Nam Dam develops tourism from culture

Tourists stay at Hong Thu Homestay.

Preserving Dao ethnic culture

Coming to Nam Dam Community Cultural Village, the first impression is the peaceful countryside scene in the middle of the mountains and forests, with simple, rustic houses made of earthen walls nestled under the shade of trees. In the village, local people maintain wearing traditional costumes in their daily activities. Visit Mr. Ly Dai Thong - the village's folk artist, who is always diligently looking for ways to preserve and pass on traditional cultural values to the younger generation. Sitting at a table by the window, he meticulously rewrote ancient folk songs in the Dao people's own script to teach the young people in the village. In a conversation with us, Mr. Thong shared: “Visitors come to Nam Dam because of the friendliness and enthusiasm of the people and also because of the traditional culture of the Dao people. Therefore, we always remind each other to cherish and preserve that essence. To preserve and develop culture, the best way is to pass it on to the younger generation. Recently, I have participated with the community in recreating many traditional rituals and festivals of the Dao people in the village; including the ordination ceremony, the Dao writing, folk songs, and how to make traditional costumes...”.

“Preserving culture to do tourism , doing tourism to preserve culture”, that is how Nam Dam people choose for themselves the path of sustainable tourism development. Currently, Nam Dam village has 68 households, 307 people, 100% of Dao ethnic people; in the village, there are 34 households providing homestay services. In the first 6 months of this year alone, tourism revenue reached about 2.5 billion VND. Mr. Ly Ta Danh, Head of Nam Dam village proudly shared: Tourists coming here are not only looking for a place to stay, but also living in the unique cultural space of the Dao people. Villagers doing tourism have created many attractive products such as: Folk art performances, herbal baths, experiencing farming life, trekking... to traditional dishes with rich flavors of the mountains and forests. Especially, unique cultural features such as the annual fishing festival on Thanh Minh festival are still preserved. At the village’s communal fish pond, which is taken care of and protected by the villagers all year round, a fishing festival is held once a year. This is the most exciting time of the year, and it is also where visitors can participate in the festival activities. All of these contribute to creating a vivid and colorful picture of the cultural life of the community here.

Ms. Ly Hong Thu, Nam Dam village, Quan Ba commune cleans rooms for guests.

The “key” to sustainable development

The unique cultural features have created the attractiveness of Nam Dam Cultural Village, this is the sustainable tourism method of the people at the gateway to the Stone Plateau. Ms. Ly Hong Thu, owner of a homestay in the village, said: “Since the local authorities have chosen Nam Dam village to develop community tourism. I have been given the opportunity to visit good tourism models, learn how to do tourism, and know how to use social networks to promote ethnic culture. Together, we have built the image of Nam Dam as a destination rich in identity, friendly and safe. Thanks to the trips to learn from experience, I have learned how to organize more art performances, culinary activities, trekking... so that tourists can experience more. Thanks to that, since the beginning of the year, my family has welcomed more than 1,000 visitors. The family economy has improved, with a monthly income of 10 - 15 million VND, allowing me to take care of my children's education and invest in more systematic tourism development."

After more than 12 years of building a typical VHDLCV associated with new rural construction, Nam Dam village has been awarded the title of "Housing with rooms for tourists to rent meeting ASEAN standards" for households doing homestay in 2017; ASEAN award for community tourism in 2023. More importantly, the young generation here has begun to understand, love and be more proud of their ethnic cultural identity. Many young people have returned to learn Dao writing, learn about traditional culture to do tourism, build more homestays in a creative style while still preserving traditional features, creating more diversity for Nam Dam tourism.

Foreign tourists experience rice planting with people in Nam Dam village.

Ms. Pham Thi Hong, a tourist from Hanoi, shared: “Coming here, I feel like I can let go of all my worries. The quiet space, close to nature, helps heal my soul. Moreover, the people here are friendly and honest, and the precious thing is that the cultural identity of the Dao ethnic group is still preserved, creating a unique feature for Nam Dam.”

Thanks to its unique way of doing tourism, the preservation of traditional culture is respected and promoted, helping Nam Dam become a bright spot on the province's tourism map. The Dao Nam Dam people, with their sincerity and love for their village, are telling a beautiful story about identity and tourism development on the Central Highlands.

Le Hai

Source: https://baotuyenquang.com.vn/phong-su/202507/nam-dam-phat-trien-du-lich-tu-van-hoa-8f17036/