The first fall and a lesson for maturity
After graduating from Tay Bac College of Arts, A La started with the Hang Kia Tourism - Agricultural Cooperative model. However, the cooperative soon fell into a deadlock due to lack of management experience, lack of legal knowledge from members, and difficulties in mobilizing resources and consensus from the people.
Without hesitation, A La switches to an individual direction, which is to open a family-level community tourism model with the name - A La Homestay. This is a turning point that helps him be more proactive in his way of doing things, controlling service quality, and being flexible with each season and customer conditions. Although the scale is still modest, A La said: "I choose to make small things but still have confidence. Later, I will have experience and will return to support people in building a stronger collective model".
Sowing economic seeds from indigenous culture
With the desire to keep tourists longer in their homeland, A La designs package tours of 1 - 4 days, bringing tourists to experience the H'Mong culture "from A to Z". Visitors can dry sticky rice, forge knives, draw beeswax, dye indigo, cook with locals, pick plums, hunt clouds, climb mountains, swim in streams, camp or exchange culture.
The cost of each tour ranges from 1 - 3 million VND/person, including transportation, accommodation and a full experience. Every month, A La welcomes about 20 - 30 visitors, mainly from Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and some foreign groups. Stable revenue is at 30 - 40 million VND/month, not high but is the foundation for long-term operations.
Participating in the A La tour experience not only helps me explore the unique HMong culture but also clearly sees the connection between tourism workers and local people. From tour guides to serveers, everyone is a local, very friendly and confident. The feeling of being immersed in life here makes me find this trip truly meaningful, said Ms. Khanh Nhung, a tourist from Hanoi.
In addition to tourism, A La also cooperates in selling agricultural products and handmade brocade made by the people of Pa Co. From plums, tomatoes, free-range chickens to brocade scarves... all carry the breath of the Northwest mountains and forests and the skillful hands of the H'Mong people. Tourists not only buy gifts but also bring a cultural story as gifts.
Creating livelihoods - keeping young people in their homeland
Despite its small scale, A La Homestay is creating seasonal jobs for at least 3 permanent workers with an income of about 2 million VND/person/month. In addition, accompanying services such as motorbike taxis, tour guides, and art troupes all mobilize local people, especially young people.
"I try to create a small ecosystem to make people feel beneficial, thereby staying with it for a long time. I pay fairly and support additional skills training for people if needed. Only then can people stay in the village, not have to leave the city to make a living", Giang A La shared.
In a place where many young people have left their hometown to work for hire everywhere, the presence of A La and inspiring tours are contributing to changing the thinking of the people. He not only inspired the young people in the village but also made the whole community see that community tourism is not only about welcoming guests, but also about preserving identity, nurturing traditions and building a future.
A former grassroots Youth Union officer, A La is no stranger to social activities. He has organized many charity programs, planted trees to cause forest damage, gave gifts to poor students, cleaned up the environment... These small but meaningful actions help A La build trust with the government and people.
Mr. Vang A Vu, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Pa Co commune, Phu Tho province, commented: "Gang A La is a typical young man, daring to think and daring to do. His model not only helps preserve national identity, but also brings jobs and livelihoods to the people. Local authorities always support and are ready to accompany the development of sustainable community tourism, contributing to creating jobs for local workers, to reduce the situation of homeless people going to work far away".
Currently, A La is cherishing a plan to expand a long-term tour connecting to Moc Chau, Van Ho (Son La), taking tourists to visit the forest, see the waterfall, experience bathing in hot springs and interact between villages.
Tourists come here not only to take photos, but to live, to feel, to understand us HMong people. I want to keep my national cultural identity, but not let it "cs", but spread so that people see that the H'Mong people can also do tourism in a civilized and increasingly professional way," said A La.
From a young person returning to his hometown with two empty hands, Giang A La is gradually turning Pa Co cloud valley into an attractive destination with identity and future. There, the laughter of tourists resounded with the sound of the flute and the singing of the people. There, the culture is not fading away but is renewed through each story, each experience.
