Only rowing
Developing community tourism in Ha Long Bay, exploiting the traditional cultural beauty, life and customs of famous fishing villages such as Vung Vieng, Cua Van... has been mentioned for many years.
But up to now, the process is "backward" because not only are there no new products, but some unique products that were previously very popular with tourists, such as fishing with fishermen, sailing, dragon boat racing, etc., have been discontinued.
Cruise ship owners and travel companies have repeatedly petitioned to reopen these activities, but authorities are still discussing…
Currently, fishermen are only allowed to participate in one tourism activity in Ha Long Bay: rowing bamboo boats to take tourists on sightseeing tours, because this is the only profession related to them and besides this service, there are no tourism products related to the tangible and intangible values of the fishing community in Ha Long Bay.
However, the number of fishermen participating in rowing bamboo boats on Ha Long Bay is not much, about 80 people, in the two fishing villages of Vung Vieng and Cua Van.
According to Mr. Vu Van Hung - a fisherman of Vung Vieng fishing village, Deputy Head of Van Chai Tourism Service Cooperative - Vung Vieng fishing village used to be one of the most beautiful ancient fishing villages in the world, living in the middle of Ha Long Bay for hundreds of years, with very unique customs, culture and life.
While people have not yet moved ashore, this is a must-see attraction for tourists, especially international visitors.
However, up to now, there are only about 40 villagers who participate in both aquaculture and fishing and rowing bamboo boats to take tourists to visit Vung Vieng fishing village.
“Every day, people take boats from the resettlement area in Ha Phong ward to Vung Vieng to work and return home within the day with a salary of about 6-7 million VND/month/person, not including tips from customers. We hope to open more services to serve tourists and create more jobs for the people of the fishing village,” Mr. Hung shared. “However, for a long time, there has only been the bamboo boat rowing service.”
In the Luon cave area, fishermen currently only provide one service: rowing bamboo boats to take tourists on sightseeing tours.
According to Mr. Tang Van Phien - Head of Van Chai Tourism Service Cooperative - tourists really want to explore and experience the life of fishermen in Ha Long Bay, because just sitting on the boat, going up to the cave and returning to shore makes tourists bored.
Meanwhile, the resources for community tourism in Ha Long Bay are enormous, especially related to the fishing community.
“We have piloted some products before and they were very successful, such as a day as a fisherman. Tourists board boats with fishermen to the fishing grounds. On the way, they can admire the bay and listen to fishermen introduce the fishing village, the water, the fish flow, and how to catch fish…” – Mr. Phien said.
Multi-purpose
The decision to ban fishing in the core area of Ha Long Bay has received public support, as it contributes to gradually reviving the once diverse and abundant irrigation resources here.
However, this also causes difficulties for most of the fishing community that has been attached to Ha Long Bay for generations because they do not have enough conditions to invest in offshore fishing.
But many people and households still live on the river, sometimes fishing illegally, even destructively.
“Why not invite them to do tourism together? They have boats, ships, fishing equipment and know every corner of Ha Long Bay. Of course, we have to train and upgrade and repair the boats to meet the regulations, but we see this as an opportunity to open up special tourism products, while creating jobs for fishermen” – said a representative of a Ha Long Bay tourism company.
Recently, there have been occasional "underground" night squid fishing tours in Ha Long Bay organized by the fishermen themselves because only they know the locations and effective fishing times.
According to representatives of some travel companies, this is a very attractive tourism product, so it is necessary to calculate and build with strict regulations, to both ensure safety and avoid loss of revenue?
“Exploiting the values of the fishing community and fishing villages in Ha Long Bay not only creates more attractive products for tourists, but also preserves and promotes those values, while creating stable jobs for fishermen. By doing so, fishermen will also actively protect the landscape and environment of Ha Long Bay” – Mr. Le Duc Quan – a tourist from Hanoi – shared.
A few years ago, a cruise company that stayed overnight on Ha Long Bay proposed the idea of building a fishing logistics service area combined with tourism in the area bordering Ha Long - Cam Pha.
In addition to having full output and input services, environmental protection, waste and waste management, and fishing ground protection, this area will create high-class and unique service products for Ha Long, Quang Ninh.
There will be tourism products such as: Visiting fishing villages, ship museums, fishing experiences with fishermen; enjoying fishing village cuisine, fishing village homestay, Northeast island cultural festival, etc.
