Khanh Hoa Province’s People's Committee has approved a development plan for community-based tourism areas by 2025.
LOCAL FESTIVAL: Visitors take part in the Thap Ba (Ponagar) Tower Festival 2022 in Nha Trang of Khanh Hoa Province. — VNA/VNS Photo Tien Minh
The province will spend VND8 billion (US$343,465) to build new community-based tourism areas in suburban, rural and mountainous areas.
It will also focus on developing more community-based tourism products to attract more visitors.
Le Huu Hoang, deputy chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, said: “Khanh Hoa has the potential to develop community-based tourism.”
Hoang added the rural and mountainous areas in the province were home to ethic minority groups who were preserving and promoting traditional cultural identities such as costumes, living habits, food, festivals, folk music, song and dance, and handicrafts.
In addition, the province also has beautiful natural landscapes such as river, lakes, streams, waterfalls and lagoons which were favourable to developing tourism activities involving the local community and nature such as eco-tourism, adventure tourism, heritage tourism and agricultural tourism, he added.
Under the plan, Khanh Hoa will subsidise VND15 million ($643) for each community-based area to renovate its facilities, and VND40 million ($1,700) to develop new tourism products and services.
The province will provide VND100 million ($4,300) per year for each district to offer training courses for individuals and households, and to promote its tourism products among travel agencies and tourists.
Khanh Hoa has only two community-based tourism programmes, in Ninh Van Commune of Ninh Hoa District and Dien Xuan Commune of Dien Khanh District.
The programme in Ninh Van highlights on historical relics and local cuisine long with with working garlic fields.
In Dien Xuan, the Nhan Tam Ecotourism Service Limited Company is cooperating with 20 farming households to launch agricultural tourism to introduce local fruit specialties.
HISTORIC RELIC: About 10km from Nha Trang, Dien Khanh Old Citadel, which was built in 1793 in Dien Khanh District, is one of the most famous historical and cultural relic sites of Khanh Hoa Province. — VNA/VNS Photo Phan Sau
Apart from islands and seas, the province has many historical and cultural relic sites such as Thap Ba (Ponagar) Tower and Dien Khanh Old Citadel, famous institutes such as Institute of Oceanography and Pasteur Institute in Nha Trang, and traditional festivals such as Nghinh Ong Festival, Thap Ba Festival, and Bo ma (leaving tomb), the biggest festival of the Raglai ethnic community, which has been recognised as national intangible cultural heritage.
Hoang said: ”Although the province has strong advantages in developing community-based tourism, the sector has developed slowly for years.”
He mentioned that the province still had weaknesses in management in agencies and localities, a shortage of attractive tourism products and human resources, and poor infrastructure and services.
“The new community-based tourism plan is expected to attract more tourists who will stay longer in the province,” Hoang said.
During 2016-2019, the province welcomed a total of more than 23 million visitors, but only 100,000 visitors participated in community-based tourism each year.
Annual revenue from community-based tourism between 2016-2019 was only VND2.5 billion ($107,243).
