To introduce an instruction document on rural tourism development

On April 23, the New Rural Coordination Office (MARD) organized a seminar for opinions on the Draft "Document instructing the implementation of certain contents on rural tourism development in the construction of new countryside during 2021-2025" in collaboration with the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism) and the Australian Agency for International Development (Australian Aid).

According to Dr. Ngo Truong Son, Head of the New Rural Coordination Office, the Prime Minister has approved the National Set of Criteria for New Rural in the commune, district, and provincial levels (standard, advanced, and modeling) for the period 2021-20Rural tourism development is included in the set of criteria for rural area development at all levels, particularly for districts and communes to build advanced new rural areas, linking rural tourism development to rural people's income enhancement, preserving and promoting regional cultural values, and by creating landscapes and protecting the rural environment.

"The development of rural tourism not only improves people's lives, but also their capacity, thinking, and awareness, all of which contribute to multi-valued development, sustainability, and quality, which is also the goal of the construction of new rural areas between 2021 and 2025", Mr. Son emphasized.

Currently, the country has over 1,300 tourist attractions and locations, with 70% of them located in rural areas and offering a variety of kinds of agri-tourism, community tourism, eco-tourism, and craft village tourism...

Mr. Ngo Truong Son stated that in order to raise rural people's income, developing rural tourism is a new way that would contribute to the improvement of agriculture's distinctive strength and values of agriculture rural regions, and farmers. Additionally, it aligns with the path of the shift from agricultural production to the rural economy in the orientation of multi-industry and multi-value orientation.

MARD chaired and collaborated with other ministries, departments, and local governments to properly implement the One Commune One Product (OCOP) program, which included community tourism goods and services as well as tourist attractions. Currently, the country has 36 community tourism goods and services that are classified as 3-star or above OCOP products.

The Prime Minister issued Decision No. 1048/QD-TTg dated August 21, 2019, establishing a set of criteria for community-based tourism services and tourist attractions associated with the OCOP Program. The criteria serve as a basis for evaluating community tourism destinations, assisting local governments in identifying limitations and weaknesses, and proposing mechanisms, policies, and plans to address them.

"It can be seen that the Northern mountainous region has the highest number of community-based tourism products in the OCOP Program in the entire country, on the one hand, due to the region's outstanding advantages in culture and landscape, etc., on the other hand, due to the region's challenges in terms of product duplication, connecting regions, and creating highlights for each locality...", stated the Head of the New Rural Coordination Office.

With the assistance of the Project "Promoting Gender Equality in Lao Cai and Son La Provinces by Improving Economic Efficiency of Agricultural Production and Tourism Development," "(GREAT), the Central New Rural Coordination Office has collaborated with the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism to develop a draft tourism development program for rural area construction.

As such, the program will focus on monitoring and supplementing policies, encouraging investment attraction, and developing rural tourism; tracking and supplementing management policies for rural tourism development; implementing synchronous topics to support rural tourism; and coordinating with provinces and cities to select and implement pilot programs.

Additionally, with the assistance of the GREAT Project, the Central New Rural Coordination Office cooperated with experts to prepare a document guiding the execution of some rural tourist development content during the building of a new rural region between 2021 and 2025.