Home

10%

Opening up Viet Nam’s Less Explored Tourist Destination Through Digitization

Sustainable tourism practices in Hoa Binh province are helping local communities improve livelihoods while preserving the environment and traditional cultures.

By Asian Development Bank

March 25^th, 2024

The trend of online travel booking, the desire to discover new destinations, and the powerful influence of social media have opened avenues for less explored or undiscovered tourist destinations. Hoa Binh, a province in northwest Viet Nam, has significant potential as one such destination. Community-Based Tourism (CBT) can bring an influx of tourists to villages surrounding Hoa Binh Lake.

Located just 50km from the capital Hanoi, Hoa Binh boasts breathtaking mountainous scenery and an emerald-green lake with bays and a ragged shoreline where several rare and precious species of flora and fauna live. Spiritual sites including temples and pagodas, and natural points of interest like caves and mineral hot springs dot the landscape, in an area that about 40 different ethnic groups living in traditional stilted houses set among lush rice fields call home.

A Growing Tourism Industry

Tourism plays a vital role in the post-Covid-19 economic recovery. In 2023, Viet Nam welcomed 12.6 million international tourists; and in the same year received 54 awards from the World Travel Awards, including “Asia's Leading Destination” for the fifth time. The tourism industry is growing fast well beyond the internationally renowned locations of Ha Long Bay, Sa Pa, and the Mekong Delta, and Hoa Binh is no exception. The Mai Chau district in the west of the province has been attracting tourists for over 20 years. Many local communities in the area were able to supplement their income and improve livelihoods through tourism. 

Opening up Viet Nam’s Less Explored Tourist Destination Through Digitization

In other rural areas in Hoa Binh, however, the situation is rather different. Due to their remote location, an insufficient transport system and poor digital infrastructure, local communities have yet to benefit from basic economic development, let alone tourism activities.

Many rural communities belong to marginalized ethnic minorities. People in these communities tend to support their families through traditional activities like fishing and farming.

Community-based Tourism

Tourism infrastructure is limited in these areas, but in districts like Da Bac, NGOs have set up community-based tourism (CBT) projects to sustain income opportunities. CBT empowers ethnic communities to manage and own tourism activities in their villages, which ensures that economic benefits remain within the community.

CBT sign at the road leading to Sung Village in Da Bac.

Homestay Lakeview in Da Bia village in Da Bac.

Local homestay owners were supported by NGOs to improve guest accommodation and sanitary facilities, while training was offered in hospitality, cooking and presenting food for guests, foreign languages, and managing finances.

A local preparing food for guests in Ke Village.

Food served in a homestay in Ke Village.

Locals welcoming guests at their homestay in Da Bia.

Tourism benefits the families that own homestays. The entire village gets involved in activities like taxi services, tour guiding, trekking, kayak and paddle board rentals, wellness activities, dance performances, and selling food and souvenirs.

Kayaks and stand-up paddle boards for rent on the banks of Hoa Binh Lake.

Boat transport services in Hoa Binh Lake.

The CBT approach to tourism is eco-friendly, socially responsible and supports sustainable development. Participation of residents ensures that tourism activities do not harm natural resources. Aside from promoting the beauty of the environment, tourists also appreciate and understand local culture. With CBT, financial benefits go directly to the communities. This is especially helpful for ethnic minority communities, providing them with income to improve their quality of life.

It also encourages the preservation of local culture, allowing locals to share their customs through crafts, arts, dance, and food. Additionally, it promotes environmental values, urging communities to reduce waste, maintain cleanliness, and protect nature.

Direct interactions with visitors also help locals learn from guests and encourages tourists to behave responsibly, as both groups benefit from cultural heritage and environmental conservation.

Challenges and Opportunities

Despite these efforts, the number of visitors to Hoa Binh province remains limited due to external factors such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing economic downturn.  In 2022, there were 3.12 million local and international tourists to Hoa Binh compared to the 11.6 million tourists of Quang Ninh, 4.3 million tourists of Quang Nam (first 9 months of 2022), and 3.69 million tourists of Ninh Binh. There is still potential to be realized, and digital solutions could help offer a way to boost tourism further in Hoa Binh Province to meet the goal of attracting 4.9 million tourists by 2025.

Local girls playing in a make-shift pool in Ke Village.

To appeal to a wider audience, tourism businesses from the area must adopt digital solutions to improve their operations, management, administration, promotion, and advertising. Training and capacity building on how to use digital tools will give communities the capacity to reach out to and attract more guests through online marketing and sales activities.

Building on the efforts from NGOs who have trained the community since 2016 on CBT, the Asian Development Bank, through the Innovation Hub’s Knowledge Immersion Program (KIP), provided experts to advance digitalization efforts in Hoa Binh in March 2023.

Knowledge Immersion Program (KIP) consultants were deployed to Hoa Binh to assess the current state of digital tourism development in the province, and to identify appropriate digital options to support ethnic minority entrepreneurs.

Digitalization can transform these household businesses into thriving and sustainable tourism enterprises that will not only enable families to improve their standard of living, but also help them fund initiatives like paying for home improvements and their children’s education. It will also create opportunities to pass on these businesses and skills to future generations who might have otherwise left the province to pursue careers elsewhere.

ADB’s commitment to advancing Viet Nam’s tourism industry led to Hoa Binh Tourism Infrastructure Development Project, which aims to enhance the current state of tourism facilities, transport, and digital infrastructure in Hoa Binh province, Viet Nam.

Homestay owners in Hoa Binh doing digital skills training through the Knowledge Immersion Program (KIP) of ADB.

Footnotes

Project support was provided by ADB Innovation Hub’s Knowledge Immersion Program (KIP), financed by the Republic of Korea e-Asia and Knowledge Partnership Fund and administered by the Asian Development Bank. KIP serves as a conduit for transferring knowledge and skills for harnessing the potential of ICT and fostering long-term capacity in DMCs for improved service delivery.

Button Label

FootNotes