Towards sustainable community tourism

ĐNO - LocalLife.Asia - a sustainable community tourism platform founded by a team of young entrepreneurs in Da Nang is creating a different direction in the journey of digitizing local experiences, contributing to preserving culture and creating local livelihoods for the community. This is one of 10 outstanding projects that made it to the final round of the Da Nang City Innovation and Startup Competition - SURF 2025.

Mr. Tran Dang Huy shared at the Danang City Innovation and Startup Competition - SURF 2025. Photo: VAN HOANG

Preserving indigenous culture

LocalLife.Asia was born from the experiences of Mr. Tran Dang Huy (Hoa Xuan Ward, Da Nang City) and his partner Tran Hai Thanh. As someone who has traveled all over the countryside of Vietnam, listened to the stories of the people, and felt the rhythm of local life, Mr. Huy realized that behind each trip there are countless values that are being left untapped.

“We see that most of the profits from tourism do not go back to the community. Local people only receive a small part of the growing tourism market. Meanwhile, young people leave their villages because they do not have opportunities to develop in their homeland,” Huy shared.

From that concern, LocalLife.Asia was conceived and built as a digital tourism ecosystem. This is where tourists can set foot in personalized, identity-rich experiences; at the same time, each of their spending has the meaning of nurturing the community. The project is designed as an open platform, helping people directly post accommodation services, cultural experiences, and local products to access the global tourism market.

According to Mr. Huy, LocalLife.Asia aims at responsible tourism. On this platform, every house, lifestyle, dish or folk song... can become an interesting experience for tourists to explore . The special thing is that people can easily create booths, manage services, receive bookings and receive transparent revenue sharing.

Each product has a local flavor, is not duplicated, and is not commercialized in a stereotyped way. In the platform, there are also content sections that are considered “living archives” to preserve cultural data, traditional knowledge, and customs.

“Not only solving technology problems or connecting markets, we aim for a deeper goal of unlocking the internal development momentum in the community. When local people can master their own products, especially the young generation, they will have more reasons to stay instead of leaving their hometown,” Huy shared.

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This platform is not only a place to introduce homestays or tours, but also a bridge connecting local communities and tourists around the world, creating diverse and unique tourism products to attract domestic and foreign tourists. We want each experience at LocalLife.Asia to be a journey of cultural discovery - where tourists not only come to see the scenery, but also to listen, learn, experience and understand the culture of the people there.

Mr. Tran Dang Huy, founder of LocalLife.Asia project

Applying digital technology to promote tourism

Products on the platform directly respond to market trends such as: the need for authentic experiences of tourists with the desire to immerse themselves in local culture, seeking unique, meaningful and deeply personalized experiences; the trend of sustainable and responsible tourism; creating job opportunities and local development, reducing unemployment pressure and encouraging them to stay to preserve the culture, becoming the next generation of traditional values.

In particular, overcoming "economic leakage" in tourism, aiming to ensure economic benefits from tourism stay in the community, solving the core problem of traditional tourism.

LocalLife.Asia platform interface on mobile application. Photo: VAN HOANG

Mr. Huy said that he will develop a user-friendly web platform and mobile application, integrating a secure booking and payment system, reducing transaction costs and preventing fraud. The platform applies Artificial Intelligence (AI) and user data on the application to personalize travel recommendations, enhance traveler engagement and optimize the planning process.

In addition, cloud storage technology will be used to build a cultural data repository, ensuring safety, accessibility and long-term preservation.

“In the platform, in addition to displaying results in traditional lists, we use maps to help users easily search and choose the services that best suit their needs and are fastest, optimizing the user experience,” said Mr. Huy.

The LocalLife.Asia project has now completed an in-depth market research phase, clearly identifying the potential and needs of community-based tourism in Asia-Pacific.

LocalLife.Asia is expected to launch an MVP (minimum viable product) version with full basic features in August 2025. To date, the platform has collected data on more than 1,100 products (accommodation, experiences, services) and more than 700 products that can be sold.

In the preliminary round of the Danang City Innovation and Startup Competition - SURF 2025, LocalLife.Asia is one of 10 projects selected for the final round scheduled to take place on July 29. The project promises to be a breakthrough, helping businesses gain more competitive advantages over competitors in related fields in the market, effectively meeting the needs of customers in the digital age.

Source: https://baodanang.vn/huong-toi-du-lich-cong-dong-ben-vung-3297023.html