Foreign tourists at homestay form in Nghia Lo town.

Hoang Thi Loan, a community toursim worker, whose house in Sa Ren village, Nghia Loi commune, Nghia Lo town is well- equipted for tourists. Every month, her family welcomes about 100 tourists. Most of them are  foreign tourists coming here to  explore local customs and natural attractions.

Currently, Nghia Lo town has more than 20 households who have been doing homestay tourism. They are mostly in Dieu village (in Nghia An commune) and Chao Ha, Sa Ren villages in Nghia Loi commune. In addition, in order to develop community tourism and attract tourists, the town has established art teams, food teams and developed traditional crafts to preserve the cultural heritage of the ages.

Seeing the attraction and advantanges of homestay tourism, many households and areas in Yen Bai province are developing this tourism form. Mr. Luong Van Sanh in Group 10, Mu Cang Chai town, Mu Cang Chai province, one of the first people in Mu Cang Chai has done homestay tourism said: “Tourists who interested in homestay wanted to enjoyed life, traditional foods and habit of local people.

According to statistics, at present, Mu Cang Chai town has about 15 households which are doing community tourism. This number is sure to increase in the coming time.  In addition, homestay form some districts such as Yen Binh and Van Yen have become the destination of domestic and foreign tourists. "We chose homestay because of the experience of living, eating, working and living with local people," said Daniel, a German tourist.

In fact, developing community tourism has contributed to attracting tourists, especially creating jobs and increasing income for the people. Some households in  Nghia Lo, Mu Cang Chai and some other localities in recent time  actively associated with tourism companies to be helped about  knowledge, designing house floor, communication, cuisine…

The potential, advantages and attractiveness of homestay tourism for tourists, especially foreign tourists, has been creating advantages for Yen Bai tourism. This is both an opportunity but also a challenge for the Yen Bai tourism industry. Therefore, the synchronous and planned development in community tourism will be one of the important solutions to bring tourists to Yen Bai.