Factors Affecting Craft Village Tourism Activities in Hong Van Commune, Thuong Tin District, Hanoi

Rural development, strict management of the conversion of agricultural land to non-agricultural purposes... has created conditions for the economy to develop with an average growth rate of 10 - 12%/year.

In the agricultural sector: Land use for farming households has basically been stabilized. Agricultural production is gradually going into depth through active solutions to increase production crops and increase the amount of agricultural products for export. Completely renovate unused land to increase land use efficiency, creating additional sources for the agricultural land fund that has been transferred during the period.

In the non-agricultural sector: Non-agricultural land accounts for only 8.26% of the natural area but the production value accounts for nearly 80% of the economic structure, showing that the province has made remarkable progress in the process of socio-economic development. Although the non-agricultural land fund increases slowly, in the industrial sector, medium and small-scale industrial parks have been formed ( totaling nearly 200 hectares ), developing land funds for investment in models and tourism development, so the growth rate of industrial areas is always above 30% and trade and services always reach above 45% throughout the past period; Infrastructure and traffic networks have been gradually repaired, upgraded and newly opened over the years.

2.4. Factors affecting craft village tourism activities in Hong Van commune, Thuong Tin district, Hanoi

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2.4.1. Management and planning

Accommodation system - There are 3 main forms of accommodation locally:

Garden houses, thatched houses, and ancient Vietnamese houses are built so that visitors can feel and experience ancient architecture.

Homestay: From 2014 to 2019, the basic facilities of local houses met the standards for accommodation for tourists.

Motels, hotels: From 2014 to 2019, investment projects were implemented to build hotels, restaurants, etc. Service capacity was determined based on star classification in 3 main areas: Road 427, Xam Xuyen intersection and the commune center.

System of commercial and service facilities: In the period from 2014 - 2019, Hong Van needs to focus on investing in upgrading and gradually building a system of facilities serving tourism and commercial purposes such as: Markets of all kinds; Works serving fairs and exhibitions, etc.

Build a standard system to provide synchronized commercial services for tourists and local people such as: Sales and exchange of goods, currency exchange services, transportation and delivery services, etc.

Investing in building a tourism management and guidance center in Hong Van

Invest in renovating historical and cultural relics in the district to create more attractions for tourists. Maintain and preserve intangible cultural values.

Invest in renovating some typical ethnic cultural villages to attract tourists with unique cultural tourism products.

In the period from 2014 to 2019, it is necessary to focus on investing in the construction of large-scale and modern conference and exhibition centers capable of organizing important political, cultural, economic and social events.

Invest in building a system of bus stations and static parking lots in the main tourist center area and auxiliary tourist centers. Invest in a system of parking lots at tourist destinations, meeting the service capacity of 200 - 500 guests/day and night.

Develop regulations for waste management and classification in tourist areas, build a waste collection system, and place public trash bins on commune roads.

2.4.2. Human resources, professional expertise

To develop tourism in a locality, the human factor is the most important. They include operators, tour guides, drivers, service staff and local people. In addition to ensuring sufficient numbers of services, professional capacity is extremely important. Professionalism is not demonstrated through resources but through the personnel operating tourism services. This is the second biggest difficulty after the difficulty in infrastructure and technical facilities.

Currently, Hong Van commune does not have any professionally trained tour guides to meet the needs of tourists who want to learn deeply and thoroughly. The staff has not received formal professional training. Most of the current staff are children of the owners of the model and garden. They have not received formal training, only basic training, so the level of professionalism in service is not high.

To improve the quality of tourism services and attract tourists, human resource training is extremely important.

2.4.3. Infrastructure

2.4.3.1. Traffic system

The traffic routes to Hong Van commune are very convenient for tourists to travel. Located in the East of Thuong Tin district; There is TL 427 route connecting the commune with Thuong Tin town and Hanoi city; There is De route (H.Road 6) connecting Thanh Tri district in the North and Ninh Binh in the South. Important freight transport hub (Hong Van port; 4ha freight truck station).... With such a convenient geographical location and traffic, it is one of the factors attracting tourists to Hong Van tourist destination.

2.4.3.2. Contact information

With a widespread communication system throughout Hong Van commune, it is a favorable condition for tourism development. And it is also a good condition for local people and tourists here.

2.4.3.3. Domestic water system

Currently, 100% of households in Hong Van commune use clean water for daily activities, of which 60% use tap water. The tap water system in the commune has greatly contributed to ensuring the clean water needs of local people, while also meeting the needs of tourists. Moreover, the use of treated water is also directly related to the health of visitors during their stay at the tourist area. Therefore, this is also a favorable condition for tourism development.

2.4.3.4. Other works

Currently, the area has a full range of cultural houses, medical stations... to serve the needs of the people and tourists.

2.4.5. Current environmental status

Hong Van Commune is a place with a clean environment, fresh air environment because it is located in an area with many trees, moreover, there is Hong Van Lake with a large water surface area creating fresh air all year round, very suitable for the development of eco-tourism.

The Hong Van commune authorities will have some measures to handle waste: There are trash bins at tourist attractions for tourists to put their trash, in addition, in the tourist area, there are signs to remind tourists about environmental protection. This is very useful in protecting the environment in general and protecting the environment in the Hong Van eco-tourism area in particular.

And there have been more effective measures in environmental protection such as: strengthening propaganda activities about the importance of environmental protection for tourists, investing in more small trash cans at tourist attractions in the commune, building more toilets to serve the needs of tourists... In addition, there must be strict penalties for tourists who do not properly implement environmental protection measures at tourist attractions.

2.4.6. Tourism chain

Route 1: Educational farm - Concentrated vegetable production area - Cultural and sports center of the commune - Cluster of National Standard Schools in the area (experience time during the day).

Route 2: Co Giao Ornamental Plants Craft Village, Xam Xuyen - Stone Art Production Facility - Antique Exhibition Point - Visit Fruit Garden, Countryside Food Court

- Central stadium, swimming pool and photo experience at lotus pond and some flower gardens (1 day 1 night).

Line 3: Hong Van Moringa Tea Production Facility and Herbal Products – Model for breeding and preserving precious Rose varieties – Place for displaying and

Introducing craft village products - Dr. Nguyen Y Beer, Van La Communal House and Ong Gia New Market (during the day).

Route 4: Hong Van and connecting tourist spots in the district:

Hong Van - Dau Nguyen Trai Pagoda - Embroidery village of Quat Dong commune, Thang Loi commune - Political and cultural center of Thuong Tin district - Nguyen Trai temple and Nhi Khe wood carving village - Duyen Thai lacquer paintings - Bamboo and rattan weaving, Lo temple, Temple of Father Thanh Tuy in Ninh So commune - Thoai mother temple, Xam Thi mother temple - Chu Dong Tu temple ( 1 day 1 night).

2.5. Evaluation of local tourism activities

2.5.1. Advantages

a. Resources and tourist attractions:

Tourism resources of Hong Van commune include: natural landscapes, ornamental plants, medicinal plants, spiritual systems, garden house models...

Tourist attractions of the commune include: Spiritual attractions: Temple of Mau Thoai - Mau Dia

Tourist attractions of craft villages: Co Giao ornamental plant craft village, Xam Xuyen ornamental plant craft village.

Experiential tourism destination: Educational farm, cooperative

Agricultural tourism attractions: Vegetable and flower gardens...

b. Community capacity:

Most households in the commune are related to each other. The community is quite tightly organized. The people are friendly and have good communication skills, have a tradition of singing, love art, and are good at cooking. This is very favorable for tourism development.

The basic limitations of the people are that they have no experience in service business activities, especially tourism, so they lack experience in organizing and accounting for business. Awareness of general hygiene conditions in the village is still limited.

c. Market potential:

Currently, Hong Van has also welcomed certain groups of visitors (about 50 thousand visitors per year).

2.5.2. Difficulties

Although the tourism resources here are diverse, unique and hold great potential compared to other regions, the tourism industry here still faces the following difficulties:

About facilities:

Recreational areas serving the needs of tourists are still few and underdeveloped. Hong Van Lake is also an attractive spot for fishing and relaxation.

Human resources:

There are no professionally trained tour guides to meet the needs of tourists to learn deeply and thoroughly. This is the second biggest difficulty after the difficulty of infrastructure and technical facilities. These two issues need to be given more attention to have timely solutions to exploit for effective tourism development.

Regarding tourism promotion and advertising activities:

This activity plays an important role in the tourism development strategy. Because this is a very effective marketing activity in promoting and introducing a place, a certain tourism resource... However, at Hong Van tourist area, this activity takes place too rarely, leading to very few tourists knowing about this tourist area.

The above difficulties are the reasons why tourism activities have not been exploited in accordance with its tourism potential. In this situation, it requires relevant authorities to have specific and feasible solutions to overcome these problems.

2.5.3. Development direction

2.5.3.1. Marketing strategies

The target market is considered as a national tourism product and is defined as follows:

International visitors are mainly Asian and domestic tourist market.

Investor market: investors in the fields of hotels, restaurants, eco-tourism, resorts, community tourism, sports.

Product development strategy: With a defined and targeted market, the product to aim for is:

Developing eco-tourism associated with nature, residential communities, and resorts aimed at the general tourist market;

Cultural and religious tourism, aimed at the need to exchange and learn about local culture.

Developing tourism associated with trade and agriculture.

Agricultural tourism, targeting the market of customers who want to exchange, share and learn experiences in agricultural development.

Commercial tourism, aimed at tourists who have the need to exchange and cooperate in business in the field of trade and services.

“MICE tourism, associated with events such as conferences, seminars, training, exhibitions and other social and cultural events.

(MICE - abbreviation for Meeting, Incentive, Convention and Exhibition. Full English name is Meeting Incentive Conference Event)”.

Event tourism: cultural, social and sports...

2.5.3.2. About space organization:

a. Developing tourism clusters

* Tourist cluster in Hong Van commune

This is the central tourist destination of Thuong Tin district. Tourism products include: Eco-tourism - craft villages; Experiential tourism; Conference, seminar, fair, event organization tourism; Trade cooperation tourism; Agricultural sightseeing tourism; Cultural - religious tourism.

* Tourist cluster in the east of Thuong Tin district

Including communes: Tu Nhien, Ninh So, Nguyen Trai, Quat Dong, Duyen Thai, Nhi Khe, Thang Loi, Quan Ganh. Tourism products include: Cultural - spiritual tourism, experiential tourism, commercial tourism.

b. Developing tourist routes

Line 1: Educational farm - Concentrated vegetable production area

– Cultural and sports center of the commune – Cluster of National Standard Schools in the area (experience time during the day).

Route 2: Co Giao Ornamental Craft Village, Xam Xuyen - Stone Art Production Facility - Antique Exhibition Point - Visit the fruit garden, Countryside Food Court - Central Stadium, swimming pool and experience taking photos in the lotus pond and some flower gardens (1 day 1 night).

Route 3: Hong Van Moringa Tea Production Facility and Herbal Products - Model for breeding and preserving precious Rose varieties - Place to display and introduce craft village products - Dr. Nguyen Y Beer, Van La Communal House and Ong Gia New Market (during the day).

+ Route 4: Hong Van and connecting tourist attractions in the district:

c. Developing tourist attractions:

Educational Farm – Tung Anh Ornamental Plants and Services Production Cooperative

Point "Planting, displaying, introducing and selling artistic flower and ornamental plant products" - Model of Mr. Nguyen Van Chi, Mai Van Tam, Do Dinh Tuy.

Point "Growing, preserving and consuming safe vegetables" - Model of Mr. Ngo Dinh Giang, Do Ba Tuan and surrounding areas.

Model of linking production of moringa tea and other herbal products from agriculture of Hong Van Flower, Ornamental Plant and Service Cooperative.