The provincial festival, Khai Ha, of Muong ethnic group in 2023 held in Tan Lac district, has brought four Muong regions together to continue honoring and affirming the cultural values for tourism development.
Mr. Bui Minh Hong, the Head of the District’s Culture and Information Department says: The district has issued a resolution and the plan for tourism development since 2016. Accordingly, the specific orientations and solutions have been set out to propagate and promote the traditional festivals, the national culture and the scenic spots in the area, building the tourism products by spreading Muong unique and distinctive cultural values associated with the landscape and environment protection, improving the People's Life.
In recent years, the district has focused on preserving and embellishing the hamlets and the villages in order to preserve Muong tradition and culture associated with the development of traditional cultural tourism products and festivals; promoting the development of the traditional craft villages, the clean agricultural products as well as the local specialties such as red pomelos, chayote, mandarins, vegetables of different kinds; promoting and attracting investment in tourism development...
In the whole district, there are 11 recognized relics, including 6 national monuments and 5 provincial relics. The local people still keep more than 2,200 Muong gongs; 579 sets of ethnic musical instruments (Oi pipe, flute); about 4,800 Muong ethnic costumes. Up to now, the cultural values of Muong people have been recognized. They are the cultural heritage of Mo Muong, Muong gongs, the handicraft products and the traditional festivals, which has been creating the unique cultural values imbumed with the national identity. There are many beautiful caves in the area: Nam Son Cave has been ranked as a national relic; Nui Kien cave has been ranked as a provincial relic...In addition, there are a number of the natural waterfalls, many attractions to visit and explore: Lung Van Peak, Lung Van terraced fields, Nam Son ancient mandarin hill, Quyet Chien chayote valley... Along with that, there are the areas of agricultural products and specialties of the highlands: Bac Son purple garlic, Quyet Chien off-season vegetables, herbs, wild vegetables, Tuyet tea, the native chicken breeds in Ngo Luong... In the district, Suoi Hoa commune located in the core area of the national tourism development planning of Hoa Binh Lake has great potential to develop various types of eco-tourism, convalescence and cultural tourism.
Although the potential is great, it is still difficult for Tan Lac to turn it into the tourism products, especially the investment resources to build the tourism infrastructure. Although the three key touristm highland communes, Van Son, Quyet Chien and Ngo Luong, have been invested, the infrastructure and roads have been degraded so far, and this has greatly been affecting the exploitation of tourism potential in these locations. The way to Nam Son cave goes through about 1 km along the forest road, mainly following the people’s opening trail, the investment equipment here has also stopped working, which leads to tha fact that very few tourists arrive there. The people here want the district to focus on mobilizing the resources to invest in developing transport infrastructure at destinations, the inter-regional transport, the stopovers, the vehicle parking, the telecommunications technical infrastructure; encouraging all the economic sectors to invest in accommodation facilities, restaurants, hotels, amusement parks, prioritizing the construction of the facilities up to high standards, and supporting the renovation and upgrading the tourism community attractions.
In order to support Tan Lac in tourism development, the Standing Board of the Provincial Party Committee has issued Resolution No. 13-NQ/TU, dated on October 17, 2022 on building the upland communes in Tan Lac district so that they would become a provincial-level tourism area by October by 2030, with a vision to 2050. The Provincial People's Committee has issued a project to implement the resolution. This is a great opportunity for Tan Lac to develop different types of tourism, building the tourism products to serve visitors, improving the people's lives in association with preserving and promoting the good cultural values of the locality.
Mr. Dinh Anh Tuan, the Secretary of Tan Lac District’s Party Committee says: The district has enlisted the support and assistance of the province, concretizing the provincial resolutions and projects to develop tourism. The district is also implementing the specific solutions to mobilize the investment resources, building the infrastructure, supporting the investors and the people to participate in the tourism activities, building the unique tourism products based on the identity of the culture, the landscape and the environment, building the brand of Muong Bi tourism, thereby it helps sustainably improve the people's lives. After 20 years of organizing Khai Ha festival in Muong Bi, the district has successfully coordinated to organize Khai Ha festival of Muong ethnic groups in the province, bringing four Muong areas together in early 2023, continuing to honor and affirm the cultural values for the tourism development.
To develop tourism in the highland communes, the district has selected 3 hamlets from 3 communes to build the community tourism sites to spread the way of doing tourism, building tourism products with the identity associated with the landscape and environment protection for the upland communes. Along with that, the district has coordinated with the functional departments and branches to improve the investment environment, calling for the capable businesses to deploy tourism projects, including the community tourism in the advantageous areas such as the area of Hoa Binh lake, highland communes... Recently, Suoi Hoa commune has started the project of Suoi Hoa eco-tourism area, and when it is completed, it will create new tourism products for the province as well as the district to exploit the advantages and potentials of the area of Hoa Binh lake.