Giong Trom commune has the advantage of river resources, fruit gardens, and alluvial plains to create a clean environment that attracts more and more tourists to stay longer. Not only that, Giong Trom has 5 craft villages and 12 historical and cultural relics that have gradually become tourist attractions such as the Temple of General Nguyen Thi Dinh, the temple of Lieutenant General Dong Van Cong, My Long rice paper craft village, making Son Doc rice paper...
From a land where people mainly depend on agriculture, Giong Trom has made a new impression in recent years when it became an attractive destination for domestic and foreign tourists with a community tourism model associated with coconut culture. The most prominent of which is Quach Duy Thinh's homestay, a house with a strong Western character and the true sense of "homestay" - living as a family member, experiencing the authentic and cozy local features.
Selling sugar balls that are flooded to maintain homestay
In September 2020, Mr. Thinh quit his management job at a resort due to the Covid pandemic. Amid the precarious situation, the young man from the coconut country sought another job and planned to nurture his love for tourism. When returning to his hometown, looking at his simple place, he was determined to repair his level four house and build a homestay to welcome guests to eat together and relax together, and participate in the daily life of the family.
Mr. Thinh recalled: "Return to my hometown with empty hands. Renovated a level four house when there were only a few million VND in hand. Opening a homestay in the midst of the pandemic is unimaginable. As someone who passed the entrance exam and had opened a homestay at the time of opening, I have been in the profession for nearly 10 years, but I cannot answer anything about a long journey ahead.
Although the capital is not too much, the homestay is gradually taking shape with the tireless efforts of Mr. Thinh and his friends and relatives around. The house has three bedrooms with a capacity of 10 guests, each time welcoming only a group of 2 - 10 people. However, just a few months after getting a business license and opening to welcome guests, the COVID-19 pandemic became more serious.
That was also the most difficult time, the homestay had to close because it could not receive guests, at this time there was no revenue to cover and pay bank interest but I never gave up. I went to sell each tea ball that had water on the full moon day, sold each dried tea ball to send to Ho Chi Minh City agricultural products from the West to maintain the homestay. When people have the biggest incident, the desire to live, work and be shown as themselves is the most intense, Mr. Thinh shared.
However, he spent some of his savings taking care of the house. Visitors who step through the gate will immediately see a typical space of the coconut countryside. From the coconut leaf package in the kitchen, from the stone flour industry to the bamboo shrimp catching tools, the food set such as the stick bowl, bowl warmers... are all arranged in natural harmony.
Community tourism connects tourists with indigenous culture
Tourists coming to Mr. Thinh's homestay are not only staying but also have many creative tour programs. For example, booking classes to make country cakes, or cooking rice with silver shrimp with water to roast coconut milk with the host. The homeowner and the tourist both practice cooking, interact and share experiences to create delicious and round-trip dishes.
In addition, the homestay also arranges a schedule of several hours a day for visitors to feel local life. That experience is sometimes just cycling on the road to see scenery or observe people fishing on rural rivers. Seeing the rhythm of life of the people of the simple coconut land.
Tourists staying at Mr. Thinh's homestay are also taken to the gardens to pick grapefruit and crab vegetables to bring to the homestay as a salad as well as increase the richness of each meal for tourists.
Mr. Thinh said: "I always want to connect households to help people create livelihoods to contribute to a warmer and more prosperous life. Especially creating a balance between rural and urban areas, helping people see indigenous resources and young people like me confidently start a business by using available internal resources".
Currently, visitors have attractive local experiences such as visiting the cocoa garden, raising bees, goats, and rabbits in Mr. and Mrs. Chin Cuong's family, learning to cook traditional dishes with Mrs. Ga, learning to garden and raise cows with Mr. Thanh rum's family, trying making banh khoai at Mr. Bay Kha's house...
Mr. Cuong, from a garden owner who switched to tourism and welcomed guests with Mr. Thinh, realized: Previously, growing cocoa in coconut gardens was not very effective, the selling price was low, but when doing tourism, fresh cocoa could be sold on the spot, the source of income was better. My wife and I can take care of our gardens and raise livestock while earning more income from traveling, so our lives are more stable."
Reaping sweet fruits from rural tourism
After 5 years of a single-pented house, Maison du pays de Ben Tre has become a spacious homestay but still imbued with the character of the coconut country. Currently, the homestay has 4 bedrooms with a capacity of up to 14 guests, but the motto of welcoming and serving guests is still to bring the best and most dedicated experience, so each time they only welcome a group of 2 - 14 guests.
Especially for customers from October to April every year, the homestay welcomes 90% of foreign visitors, mainly from France. Most of the domestic visitors are groups of families and friends from Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi going to relax during the holidays.
During peak season, room occupancy reaches over 70%, creating jobs for 10-20 local households. Thinh's homestay helps people connect together to create a working model to form an increasingly professional community tourism chain. In 2022, the homestay will welcome more than 1,000 guests with 80% being domestic guests. In 2023 and 2024, Mr. Thinh said that each year he will bring 1,500 - 600 visitors, including about 350 international visitors.
In 2025, the highlight of the community tourism journey in his hometown of Giong Trom is that this place has become the setting for many famous reality TV shows. The typical show "Family Haha" with a cast of brothers and sisters gathering together to choose Mr. and Mrs. Chin Cuong's family to stay and experience has created great attraction for young domestic tourists.
The number of customers booking homestays and tours to visit Mr. and Mrs. Chin Cuong's family increased dramatically, filling up all the places during the months of August - October. This not only helps Giong Trom people earn more income but also brings confidence to those working in tourism. Local products such as honey and coconut water are also consumed quickly. The effect of the program has helped the country affirm its position on the tourism map, with close and humane impressions.
At the end of 2025, the homestay celebrated its 5th anniversary and received many recognitions not only locally but also internationally. Vinh Long province selected homestay Maison du pays de Ben Tre in the top 16 typical enterprises of the province in 2025. Homestay received the certificate of "Homestay meeting ASEAN regional standards".
