Great potential for community tourism

Kon Tum is a land located in the North of the Central Highlands, where the Indochina junction borders Laos and Cambodia; has an extremely rich ecosystem, unique natural landscapes and 43 ethnic groups living together. Therefore, Kon Tum is known as a land of nature, culture, festivals, where land and people blend together, peaceful, and extremely open.

With the continuous and strong efforts to develop tourism to make Kon Tum an indispensable destination on the Central Highlands route for domestic and foreign tourists. In recent years, the Party Committee and government of Kon Tum province have effectively implemented policies on tourism development in general and community tourism development in particular.

Mr. Vo Trung Manh, Chairman of Tu Mo Rong District People's Committee, said: In recent times, the district has focused on supporting the development of community tourism in a professional and organized manner, associated with preserving the culture of the Xo Dang ethnic group. In particular, special attention has been paid to improving the quality of human resources through linking up with tourism businesses to open training courses and sending villagers to participate.

Investment in infrastructure for tourism and propaganda, promotion and investment promotion for tourism have also been paid attention to; initially, a number of community tourism villages with typical tourism products have been formed in ethnic minority villages in the province, such as: Kon Ko Tu, Kon Klor, Kon Jo Dri villages (Kon Tum city); Kon Pring, Vi Ro Ngheo villages (Kon Plong district); Kon Trang Long Loi village (Dak Ha district); Dak Rang village (Ngoc Hoi district); Tu Tho village (Tu Mo Rong district)...

Village elder Brôl Vé, Đắk Răng village, Đắk Dục commune, Ngọc Hồi district shared: We always try to preserve the original unique cultural values, because that not only helps the younger generation be proud of the national culture but also introduces it to tourists from near and far. Since being recognized as a community tourism village, the number of visitors to the village has also increased and has helped the people have more income from tourism activities.

Thanks to the development of community tourism, the awareness of preserving traditional beauty, building a cultural environment, and civilized, clean landscape of ethnic minorities has been raised, contributing positively to preserving the national cultural identity.

Promoting sustainable community tourism development

However, the development of community tourism in Kon Tum province still has many limitations, not commensurate with the potential and strengths of each locality. Tourism products are not really attractive, not differentiated, and not highly competitive. Infrastructure and tourism services are still lacking, not synchronous, and not modern; the role of the community in tourism development has not been promoted.

Mr. Dinh Van Duong, Secretary of the Kon Pring village Party Cell, Mang Den town, Kon Plong district said: The villagers also want to do tourism, but the biggest difficulty is that they do not have enough potential to invest in homestays, and the people's land has not been converted to another purpose. Therefore, he hopes that the relevant authorities will have timely support policies so that people can boldly invest in tourism.

According to Mr. A Le, Kon Chênh village, Mang Canh commune, Kon Plong district, for people to do community tourism, they need the attention and support of the local government. Especially, they need to invest early in building clean water facilities, expanding rural roads, and creating conditions for people to borrow capital with preferential interest rates to invest in tourism.

The potential for community tourism development has not been effectively exploited, therefore, on February 10, 2025, the Standing Committee of Kon Tum Provincial Party Committee issued Directive No. 27 "on developing community tourism in ethnic minority villages in Kon Plong district". In which, the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee selected 2 villages (including Kon Pring village, Mang Den town and Kon Chenh village, Mang Canh commune) to directly direct; The Standing Committee of Kon Plong District Party Committee selected 8 villages in communes and towns to focus on leading and directing the development of community tourism.

Mr. Dang Quang Ha, Chairman of Kon Plong District People's Committee said: To effectively implement Directive No. 27, the locality also proposed that the province pay attention to directing relevant units to support the district in immediately implementing the work of making detailed plans for the development of community tourism villages, to manage and implement according to the plan, ensuring consistency in the development of community tourism villages. Guide the locality to develop other tourism products to ensure the diversity and richness of tourism products of community tourism villages. The district recommended that the province should have mechanisms and policies to support people doing community tourism, firstly supporting funding for the construction of homestay facilities, supporting bank loan interest rates from 3 to 5 years so that people are bold enough to borrow capital, and supporting human resource training for people doing tourism.

With very specific directions and steps, Directive No. 27 is expected to create momentum and a breakthrough for community tourism in Kon Plong. Not only that, but it also "leads the way" for localities in the province to study and apply. From there, exploit the potential of this type of tourism, serve socio-economic development and improve the lives of ethnic minorities.