The Long Thuy community tourism project in An Phu commune (Tuy Hoa city, Phu Yen province) started in December 2023 and has now completed 2/3 of the journey. However, there are still many things to do here. One of them is to rearrange production, renovate the landscape space, etc.
The fishing festival - one of the traditional festivals in Long Thuy will be an important part of community tourism activities
Community tourism is a very familiar model and has been successfully implemented in many localities inside and outside the province. The Long Thuy community tourism model focuses on the unique values of a suburban fishing village. That is to revive the art of singing of ‘lang’, ‘ho ba trao’, develop the traditional fishing festival of ‘Lang Ong Nam Hai’, improve traditional production associated with the profession of making fish sauce, going to sea, making shrimp paste, dried fish, etc.
According to Meritorious Artist Nguyen Trong Tich, the singing team of ‘lang’, ‘ho ba trao’ in Long Thuy village has been restored with the participation of 30 students and villagers. This is very important in maintaining and developing traditional arts in Long Thuy fishing village in particular, and in the central coastal provinces in general. The singing of ‘lang’, ‘ho ba trao’ is not only a form of folk entertainment, but also a spiritual and religious activity of coastal people.
Sea products are indispensable in coastal villages, one of which is fish sauce. The characteristic of Long Thuy fish sauce is its brown color, light taste, and mild aroma. Ms. Tran Thi Tu Ha, Vice Chairman of An Phu Communal People's Committee, said: The village has 67 households making fish sauce. In 2023, Long Thuy fish sauce production village was recognized as a traditional craft village. From here, the village has added 4 other fish sauce products with OCOP certification, associated with the province's famous fish sauce brands, namely Ngan My A, Hai Phuoc, and Hong Gia Phuc.
The locality has currently selected 5 large-scale fish sauce production households to participate in the fish sauce making experience to serve tourists when coming to Long Thuy. These households will receive financial support from the project to complete the production process and strengthen the infrastructure suitable for welcoming tourists.
The Hai Phuoc fish sauce production household owner, Mr. Truong Ba Hung shared: Currently, my family's production facility is still small, and the equipment is also rudimentary. To improve, I am learning from the experience of some fish sauce villages that do community tourism. I am also trying to find more investment sources to replace cement fish sauce tanks with wooden or ceramic barrels to both ensure aesthetics and make the fish sauce more delicious and fragrant. Only then will visitors feel excited and assured about the quality of the products.
Mr Nguyen Anh Quyen, a tourist from Thanh Hoa province, shared: Long Thuy beach is picturesque, clear, wild and clean. Coming to the fish sauce village, right from the entrance, the fish sauce has a strong, attractive aroma. However, I feel a bit regretful because the road is still narrow and there are no directions. If the wire mesh fences were replaced with stones or corals, it would be even more beautiful. Many households making fish sauce here still ferment in plastic barrels and concrete tanks, so it is still lacking in aesthetics. Many recreational activities to experience the sea such as going on coracles, motorboats or diving are not available yet, etc.
The locality hopes to soon put the infrastructure into use so that the model can operate soon, contributing to creating more livelihoods for the people. Mr. Nguyen Minh Giac, Chairman of An Phu Communal People's Committee, said: Regarding infrastructure, there are still some items that have not been implemented such as renovating, repairing and restoring the Lang Ong relic; building a pier; OCOP product display points at rest stops, etc. Complete infrastructure will help the locality form a tourism space.
Working with the An Phu Communal People's Committee, the Secretary of Tuy Hoa City Party Committee, Mr. Huynh Lu Tan emphasized: In addition to the infrastructure items of the project that will be implemented soon, the City People's Council has just approved the expansion of the 30m road from National Highway 1 to Long Thuy village (south of Sao Viet tourism area). From here, not only will Long Thuy tourism spot be formed in the city's entire tourism map system, but also step by step complete and upgrade An Phu commune to become a ward in the roadmap to upgrade Tuy Hoa urban area.
For the Long Thuy village community tourism model, the locality needs to realize that Long Thuy people are the decisive factor for success. People need to rearrange production in a modern direction, eliminate fragmented and small-scale thinking, but must link together, share production experiences and consumption markets to push craft village products further. In addition to fish sauce products, people need to expand other products such as dried fish, shrimp paste, etc.
Translated by Trinh Thuy