The logo of new rural area development.

The entrance to Vĩnh Phú Village, Hòa An Commune - a typical new rural area in Phú Yên Province. VNS Photo

PHÚ YÊN — The central province of Phú Yên has planned that by 2025, each district, town, and city will have at least one rural tourism destination specialising in agriculture, culture, craft villages, and ecological environment.

The province has also set targets to have 50 per cent of rural tourism service businesses meeting quality standards.

It has pledged to enhance rural tourism associated with digital transformation at 50 per cent of the destinations recognised to be digitalised and 50 per cent of them to be popularised on tourism websites applying digital technology.

The province has vowed to have all destinations ready to welcome tourists and 50 per cent of them to be promoted by applying electronic transactions in tourism activities.

All rural tourism facility owners will be trained tourism management skills and 80 per cent of rural tourism employees including at least 50 per cent of female workers to be provided traing courses to improve their professional service skills.

Phú Yên's Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has been assigned to preside over the construction and implementation of the provincial agricultural tourism programme.

The department should review and advise on supplementary policies to encourage and attract investments in rural tourism development, especially in the field of training and capacity building for locals to understand âbout rural tourism through agricultural product connection programmes and the OCOP model.

According to the plan set up by the People's Committee of Phú Yên, rural tourism development is one of the key solutions and tasks of the National Targeted Program on New Rural Development in the period 2021-25.

Rural tourism is developed based on changes in agricultural production and rural economic development, contributing to supporting localities to effectively and sustainably implement the new rural criteria.

The province aims to promote rural tourism development associated with potentials and advantages in agriculture, craft villages, traditional culture, landscape and ecological environment protection, creating unique tourism products, improving the quality of life for locals and helping boost the rural economic restructure towards multi-value and sustainable development.

Hồ Văn Nhân, the deputy head of the Provincial Coordination Office of the National Targeted Program on New Rural Development said after more than 10 years of building new rural areas, 63 out of 83 communes have been recognised by the Provincial People's Committee as satisfying the new rural criteria, of which 15 have advanced high rural standards.

The province's two districts of Tây Hòa and Phú Hòa have been certified by the Prime Minister as meeting new rural standards.

Director of Phú Yên Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism (DoCST), Phạm Văn Bảy, said the province, with its beautiful natural landscapes and treasures of indigenous culture, customs, traditions, rich lifestyle and cuisine, promises great potential for strong development of rural and community tourism.

However, he said, this type of tourism is currently still fragmented and spontaneously developing

To effectively exploit rural tourism potentials in the province, create conditions for locals to participate in the sector, increase incomes and promote local traditional values to help boost socio-economic development, DoCST has suggested the provincial People's Committee to issue policies on building a project-themed "Tourism Development Community in Phú Yên until 2030".

The project will point out advantages, limitations, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and challenges for developing rural community tourism in the province. From then on, it will set targets and orientations, find solutions, implement and further develop this type of tourism. VNS