs of history, these temples no longer exist. It can be said that learning, researching and restoring spiritual cultural works is necessary, first of all to educate about traditions and also as a "destination" for tourists.

Con Cuong district is forming tours for tourists to both explore the natural beauty and learn about life and customs through organizing exchanges with Folk Song - Ethnic Musical Instrument Clubs and brocade weaving villages, while restoring spiritual and cultural works so that tourists have the opportunity to find out about the traditions and origins of local culture and satisfy their spiritual needs.

Cong Kien