Taking advantage of its scenic rural villages and vast rice fields, Duy Xuyen district in Quang Nam province is developing community ecotourism. The model is creating jobs and boosting local incomes.
Tra Nhieu ecotourism village attracts crowds of tourists.
Located five kilometers from Hoi An city and 30 kilometers from Da Nang city, Tra Nhieu ecotourism village in Duy Xuyen district has 10 hectares of nipa palm forest and unique handicrafts.
Pham Minh Tam, owner of the Co Mot basket boat facility in Duy Vinh commune, has been offering his service for seven years. On peak days, Tam takes as many as 100 tourists, mainly foreigners, on a tour of nipa palm forest and net fishing. He has 15 basket boats and many employees.
Tam said that they serve lunch to the tourists and then go boating to the forest, adding, “Two guests can share a basket boat for 4 dollars. The lunch costs extra and the price depends on the menu requested by the customer. We hope more tourists will come.”
After returning from a training source in Japan, Tran Thi Ngoc Trang of Duy Thanh commune, Duy Xuyen district, renovated her family garden, dug ponds to grow pink lotus, built bamboo bridges to raise fish, and developed ecotourism.
In addition to organizing tours of her lotus pond, Trang has planted other flower species and created beautiful miniature landscapes where visitors can take “check-in” photos. Trang says the ecotourism area is open to all free of charge. Food is available at a reasonable price.
“Visitors to our farm can play in an amusement area under the coconut trees and go for a boat ride on the lotus pond. This model has created jobs and a good income for many people,” said Trang.
In Duy Xinh commune, Le Thi Thanh Nga has rented a 2-hectare fallow field next to an old brick kiln to grow black rice using organic farming methods. After lots of high-yield harvests, Nga expanded the rice cultivation area to 5 hectares. Nga’s farm supplies to the market 30 tons of black rice per year and other products.
200 tourists a day buy her black rice products and try their hand at cultivating rice, picking vegetables, and cooking and eating the local dishes, according to Nga.
She recalled, “I began doing agricultural tourism in 2019 because I wanted to increase the value of my agricultural products. Combining farming with tourism is the key to agricultural exports. This effective model needs to be replicated. Many young people come here to study my model.”
Visitors are served with local dishes when visiting Tra Nhieu ecotourism village.
25 households in Duy Xuyen district are engaged in agricultural tourism and ecotourism, creating jobs and boosting local incomes. Phan Xuan Canh, Chairman of the district People's Committee, says Duy Xuyen has adopted policies to help people do tourism, train them to serve customers, and take them to other localities to study new models.
According to Canh, “Localities need to combine agricultural production with tourism services to increase farmers’ incomes. Tra Dong village, for example, has adopted a fruit tree growing model which attracts agricultural tourists.”
Ho Quang Buu, Deputy Chairman of the Quang Nam provincial People's Committee, says Duy Xuyen’s ecotourism models have diversified tourism products and linked tourism and culture. He told, “Community tourism, ecotourism, and household tourism are some of the models we are using to attract more visitors. We have intended to attract investment from businesses, first by streamlining administrative procedures, and second by land clearance and linking the lowlands and the mountains.”
Duy Xuyen farmers are now both producers and tour guides. With the support of local authorities, they’re creating new tourism products, finding new ways to attract visitors, and improving their service quality in the hope of making Duy Xuyen a popular tourist destination.
Tuyet Le
