Vietnam’s Thai Hai eco-ethnic stilt village protected area has been included in the 32 best tourist villages in 2022 announced by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).
The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has just announced a list of 32 destinations worldwide as “Best Tourist Villages in 2022”. Contributing to this list is the protected eco-ethnic stilt village of Thai Hai in Vietnam.
Thai Hai stilt house village (Thinh Duc, Thai Nguyen town) covers an area of about 25 hectares, surrounded by mountains, trees, flowers, large lakes. There are 30 houses on stilts hundreds of years old, bought in Dinh Hoa area (Thai Nguyen), transported and restored to become the residence of 30 families with 4 generations like today.
Together, these families maintain and preserve traditional cultural features such as language, customs, rituals, and costumes. They promote the local cultural potential to form unique tourism products, such as organizing traditional spiritual festivals or selecting people with relatively stable cultural knowledge and language skills to become guides.
Tourists visiting Thai Hai village stay in stilt houses with the locals so that visitors can learn about their cuisine, culture or farming activities, livestock and handicrafts of the Tay people.
In 2022, a total of 136 villages were eligible for nomination by 57 UNWTO member states. Of these, 32 villages from 18 countries around the world have been recognized and awarded. Tourist villages are assessed by an independent advisory board based on a set of criteria: cultural and natural resources; means for preserving and promoting culture; economic, social and environmental sustainability; tourism development and value chain linking; tourism management and priorities; infrastructure and connectivity; health, safety and security.
Photo: Thai Hai stilt house village
Zurab Pololikashvili, Secretary General of the UNWTO, commented: “For rural communities around the world, tourism can hold the key to changing people’s lives in a holistic way, creating jobs, supporting local businesses and preserving traditional values” .
In addition to the 32 villages that have been recognized and awarded, 20 other villages have also been included in the UNWTO upgrade program to help support villages that still do not meet the criteria for recognition. All 52 villages will be part of UNWTO’s Global Network of Best Tourist Villages (established in 2021, which has so far brought together 115 villages from five continents). The network offers a number of benefits, including on-site and online training, experience sharing and increased international brand awareness and recognition.
@ Vietnam net
