From the mountainous villages that have been stuck to the fields all year round and their precarious lives, Lang Son people are gradually rising out of poverty with their own stilt houses, living standards and cultural identity.
Community tourism not only brings tourists to the highlands, but also opens up new livelihoods, helping many families change their lives, so that the village is no longer held to poverty like before.
In many mountainous communes of Lang Son, the story of poverty reduction has been associated with disjointed agricultural production, dependence on weather, and low income. Young people leave the village to work far away, women at home turn around their fields, life is winding around in a vicious cycle of "losing crops and food".
But in recent years, a new direction has been gradually taking shape and showing clear effectiveness, developing community tourism (CTC), taking people as the subject, taking identity as the resource, and taking sustainable livelihoods as the goal.
From rice fields to tourism
Bac Son commune used to be a purely agricultural area, where people's livelihoods mainly depended on growing rice and small-scale livestock. In 2010, Mr. Duong Cong Trich's family was one of the pioneering households that boldly borrowed capital, converting their livelihood model from raising livestock to doing community tourism.
"When we first started working, many people in the village were worried. Travel was still strange at that time, no one was sure if there were visitors or not. But if we continue to farm, we will always be poor, Mr. Trich recalled.
Initially, his family renovated the stilt house, keeping the traditional architecture to welcome guests. Daily meals, village stories, and familiar activities suddenly became an attractive "tourism product" for tourists.
"Homestay business not only helps my family have a stable income but also creates jobs for the villagers. Income from tourism is much higher than that from agriculture. Just having 2-3 groups of visitors per month is equivalent to a whole year of farming, Mr. Trich shared.
Thanks to traveling, his family has the opportunity to renovate their house, invest in their children's education, and gradually stabilize their lives. More importantly, Mr. Trich's family's model has become a motivation for many other households to boldly follow.
From a few pioneering households, Quynh Son community tourism village now has 12 accommodation facilities, creating a new look for a village that once faced many difficulties in livelihood.
According to Mr. Trinh Minh Tuan - Chairman of the People's Committee of Bac Son commune, DLCD is becoming an effective solution to reduce poverty in the locality. Community tourism helps people have jobs on the spot, increasing income through accommodation, cuisine, and experiential services. More importantly, people should proactively participate and benefit directly from tourism, Mr. Tuan affirmed.
In the first 11 months of 2025 alone, Quynh Son village welcomed nearly 16,000 visitors, including nearly 1,000 overnight guests. Many households from disadvantage have risen to stabilize their lives, gradually escaping poverty thanks to tourism.
Village escape poverty from stilt houses
If Quynh Son is a bright spot in Bac Son district, Huu Lien Resettlement Village (Huu Lien commune) is a vivid proof that community tourism can become a "leverage" to escape poverty sustainably.
Previously, the economy of Huu Lien people mainly depended on agriculture. The terrain is divided, and production land is limited, making the lives of many households difficult. The family of Ms. Leo Thi Thim was one of them.
Previously, my family mainly worked in the fields, with unstable incomes and enough to eat, making it difficult to talk about saving, Ms. Thim said.
In 2017, when the local government promoted and mobilized the construction of a homestay model, her family decided to borrow 50 million VND to renovate the stilt house and open a Green Forest Homestay. At first, everything was new, from welcoming guests, cooking, cleaning the room to communication.
"There are also times when I worry because I am not used to the service. But with the support of the commune for training, and the number of customers coming every day, my family gradually has a stable income, Ms. Thim shared.
In 2020, her family continued to invest in building a new homestay, expanding experiential services such as foot soaks, Dao medicine baths, packaging black Chung cakes, pumpkin cakes, and kayaking.
Currently, the family's two homestays welcome an average of 180 - 200 visitors per month, the income after deducting expenses reaches about 45 million VND/month, a number that the family had never previously thought of.
Not only Ms. Thim's family, from the initial pioneering models, after more than 8 years, Huu Lien DLCD village has developed to 36 homestays, creating jobs for hundreds of local workers, most of whom are local women and youth.
According to Mr. Khong Hong Minh - Vice Chairman of Huu Lien Commune People's Committee, tourism has become a new pillar of livelihood for the people. Since the beginning of the year, Huu Lien DLCD village has welcomed over 42,000 visitors, with tourism revenue estimated at over 15.3 billion VND. Average income per capita in 2025 is estimated to reach 42 million VND, the poverty rate will decrease to 4.2%, said Mr. Minh.
The common point of the DLCD models in Lang Son is that people do not have to leave their homeland to make a living. On the contrary, stilt houses, terraced fields, handicrafts, traditional cuisine, and folk music become a source of livelihood.
According to the provincial tourism industry, in the period of 2022 - 2025, the number of visitors to Lang Son will increase by an average of more than 28% per year, from 3.5 million visitors in 2022 to an expected 4.44 million visitors in 2025. Behind that growth is hundreds of households with more jobs, many villages have changed significantly in appearance and life.
Speaking with Lao Dong reporter, Mr. Luu Ba Mac - Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Lang Son province - said: "We determine that tourism will only develop sustainably when people are truly involved and benefit. Community tourism is not only a tourism product, but also an effective and long-term solution to reduce poverty".
According to Mr. Mac, the province focuses on supporting people in skills training, connecting tours, building brands, while linking tourism with cultural preservation and environmental protection.
"The good news is that people have believed in tourism. When they see tourism as a real source of income, they will proactively preserve the landscape, identity and improve the quality of services, he said.
Currently, in Lang Son province, there are 6 DLCD villages recognized by the Provincial People's Committee, including Quynh Son, Huu Lien, Yen Thinh, Vu Lang, Mong An, Chien Thang. Many points after being invested and put into operation have demonstrated their effectiveness, becoming a model of sustainable poverty reduction for ethnic minority areas.
In particular, in 2025, DLCD Quynh Son village was recognized by the United Nations Tourism Organization (UN Tourism) as the World's Best Tourist Village. These titles not only have promotional significance, but also affirm the value of the tourism development path associated with hunger eradication and poverty reduction.
In addition, UNESCO's recognition of Lang Son Global Geopark also opens up great opportunities for DLCD villages to connect with visitors to research and explore, thereby increasing the livelihood value for people in the highlands.
When people travel with their own homes and identity, they not only preserve their culture and villages, but also preserve their long-term livelihoods. And when the mountainous villages change every day thanks to tourism, that is also the time when the story of poverty reduction in the highlands is no longer a slogan, but becomes a vivid reality from the lives of the people.
