The life of Mong people in Hang Kia and Pa Co communes of Mai Chau district has improved much thanks to tourism development.
Tourists visit the Mong ethnic market in Pa Co commune, Mai Chau district, Hoa Binh province.
The two communes usually become much busier on weekends when domestic and foreign tourists flock to experience and explore the local daily life.
Phang A Pao, a farmer in Cha Day hamlet, Pa Co commune, said that since 2017, his family and some households in the hamlet have combined agricultural production with community-based tourism development. Their daily life and production such as growing rice, harvesting Shan Tuyet tea, dyeing indigo, painting beeswax, and making paper are utilised and exploited as tourism products.
In the last few years, transport infrastructure in the two communes has been improved, creating favourable conditions for tourism development. Tourists can easily travel to destinations by motorbikes, cars or coaches. Other infrastructure of telecommunication, electricity, clean water has been improved too together with attention being paid to increase quality of human resources for tourism, and financial support for ethnic minority households. With the effective preservation of traditional cultural values and natural resources, the two communes have become attractive tourist destinations.
Cao Thu Ha, a tourist from Hanoi, shared that she has travelled to the communes five or six times. Ha said she enjoy going to the market with the Mong people, practicing beeswax painting, eating hot fried sticky rice cakes and watching the sunrise on the mountain.
There are more than ten homestays in Hang Kia and Pa Co communes. Tourism development has created jobs and sustainable livelihoods for hundreds of local labourers. In Hang Kia commune, a community-based cooperative has been established while in Pa Co commune, homestay services providers established an association to support each other.
Community-based tourism sites in the two communes welcome visitors all year round with the high season falling in summer, long holidays, new year celebration of the Mong people and Lunar New Year.
They are also focusing on exploiting new and attractive tourism products associated with ethnic cultural identity to attract tourists, such as Mong ethnic cultural exchange night market, cloud watching or night camping in Hang Kia.
According to Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Pa Co commune Phang A Song, the community-based tourism models have significantly changed the life of local Mong people. Tourism development not only helps increase income for local residents but also contributes to better protection of natural resources as people are aware of the importance of keeping forests and creating ecological landscapes. Local unique cultural features are promoted while people can better sell agricultural specialties and handicrafts.
The People’s Committee of Tan Lac district recently hosted a cultural, sports and tourism festival of local highland communes and a ceremony to receive the Heritage Tree designation.
Hien Luong commune in Da Bac district is blessed with beautiful landscapes, thanks to its location besides a vast, picturesque reservoir with clear waters year-round. This natural advantage has allowed the local ethnic minorities to develop sustainable tourism, becoming a community tourism destination.
The 2024 Tour Guide Competition was held in the framework of the Hoa Binh Provincial Culture and Tourism Week, bringing together 13 contestants from seven districts and cities to celebrate the vital role of tour guides as cultural ambassadors.
Nature has generously endowed Hien Luong Commune (Da Bac district) with many beautiful landscapes, including the vast and poetic lake area, with clear blue water all year round. These conditions are favorable for the ethnic minority communities here to develop a sustainable economy and establish community tourism destinations.
