Camping and other outdoor pursuits are experiencing a surge in popularity in Da Nang. Outdoor lifestyles touch on a lot of trends that are important now, particularly in Da Nang. With the hustle and bustle of city life left behind, travelers are directly exposed to the natural environment while joing camping trips.

Camping tourism is very attractive to young people. Photo: NVCC

According to tourism experts, camping tourism opens up new opportunities for Da Nang to maximize its potential to drive the development of domestic and international tourism through the creation of new and attractive tourism products.

Indulging your feelings

The trend of camping appeared in Da Nang 5 years ago. Since then, many associations and groups of campers have been formed on social networks, attracting dozens of thousands of members. Usually, members of these associations and groups share camping experiences and camp sites with others. In addition, they can join a small group to go camping together on weekends, public holidays and Lunar New Year.

Explaining the attraction of camping tourism, Mr. Duong who is the administrator of the Camping in Da Nang group said that young people want to join camping trips to find a peaceful place to rest and relax in order to escape pressure in school or at work. Besides, romantic nature and beautiful natural scenery, along with fresh air are attractive to young people who have an appetite for nature experience and adventure, as well as indulging their feelings.

In order to meet increasing demand of camping tourism, some tourism businesses in Da Nang have focused on developing glamping sites. Glamping, a fusion of the words “glamor” and “camping,” is the latest travel fad among young people in Da Nang. Bana Rita Glamping Farm is one of the two models of tourism services associated with organic farming development in Hoa Phu Commune, which have just been approved to implement on a trial basis by the Hoa Vang District People's Committee. Bana Rita Glamping Farm is both offering outdoor experience with camping activities, and teaching life skills through farming.

Mr. Le Thanh Tuan, a representative of Bana Rita Glamping Farm, said that the farm covers an area of ​​50,000 square metres, and it was used to grow green-skinned pomelo trees using organic practices. In 2022, he participated in a pilot project by 2025 to develop tourism services related to agriculture, forestry and aquaculture in Hoa Vang District. Hence, Mr. Tuan boldly launched a glamping site service in combination with offering farm experience in order to provide an opportunity for participants to see, touch and taste life on his farm.

“If going for your ordinary camping trip, you should prepare your own tents, utensils, and food. If you use our glamping service, you can choose your camp sites and pay for using a tent equipped with amenities, and such basic things such as mattress, pillow, flashlight, mosquito repellent. In addition, you will feel comfortable and safe enjoying the outdoors and our food service while using our glamping service,", Mr. Tuan added.

Active support from authorities at local level

In its efforts to tap the full potential of camping and nature tourism plus eco-tourism, the Hoa Vang District People's Committee has issued policies and mechanisms to facilitate tourism businesses to invest in these aspects for local sustainable development goals.

Mrs. Le Thi Nam Phuong, the CEO of the L.I.F.E Investment Joint Stock Company, the developer of the Toom Sara Village eco-tourism area, said that this tourist site took shape in Hoa Phu Commune in 2020, and it was created  under the criterion of ‘green, clean and healthy environment’. She attributed the initial success of the Toom Sara Village to active support from the Hoa Vang District Authorities as they have given the green light to her company to develop this tourist site and organize the “Co Tu show” program here.

“We consider this support as a great handshake of investors and local authorities to develop new tourism products in Da Nang which offer a special or unique value to tourists," said Mrs. Nam Phuong.

The creation of the Toom Sara Village aims to provide a friendly space to visit in Da Nang’s rural area. Apart from beautiful, solidly built houses with specular views scattered throughout the tourist site, there are dozens of tents available in the most beautiful areas of this site to offer amazing camping experiences to visitors. The stream, trees, rambutan garden, wild banana populations, myrtle hill remain unchanged in this site. Furthermore, top priority is given to using bamboo, rattan, leaf and paper utensils in the tourist site . Moreover, the Toom Sara Village also offers farming and cultural experiences to visitors.

Adequate facilities and amenities for visitors

According to Mrs. Nam Phuong, in addition to activities aimed at retrieving the Co Tu ethnic minority group’s cultural heritage, the Toom Sara Village plans to organize a singing program named ‘Km 432’ about the people of the Co Tu villages in Da Nang and Quang Nam Province. This is a tourism program that adds social value to our communities with active involvement of experts in the spa and beauty industry, plus young people who love vocational education tourism service and volunteer tourism. The "Km 432" program will provide vocational training for young Co Tu people during the daytime, and offer cultural exchanges where participants can learn about the land and people of the Co Tu people during night hours.

It is high time for rural areas in the west of the city to take advantage of nature in and around their localities to develop the tourism industry and increase local people's income as nature tourism has emerged as a new and sustainable travel trend.

In Hoa Bac commune, ecotourism has helped to develop agricultural and sightseeing tours that provide travelers who like to join the active tours as farming to join the farming activities and explore rural areas. In addition, farming classes are open to school pupils on weekends. Joining these tours, you will visit the Guol house, and explore the Co Tu people’s culture , including learning about their traditional weaving craft, watching Ly singing and Za Za dance performance, listening to stories told by the village elders, then go back to the village to stay at homestays along the Cu De River to rest and enjoy local foods.

Especially, in order to meet the diverse needs of visitors, eight groups involving in community-based eco-tourism have been set up in the two villages of Ta Lang and Gian Bi. They provide such services as gong performances, food, music performances, trekking, weaving craft, Ly singing performance, brocade weaving, and narrations with the participation of 62 households. These groups operate methodically, with the support of tourism experts and researchers of the Co Tu people’s culture.

Mr Phan Van Ton, the Chairman of the Hoa Vang District People's Committee highlighted the significance of Hoa Vang District's community-based tourism development project for the 2020-2025 period, with a vision to 2030, and a pilot project to promote the development of tourism services associated with agriculture, forestry and aquaculture in the district by 2025 in facilitating many private businesses to develop outdoor tourism. Included are camping, picnics, trekking, river games and farm tours. Mr. Ton hopes that the district will create new experiential rural tourism products in an attempt to attract domestic and foreign tourists to the countryside to experience rural life.

Reporting by TIEU YEN – Translating by H.L