Community Tourism promotion. Why not?

What a pity that community tourism has not developed in Khanh Hoa Province...

Community tourism can be developed in coastal areas in Khanh Hoa.

There is the fact that no new tourism products have been created these days. Community tourism or community-based tourism needs to be a strategic trend, helping to diversify tourism products as well as create more income for local people. Community tourism can also contribute to the promotion of cultural preservation.

Community tourism is a form of tourism which include and benefit local communities. In recent years, community tourism has begun to develop in Vietnam. There are many types of community tourism giving local people a fair share of the profits .The most popular kind is perhaps the so-called home stay in Lat Village (Mai Chau, Hoa Binh) and Sapa (Lao Cai). The villagers might host tourists in their village, managing the scheme communally and sharing the profits.

What a pity that community tourism has not developed in Khanh Hoa Province, which is rich in sea tourism potentials with a great variety of recreational activities, including sight-seeing and diving tours to contemplate coral reefs, etc. A question has been raised over whether Khanh Hoa is suitable for developing such kind of tourism.

Khanh Hoa seems to miss chances to develop community tourism. Customs, traditions and festivals of the locals living in fishing villages stretching from Van Ninh to Cam Ranh can be promoted to develop community tourism, including the home stay on islands. Tourists can stay with coastal villagers in the villages of Vinh Luong, Bich Dam, Tri Nguyen, Binh Ba, etc. and thus they will have a chance learn about the locals’ daily life, their fishing practices and handicraft using shells.

Nguyen Van Thanh, Director of Khanh Hoa Tourism Promotion Center said, “Khanh Hoa has favorable conditions for community tourism development in coastal areas. Cooperation among local authorities, tourism agencies and locals is required to achieve satisfactory results.” An official of the Department of Culture, Sport & Tourism added, “Sustainable tourism must give a fair share of profits back to the local community.”

Besides investments in resorts, Khanh Hoa needs to focus on community tourism, which can be successful only with the cooperation between local authorities and residents through women’s associations, farmers’ associations and professional groups. Hopefully, community tourism initiatives will achieve great success in Khanh Hoa in the time to come.

Nhu Thao