Responsible and sustainable tourism, core of a community-based project
developing sustainability practices among travelers and stakeholders,
has yielded fruits since its launch in the central provinces of Quang
Nam and Thua Thien-Hue one year ago.
The 900,000 USD project
began in January 2014 and lasted through December 2015 under the
auspices of the UNESCO Office and the International Labour Organisation
in Vietnam, equipping tour operators and locals with skills needed to
raise their incomes while preserving their cultural values.
It
roped in 25 tour operators, 11 schools, three districts in Quang Nam and
another one in Thua Thien-Hue to provide tour packages for
holiday-makers.
In Dhroong brocade weaving village in Quang
Nam’s Triem Tay district, a part of its population lives on tourism by
taking tourists to places of attraction and introducing local cultural
lives to them.
Looking forward, Quang Nam and Thua Thien-Hue are
to ramp up infrastructure and offer incentives to any stakeholder in
the project, including the locals.
A marketing campaign will spread further to boost visitor number, which currently stays at modest level.-VNA