With the desire to develop craft village tourism and increase experiences for tourists, in recent years, the Nam O fish sauce craft village has been receiving special attention from local authorities and tourism businesses. However, more investment is needed in order for the Nam O fish sauce craft village to truly become an attractive tourist destination for tourists in the near future.

The development of tourism products associated with local culture and cuisine for tourists to experience is necessary. IN PHOTO: International tourists experience local dishes with Nam O fish sauce at the Huong Lang Co fish sauce making facility. Photo: THU HA

According to tourism experts, the Nam O fish sauce craft village is one of the city’s 7 intangible cultural heritages included in the list of national intangible cultural heritages.

The Nam O fish sauce craft village is located in the Nam O Village which boasts amazing natural landscape, and great cultural and historical value, making it very convenient to develop the craft village into a unique and attractive tourism product in the city.

Mr. Tran Ngoc Vinh, the Chairman of the Nam O Traditional Fish Sauce Craft Village Association, said that along with the production, preservation and development of the craft village, the association has mobilised its members to build a story about Nam O fish sauce, make ‘mam’ (fish sauce) coffee product, and welcome groups of tourists to visit the craft village.

Over the past time, the craft village has welcomed more than 5,000 domestic and foreign tourists to visit and learn about the fish sauce production model.

The Huong Lang Co fish sauce production facility also organises activities for Tiktokers to visit and experience the life of the craft village such as going to the dawn market to buy seafood, cooking at local families, exploring craft village relics, and enjoying local specialties.

Vice Chairman of Lien Chieu District People's Committee Tran Cong Nguyen informed that in order to develop craft village tourism, functional sectors and localities have laid an emphasis on restoring historical relics such as Nam O village communal house and Whale Temple; preparing presentations and interpretations about relic sites; and preserving and promoting the cultural values ​​of the relics.

With community-based tourism activities associated with local cultural life, visitors can learn about the history, culture, and customs of the locality, contributing to raising awareness of the traditional cultural values ​​of the locality as well as improving the lives of people in craft villages.

According to Deputy Director of the Da Nang Department of Tourism Tan Van Vuong, in order to develop craft villages and lure more visitors to the city, the municipal People's Committee, on October 19, 2022, issued a project “Orientation for Tourism Development in Da Nang to 2030, with a vision to 2045”, identifying cultural - historical tourism and eco-tourism as typical tourism products to create differences and competitive advantages for Da Nang tourism. The project also identified the development of community-based tourism associated with traditional culture in the Nam O Village as the city's main product.

In recent times, the People's Committee of Lien Chieu District has proactively worked with the municipal Department of Tourism, the Department of Culture and Sports, the Department of Education and Training and related units to actively research and propose a number of solutions to develop tourism and fish sauce craft in the Nam O Village.

Also, heed has been on investing in parking infrastructure, upgrading and restoring relics, kicking off the Nam O Eco-tourism Project, inaugurating a public park at the end of Nguyen Tat Thanh Street, and developing presentations about relics associated with Nam O fish sauce craft village.

Notably, the Da Nang Department of Tourism has assisted the local authorities with introducing local tourism and OCOP products, organising training courses on professional skills and tourism services for local people, and working with tourism businesses and travel agencies to exploit school tourism products and experiential activities associated with Nam O fish sauce craft village.

Up to now, community-based tourism and educational tourism programmes associated with local cultural life, Nam O fish sauce craft village, and local cultural and historical relics, have been developed.

However, according to Mr. Tan Van Vuong, in reality, the exploitation of the value of cultural and historical relics of Nam O fish sauce craft village has been still limited and has not really brought about the expected results.

He, therefore, stressed the need for relevant units to have solutions to link tourism with the craft village so that the craft village will become an attractive destination for visitors by investing and completing infrastructure to ensure that households in craft village have space to welcome large groups of visitors, and develop tours to bring more visitors to the craft village to visit and experience.

Relevant units should coordinate with the Da Nang Tourism Association and tourism service providers in the city to advise people on deploying products and services in the Nam O fish sauce craft village that suit tourists' tastes, he added.

Importance should be attached to deploying educational tourism and culinary tourism products combined with learning about culture and history in the Nam O Village; forming a new cluster of tourism products; developing human resources; improving service quality; ensuring environmental sanitation, and food hygiene and safety; and renewing local cultural events and festivals associated with the activities of the fish sauce craft village in order to attract more tourists, he stated.

Reporting by THU HA - Translating by M.DUNG