Rural and agricultural tourism includes activities revolving around agriculture, farmers and rural landscapes. This type of tourism provides comprehensive, attractive, entertaining and educational experiences and is a popular trend. This type of tourism has appeared in Vietnam. However, rural and agricultural tourism models have not yet received proper investment to develop commensurate with their potential and are still waiting for the right time and policies to "take off."

Travel trends

The form of traveling combined with relaxation and experience in rural areas is becoming more and more popular. The trend of agricultural and rural tourism is not only developing in many countries around the world but is especially suitable in Vietnam - a country with a large area of ​​agricultural land, the population living mainly in rural areas accounts for more than 62.7%. More than 10 years ago, Ms. Ngo Kieu Oanh - a doctor of science dedicated to protecting traditional Vietnamese culture was determined to build a model of agricultural and rural tourism in the vicinity of Ba Vi mountain - where there are many traditional agricultural villages. The tourist area is based on organic agricultural production, closely linked to the villages and natural landscapes.

The model is built on the basis of ensuring a solid harmony between nature-culture-people with facilities ensuring accommodation and resort activities to meet the needs of individuals, families and even groups of hundreds of students; meals associated with local agricultural products; experiential activities associated with rural life, traditional agricultural production and modern livestock farms. In particular, visitors can learn about the cultural characteristics of the Mong and Dao people associated with villages and cultural heritage sites. “The farm is closely connected with the surrounding farming community to both provide attractive information for tourists and become a unit to promote agricultural products of Ba Vi, Son Tay in particular, and Hanoi in general. This is a form of developing harmony between nature, culture and people in urban and rural areas, through staying, relaxing, enjoying scenic spots and enjoying fresh natural specialties in a cozy family and village setting,” Dr. Oanh shared. According to tourism expert Nguyen Quang Dang (Institute for Tourism Development Research), this is a unique form of tourism, combining cultural experiences and the natural environment in rural areas, including many activities, services and amenities provided by farmers and rural communities to attract and serve tourists. These include farm tourism, agricultural tourism, craft village tourism, festival tourism, eco-tourism... “Experiences from rural tourism activities such as: catching fish in the pond, picking tea leaves to roast into tea and then brew water to enjoy, pounding and grinding rice with a mortar to make rice rolls... all bring many unexpected and interesting experiences, reminding us of childhood memories, making the travel time more meaningful,” said Mr. Nguyen Quang Dang.

Great potential for development

In Decision No. 922/QD-TTg dated August 2, 2022 of the Prime Minister approving the Rural Tourism Development Program in the construction of new rural areas for the period of 2021-2025, it is clearly stated that rural tourism development is one of the key solutions and tasks of the National Target Program on New Rural Area Construction for the period of 2021-2025; promoting the role of the people and the community as the main subjects; promoting the active and proactive participation of enterprises, cooperatives, and other economic organizations in the development of rural tourism economy through effective forms of tourism value chain linkage. Tourism development in Vietnam is closely related to modern rural construction. Modern rural facilities associated with accommodation and food service infrastructure, environmental sanitation, food safety, preservation and promotion of cultural values, traditional craft villages, etc. have created the basis for the development of rural tourism. On the contrary, rural tourism also contributes to increasing income for families, livelihoods for people, promoting consumption of regional products, thereby contributing to promoting the local economy, improving the quality of new rural construction.

In the North, there are currently many agricultural tours exploiting traditional rice planting and cultivation activities, handicrafts, livestock farms... Notably, around the suburbs of Hanoi, there are currently 11 ecological agricultural farms operating under the model of education and experiential tourism; 5 specialized cooperatives combining education and experiential tourism and many areas with potential and advantages to develop agricultural and rural tourism. In the Central and Central Highlands regions, there are also many tourism products demonstrating agricultural diversity such as tours to visit ethnic minority villages in many localities. The Southern region and the Mekong Delta with their characteristics of rivers, garden houses... have great potential to exploit and develop agricultural tourism. According to Dr. Ngo Kieu Oanh, for rural tourism to develop sustainably, there needs to be synchronous participation of all relevant parties, from local authorities to the people. Most importantly, tourism professionals need to truly understand and love the beauty and value of the rural tourism products that they and their locality are preserving and developing. Dr. Pham Huong Trang, lecturer in Tourism and Hospitality Management, RMIT University, said that to ensure effective development, agricultural tourism activities need to have a well-organized service space such as farms, fields, orchards, traditional craft villages or rural areas with unique cultural values, festivals, and local cuisine. In particular, the participation of the local community is extremely important. As subjects closely attached to the cultural environment and production methods, local people play an indispensable role in synthesizing and sharing cultural values ​​with tourists. They become the ones who preserve and spread agricultural cultural values, contributing to creating a unique tourism experience. In addition, to develop this form of tourism, localities should associate the One Commune One Product (OCOP) program with community tourism services and tourist attractions. Each tourist attraction needs to develop a comprehensive development plan based on natural tourism resources, culture and indigenous values ​​in villages, hamlets and hamlets. At the same time, building common tours, linking in communication activities, promoting tourism between linked localities increases the attractiveness of rural tourism destinations. Promoting, connecting, promoting rural tourism products with large travel agencies or tourist centers, diversifying promotion forms, especially applying digital technology to stimulate all senses of tourists when accessing tourism products promoted by information technology.

Vietnamplus.vn

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/du-lich-nong-nghiep-nong-thon-xu-huong-dang-duoc-ua-chuong-post992486.vnp