Technical Facilities and Tourism Labor Force in Special-Use Forest of Huong Pagoda Area

- Tourism development goals in Huong Pagoda area.

The guiding principles of tourism activities are also clearly shown in the tourism development goals at Huong Pagoda:

+ Protect forests, conserve valuable and rare genetic resources, historical relic values and other existing scenic spots in the area.

+ Propose participation in environmental management and protection with economic sectors, while promoting and enriching the values of relics.

+ Strengthen state management of relics and scenic spots in the direction of expanding the socialization process, attracting widespread participation of the people in protecting and promoting relics.

4.1.2. Technical facilities and tourism labor force in special-use forests in Huong Pagoda area

4.1.2.1. Technical facilities for tourism in Huong Pagoda area

Table 4.1. Traffic statistics of Huong Son commune

Category

Length (km\|)
Total (km)	50.4
1. Inter-commune road	5.5
2. Inter-village road	14.6
3. Alleyway	24.3
4. Waterway	6.0

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Source: My Duc District Statistics Office, 2012 Currently, most roads are paved with asphalt or concrete, but there are still some roads that are gravel roads, narrow roads, many winding sections, and only accessible by foot.

during the dry season, the rainy season is often congested due to flooding.

Currently, the commune has a car road to the commune center. In addition, there are also waterways and some intra-field roads.

In general, the road system in the area is still lacking, the road quality is degraded, making travel difficult. Especially in the rainy season, inter-village and inter-hamlet roads are almost blocked due to flood water and road erosion, greatly limiting the exchange of materials, agricultural and forestry products with other regions, not meeting the requirements of socio-economic development in the area.

Through a survey in the area around Huong Pagoda, there are 05 hotels and guesthouses with standards from 1 star to 3 stars, with a scale of 133 rooms to serve the resting needs of tourists.

In Huong Son commune alone, there are 95 motels. Of which, 89 are seasonal businesses serving the Spring Festival, 55 are food businesses, 04 are children's toy businesses, 02 are candy manufacturing businesses, [Huong Son Police Station (2018). Report on basic investigation results serving the Spring Festival 2018 ].

In addition, in the 2018 festival area, there are a total of 318 shops and services including: Food and beverage businesses: 14; Accommodation: 28; Grocery stores: 11; Gift and souvenir stores: 46; Beverage stores: 181; Grocery kiosks: 16; Incense and candle stores: 20; Oriental Medicine Association: 01; Post office: 01 [People's Committee of My Duc district (2018). Decision on approving service premises in the 2018 Huong Pagoda Festival ].

In general, the hotels are of low quality due to lack of renovation or repair for a long time. The motels do not meet the requirements, the prices are unstable, and there are no entertainment areas.

In 2018, the number of tourist service boats was 3,289 non-motorized hand-held boats; 1,178 households registered to transport passengers and this is also the main source of income for local people; 19 boats selling goods on Yen stream, these households all signed a commitment to comply with the provisions of the law and regulations of the festival's Organizing Committee. [Huong Son Police Station (2018). Report on basic investigation results serving the 2018 Spring Festival ].

In addition, there are also a number of motorboats of some functional agencies of the District operating during the festival season to serve the reception of guests of the Central and City and to serve the inspection work to ensure security, and to propagate and raise awareness of tourists during the festival season.

In the Huong Pagoda area, there are two main types of tourism: festivals and sightseeing:

- Festival tourism, this form aims to delve into the religious practices and beliefs of Buddhism.

- Sightseeing. Visitors here can enjoy the beautiful scenery of mountains, forests, caves and unique customs, famous historical and cultural relics of the Day River countryside.

From 2004 to now, dozens of projects have been implemented to serve tourism and festivals such as: Cau Hoi - Huong Son Road, bus stations, solid waste collection points, traffic congestion prevention and improvement of waterways, environmental sanitation of Yen stream landscape, Yen stream 2-bank road project... Yen stream renovation project phase II includes embankment items and completion of Yen wharf extending to Trinh Temple, renovation of Tru wharf foundation and surface has also been completed. The Huong Pagoda Festival Protection Station project on a 365m2 plot of land in Thung Phu Ma has been completed, the pedestrian system has been renovated, paved with stone and the Thien Tru - Huong Tich Cave cable car project has been put into operation, bringing about clear results for tourists visiting and offering incense at historical and spiritual sites.

- Cable car project: Huong Son Transport and Tourism Joint Stock Company (Hustranco) successfully built a cable car system from the foot of Thien Tru Pagoda to Huong Tich Cave and has been in operation since 2006.

- The system is equipped with 45 Omega III Cabins - Switzerland, each cabin carries 06 passengers with cable clamp system, automatic door opening and closing.

- The entire route length is 1200m with 7 columns and 3 stations: Thien Tru Station, Giai Oan Station and Huong Tich Station. The system has 45 cabins, each cabin can carry a maximum of

06 passengers, the transport system 1500 passengers/hour. The operation of the cable car has contributed to shortening the time, reducing congestion on the way to Huong Tich cave, and at the same time limiting the littering of solid waste, plastic water bottles on the way to Huong Tich cave. However, during holidays when the number of visitors is high, the cable car operates at full capacity but still cannot meet the needs of tourists. Waiting at the cable car station for several hours is also the cause of increased solid waste generation.

4.1.2.2. Tourism labor force in Huong Pagoda area

In 2012, tourism attracted 10,200 workers to serve festival activities. Revenue from trade, services, industry and transportation in the commune in 2012 reached over 416 billion VND, of which trade and services accounted for 48%, and freight and passenger transportation accounted for 45%.

The labor force in the tourism industry of the district and city is still limited in qualifications. The number of workers trained through tourism schools is still small, but mainly trained through short-term courses organized by companies.

The seasonal nature of tourism in the scenic tourist area of Huong Pagoda is very clear. Spring is the festival season every year, lasting from February to April (3 months), with a large number of tourists leading to overload, making it difficult for organizations to manage and invest in infrastructure. In summer, autumn and winter, visitors mainly combine sightseeing with pilgrimages. These seasons have few visitors, and the efficiency of using tourism service facilities is low.

Business exploitation in this tourist area mainly relies on the existing human values and festivals combined with natural landscape resources. The area has 4 state-owned enterprises operating tourism services, in addition, there are many organizations and individuals from the economic sectors of the locality and city participating in exploiting tourism services. Especially during the months of the festival tourism season. Business services include: Hotels, motels, restaurants, parking, boat transportation, shops, souvenir shops.

The status and trend of tourism business exploitation and management activities in Huong Pagoda tourist area have many shortcomings and inadequacies, which are: (1) Regarding tourism management organization: There is no unified management and operation organization mechanism and model, management activities are divided, each level is in charge of one area, leading to many levels of management command but not strong enough, powerful enough and convincing. (2) Festival tourism exploitation and business activities: All service activities are purely exploitation, competing for the highest profit, not caring about the environment, landscape or not having the responsibility, obligation to invest to ensure the sustainability of landscapes, historical and cultural relics and religious and environmental values. The management of festival activities still has many shortcomings from the village, commune to My Duc district levels, so there have been many spontaneous activities of the village, people without management, which have negatively affected the ecological environment and landscape of Huong Son.

In addition to the great economic benefits that spiritual tourism brings, the impact of this activity on forest protection also needs attention: Forest protection in general and the green tree system on tourist routes need to be stricter, the high density of people has affected the living environment of wild animals, waste and pollution of water, air, soil, etc. Social relations have arisen with many complications and conflicts over economic interests in exploiting tourism in the relic site between the locality and units and organizations that have the right to own, use and manage relic resources such as the Huong Son Scenic Relic Management Board, the Special-use Forest Management Board with organizations and individuals exploiting and doing tourism business, between local people and people from other places coming to do business in the relic site, etc.

4.1.3. Current status of number of visitors, revenue of tourism types and management activities

4.1.3.1. About the number of customers and revenue

Huong Pagoda is a place where many types of tourism converge: eco-tourism, tourism

culture, spiritual tourism... is an attractive place for domestic and foreign tourists. The number of visitors to Huong Pagoda is increasing.

VND/person, of which the sightseeing fee is VND 80,000 and the boat fee is VND

50,000 VND. According to full annual statistics, the number of visitors to the area is shown in Table 4.1:

Table 4.2. Number of visitors and revenue in Huong Pagoda area

period 2014 - 2018.

Source: Management Board of Huong Son relic and scenic area (2018)

Through Table 4.2, it can be seen that tourists have come to Huong Pagoda tourist area since

The Perfume Pagoda Festival starts on January 6 and lasts for the first three months of the year. Currently, the entrance fee to the Perfume Pagoda area is 130,000 VND.

Year

Number of guests (people)	Difference in number of guests (people)	Total revenue (billion VND)
2014	1,243,468	-	104.46
2015	1,235,039	- 8,429	103.71
2016	1,357,682	122,643	114.07
2017	1,363,340	5,658	174.48
(T10) - 2018	1,408,361	45,021	179.09
TB	1,321,578		135.16

2014 to 2018 has a slight and relatively stable increase trend. The number of visitors to Huong Pagoda over the years has always fluctuated at a high level, on average from 2014 - 2018 attracting about 1.1 million visitors, the highest year reaching about 1.4 million visitors (2018), the average growth rate of visitors from 2014

By 2018, it reached 6.28%. However, the number of foreign visitors is still low, only reaching 0.57 - 1.17% of the total number of visitors. Therefore, in the coming time, there should be policies to promote more widely the image of Huong Pagoda tourist area to attract international visitors.

With the increasing number of visitors, it has brought a large source of revenue to the local budget, on average from 2014 - 2018, the revenue from the festival reached 111.63 billion VND, the highest in 2018, the revenue from tourism activities reached over 179.09 billion VND. This is an advantage but also a big challenge for the tourist area. Due to the high number of visitors, it also means increasing pressure on the environment in the area, especially solid waste and wastewater. Therefore, in the near future, Huong Pagoda needs to develop infrastructure to ensure the needs of tourists, reduce congestion and crowding. At the same time, it is also necessary to invest, exploit reasonably, research and apply measures to collect and treat solid waste thoroughly, ensuring no negative impact on the environment.

A: Number of visitors B: Total revenue

Chart 4.1. Number of visitors to Huong Pagoda and total revenue from 2014 - 2018.

According to the survey, up to 100% of tourists come to Huong Son for the purpose of festivals, pilgrimages, and sightseeing of Huong Son. Mainly tourists

Attracted to temples and caves, tourists to Huong Son follow 3 main routes: 100% to Huong Tich route, 40% to Tuyet Son Pagoda, 35-40% to Long Van Pagoda. Most tourists to Huong Son are day tourists, staying in the sightseeing area for 7-8 hours, visitors who complete all routes in the tourist area are 2 days and must stay overnight, however, this number of visitors only accounts for about 2%.

4.1.3.2. Management work at Huong Pagoda

The Management Board of Huong Son Relics and Landscapes is under the management of the People's Committee of My Duc district, and is also subject to the direction and guidance of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Hanoi city, advising and proposing to the People's Committee of the district to issue State management documents for the Huong Son Relics and Landscapes. Develop plans for restoration, embellishment, preservation and protection of the Huong Son Relics and Landscapes and submit them to competent authorities for approval, and at the same time supervise the implementation of investment projects for construction, restoration and embellishment in the relics area and be responsible to the People's Committee of My Duc district for all management, protection, preservation and promotion of the value of the Huong Son Relics and Landscapes according to the provisions of the Law on Cultural Heritage.

- Coordinate with local authorities, relevant agencies, and abbots in the area to preserve the landscape and environment in the Huong Son Relics and Scenic Area according to the provisions of law. Detect, prevent, and promptly handle violations of the Huong Son Relics and Scenic Area according to authority. At the same time, report and propose ways to handle acts that damage the Huong Son Relics and Scenic Area.

- Operation mechanism of Huong Son Urban and Rural Area Management Board

The Head of the Board is responsible to the People's Committee of My Duc district and before the law for all activities of the Board; 03 Deputy Heads assist the Head of the Board, are responsible to the Head of the Board and before the law for assigned tasks. In

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