With a rich history of traditional culture, ethnic groups in Da Bac district, Hoa Binh province still retain their own cultural identity values such as dialect languages, traditional festivals, costumes, among others. These are favourable conditions for the locals to preserve, conserve and promote traditional cultural values while building attractive and diverse tourism products to attract tourists and bolster local socio-economic development.
Tourists in costumes of Dao ethnic people in Cao Son
commune, Da Bac district.
Sung hamlet, Cao Son commune is one of hamlets that keeps almost intact the
lifestyle, customs, and cultural identity of local Dao Tien ethnic group in Da
Bac. Dialect language, food and handicraft trades have been preserved and
maintained in their daily life.
Since tourism has been promoted in the locality, local Dao ethnic people have
selected some handicraft trades to develop them into tourism products such as
brocade weaving.
Residents in Sung hamlet have invested in building a spacious hamlet while
maintaining a clean landscape and environment over the years. Homestays are
well-invested, and more services have been introduced to meet the sightseeing
and relaxation demand of tourists.
In recent times, the hamlet has restored the craft of making Do paper, helping
tourists to learn and understand about the trade while contributing to
increasing incomes for local ethnic residents.
In addition, folk dances, such as bell, sword and lantern dances, and some
unique rites in ritual ceremonies or the use of khen (panpipe) music
instrument, among others have been added in art programmes to serve tourists.
Ban Kim Quy, Vice Chairman of the Da Bac District People's Committee, said
thanks to the promotion of traditional folk materials, art performances have
received warm response from tourists. Community-based tourism has been formed
and developed, attracting many tourists every year, contributing to poverty
reduction, and improving the locals' life.
In community-based tourism sites in the district, in addtion to promoting
traditional materials to develop tourism products, more attention has been paid
to the practice ofcultural heritage in the community toward sustainable
tourism development.
National cultural identity has become resources for community-based tourism
development. On the contrary, the more tourism develops, the more people are
encouraged to preserve their traditional cultural heritage, she added.
In the first 9 months of 2024, Hoa Binh province continues to implement the expanded tourism development cooperation program plan of 8 Northwest provinces with Ho Chi Minh City; deploying digital transformation content in tourism and developing a smart tourism province. Hoa Binh province received about 3.6 million views, an increase of 7.9% over the same period. In which, international visitors are about 380 visitors, domestic visitors are estimated at 3 million 220 visitors.
Spanning thousands of hectares and winding gracefully along mountain slopes, hillsides, and riverbanks, the terraced rice fields of Lac Son District present a stunning and captivating beauty. This region, renowned for its remarkable terraced landscapes, is also the centre of Hoa Binh Culture known for numerous archaeological sites.
The life of Mong people in Hang Kia and Pa Co communes of Mai Chau district has improved much thanks to tourism development.
The man-made Hoa Binh Lake, with a water surface area of approximately 9,000 hectares and a capacity of 9.45 billion cubic meters, stretches over 200 kilometers from Hoa Binh to Son La provinces. With the goal of developing into a national tourism area, the Hoa Binh Lake tourism area is expected to not only become the largest tourism centre in the province but also one of the 12 key tourist destinations in the northern midland and mountainous region of Vietnam.
Da Bia hamlet, now Duc Phong, in Tien Phong commune, Da Bac district, was once almost isolated from the outside as the only way to the hamlet was to get a boat ride across the Hoa Binh reservoir. However, as its tourism potential has been unleashed, the hamlet has established itself as one of the most attractive destinations on the tourism map. It has even received the ASEAN Community-Based Tourism Awards in 2019.
In the first 9 months of 2024, Mai Chau district, Hoa Binh province welcomed over 684 thousand visitors to visit and relax. In which, over 516 thousand domestic visitors and more than 168 thousand international visitors. Total revenue from tourism is estimated at over 821 billion VND.