Tourism businesses pivot in Vietnam

Households involved in our community-based tourism (CBT) project are pivoting to agriculture as their primary livelihood to make up for income lost due to the pandemic.

Fifty-five households from Da Bac in Vietnam’s north-west Hoa Binh province are now selling 500kg of fish, shrimp, and other aquaculture products to customers in Hanoi each week.

Lo Thi Trang, who is coordinator for CBT in her village and also owns a homestay, is a driving force behind the community’s new approach. Together with other young people in her community, she came up with the idea to connect customers in the city with local farmers.

Each week, they post information about their products and take orders for fish, shrimp, chicken, vegetables, and other traditional food products.

“This figure compared to the wholesale of tonnes of fish and shrimp is only small, but fortunately we have enthusiastic support from people,” said Trang. “The sale of agricultural products not only helps people earn income during the pandemic, but also motivates them.”

The community has received great feedback from customers, who appreciate the use of environmentally-friendly banana and dong leaves instead of plastic packaging.

Agriculture has been so profitable that communities want to maintain the model in tandem with their tourism businesses, once travel opens up again. The community is now hoping to supply supermarkets and other food retailers to continue growing their incomes.

Support our community-based tourism programs

Donate now to help more communities adapt to the impacts of COVID-19.

Donate now