Mobilizing people to do tourism

From Dien Bien Phu City, going nearly 130km along National Highway 4H, passing a flag-lined suspension bridge over the Nam Bai River, we arrived at Na Su village. The first impression was the pretty little road decorated by the locals to welcome tourists staying in the village. In front of each house, there is a wooden sign and a QR code to "check" the necessary information for tourists.

Taking us for a walk around the village, admiring the spacious and clean traditional stilt houses, Na Su village Party Secretary Lo Van Mai happily said: “To have the unique and poetic culture of Na Su today, it is all thanks to the contributions of the people in the village. People have actively renovated their houses, yards, ponds and gardens to be green, clean and beautiful. To create an attractive highlight for tourists, the village government and people have unanimously and determinedly built 9 large water wheels and 8 small water wheels along the irrigation ditches in the fields; made railings for the walking path along the pond banks... The village has built 11 huts made of bamboo; with bamboo walls and palm leaves as places to rest and admire the scenery of the circular area of ​​the field embankment.

Na Su night is more poetic and sparkling in the middle of the mountains and forests, giving visitors a sense of peace, simplicity, enjoyment, and breathing in the fresh air. The entire village has installed 1,500 light bulbs to light up the roads inside the village and along the embankment. The lighting system is about 800 meters long, carved from wood, about 60cm high, enough for the light to shine on the stone road. At the same time, the village also leveled and cleared the road along the embankment, straightened the stream flow; made flower beds, ornamental plants, mobilized households to register for fishing services and established a tourism management team, culinary team, art troupe, etc.

Besides the majestic natural beauty, when coming to Na Su, visitors can also explore and experience the real life and production of the Thai ethnic group (White Thai branch) in the most authentic way; participate in food preparation, cultural and artistic exchange, and rest at the families in the village.

“When starting community tourism, the villagers were still confused, but over time, working, learning and gaining experience, the activities have now stabilized, and tourists coming to visit and experience Na Su are satisfied with the service,” said Poong Van Van, a resident of Na Su village.

Mr. Thung Van Anh, Chairman of Cha Nua Commune People's Committee shared: The decisive factor contributing to the success of the Na Su community tourism model is the mobilization of the strength, solidarity and consensus of the people. People have actively contributed their efforts and materials to invest in building and renovating the landscape, electricity lines, places to eat, stay, and experience services. Mobilizing people to effectively implement the movement to build a bright - green - clean - beautiful rural environment. Currently, tourism is a new and effective direction in socio-economic development. Therefore, to mobilize people in the village to do tourism, the commune determined that it is necessary to promote the pioneering and exemplary role of the Party members... Since then, many families have followed suit and are gradually creating a movement to serve tourists in the village.

Linking tourism development with new rural construction

With rich and diverse natural resources, Na Su has become a community tourism village attracting visitors from inside and outside the province. It is worth mentioning that although it has just started doing tourism, this place has become a "bright spot" in community tourism of the border district of Nam Po thanks to the methodical way of doing things, the awareness and professional style of the people.

Mr. Khoang Van Van, Secretary of the Party Committee of Cha Nua commune, said: "The policy of building a community tourism village associated with building a new countryside has created a breakthrough in changing people's awareness, mobilizing many resources for socio-economic development, accelerating the progress of building a new countryside in the commune". Currently, Na Su village has 139 households, more than 600 people. In order for Na Su tourism to take off, the Party Committee and the commune government have coordinated with specialized agencies of the district and province to develop and guide the application of a set of criteria on the cultural environment at community tourism sites. Organize training courses, raise awareness of the cultural environment, build standards of lifestyle, behavior in communication, in conduct as well as other tourism business activities. Coordinate with grassroots mass mobilization groups and mass organizations of the village to mobilize households to remove unsanitary barns from the village; building hygienic toilets... The landscape items at Na Su, the internal roads, and flower planting are made entirely from local materials, created by the villagers themselves. The dishes are also made from homegrown plants, fish from the pond, and clean food grown by the villagers themselves. It can be affirmed that Na Su community tourism aims to be environmentally friendly.

Choosing Na Su as the destination for his family's trip, Mr. Tran Thanh Phuong, living in Son La, said: "In Na Su, there is not only majestic nature, cool climate, fresh air and beautiful scenery, but the service attitude of the tourism workers and the people living here towards tourists is also very friendly and open...".

In addition, the commune has developed a plan, organized propaganda, held village meetings, and agreed to select 5 families with clean and beautiful houses as model accommodation, with the homestay method for tourists to experience the living space of the Thai ethnic people; established an art troupe, regularly organized practice and performances of folk songs, folk dances, and folk music to serve tourists. Ms. Thung Thi Lam, the Executive Board of Na Su village community tourism shared: "Tourists coming to Na Su mainly enjoy experiencing unique cultural features such as cuisine, arts, customs, and practices... Therefore, as people working in tourism, we always preserve the cultural identity of our people, especially the architecture of houses, ethnic costumes, and promoting the beauty of ethnic culture will be the highlight to attract tourists to visit".

With effective and creative methods, especially attracting local people to work together, after one year of operation, Na Su tourism has become an attractive and ideal destination for tourists from all over the world. During the year, Na Su welcomed over 5,200 visitors (1,822 visitors stayed at the tourist site, 380 visitors slept at the homestay...); created a fanpage, digitized Na Su community tourism, attracting about 72,000 visitors. "From the success of the Na Su community tourism model, it will be an opportunity and a solid foundation for Cha Nua to continue to survey and replicate it to other villages in the region" - Secretary Khoang Van Van affirmed.