Surveying the OCOP Community Tourism Development Model Linked with Cultural Values and Traditional Crafts in Kuop Village, Dray Sap Commune, Krong Ana District (20/05/2024, 08:16)

On May 7, the Provincial New Rural Development Coordination Office (Department of Agriculture and Rural Development) collaborated with the Department of Culture, Sports, and Tourism to conduct a survey on the OCOP community tourism development model linked with cultural values and traditional crafts in Kuop Village, Dray Sap Commune, Krong Ana District.

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The survey team working with evaluation units to build the model.

Mr. Duong Tin Duc, Deputy Head of the Provincial New Rural Development Coordination Office, stated that the team conducted on-site surveys of infrastructure, assessed investment needs, alignment with local planning, objectives, and the actual situation in the locality, investment content, investment scale, and funding sources to provide a basis for submission to the Provincial People's Committee for consideration and approval of the project.

According to the draft of the Krong Ana District People's Committee, the proposed investment for the OCOP community tourism development model linked with cultural values and traditional crafts in Kuop Village, Dray Sap Commune is 20 billion VND, including 10 billion VND from central funding and 10 billion VND from local matching funds.

Supportive investment includes building a community activity center in Kuop Village, constructing typical long houses of the Ede people, constructing an outdoor stage within the community activity center area in Kuop Village, setting up booths to display local products, and technical infrastructure (concrete ground, gates, walls, drainage systems, solar lights, landscaping, tourist maps, etc.).

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The Department of Culture, Sports, and Tourism of Dak Lak Province organized the Community Tourism Announcement Ceremony for Kuop Village in March 2024

The objective of implementing the project is to establish Kuop Community Tourism Village meeting all criteria to complete registration, evaluation, and ranking of OCOP tourism service products, serving as a model for other localities to follow. By 2025, the Kuop Community Tourism Project, Dray Sap Commune, is aimed to be recognized with 3 stars or more in Group 6 of OCOP product categories: Community tourism services, ecotourism, and tourist destinations under the OCOP Program; The estimated number of tourists in 2025 in the area is around 240,000 visitors.

Regarding the economic and social effectiveness of the model, it contributes to changing the landscape of Buon Kuop rural area, increasing sustainable livelihoods for the people of Buon Kuop, promoting and preserving traditional culture, gradually developing the district into a tourist destination, and creating new tourism products for Dak Lak province. Connecting the community tourism points of Buon Kuop and Dray Sap commune with nearby tourist destinations to serve domestic and international tourists, inviting them to visit, experience, and stay locally. The Buon Kuop community tourism project in Dray Sap commune will integrate into a high-quality, diverse, branded tourism complex with the characteristics of the district, attracting tourists to visit, experience local services, purchase local products, thereby enhancing the value of local products and becoming an important economic sector of the district.

An assessment by Krong Ana district shows that Buon Kuop still has about 50 traditional long houses, and the people's lives still face many difficulties. The inhabitants mainly cultivate cashew nuts, coffee, rice, and flowers; and the primary livestock includes cattle, goats, and pigs. The population of Buon Kuop is mostly indigenous people (Ede and Mnong), with a long-standing cultural tradition such as the Central Highlands gong culture (still preserved by artisans), Ay Ray singing, Xoang dance, and some festivals such as Water Wharf Ceremony, New Rice Ceremony, Giang Ceremony, Longevity Ceremony, etc. There are also artisans crafting ethnic musical instruments, making Can wine, weaving brocade, growing mushrooms, and abundant local products serving culinary tourism development.

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Artisans and performers from Buon Kuop's cultural troupe performed gong music and xoang dance at the Community Tourism Announcement Ceremony in Buon Kuop.

The community tourism potential of Buon Kuop includes the Dray Sap Thượng- Dray Nur waterfall cluster. High Dray Sap waterfall (also known as Gia Long waterfall) was recognized by the Ministry of Culture and Information, now the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, as a National Cultural Historical Site on January 4, 1999. About 2 km from High Dray Sap waterfall is Dray Nur waterfall, recognized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as a National Scenic Site on January 26, 2011. Annually, there are over 100,000 visitors to High Dray Sap and Dray Nur waterfalls (including about 10,000 international visitors), generating revenue of over 10 billion VND. In 2019, Dang Le Tourism Investment Company launched adventure tours at Dray Sap Thượng and Dray Nur waterfalls, bringing tourism potential to the district.

The Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism assesses that Buon Kuop has enough factors to invest in and develop into a tourism OCOP product. The traditional culture of the ethnic minority Ede people is still preserved, the village space and long house architecture remain intact, traditional occupations still exist, and they have been approached for tourism purposes, initially serving cuisine, gong performances for visitors. Buon Kuop is one of the villages selected for community tourism development support according to Resolution 08/2021/NQ-HDND dated August 13, 2021, of the People's Council of Dak Lak Province on supporting the development of community tourism in ethnic minority villages and communities in Dak Lak province. Building this model will promote the cultural identity of ethnic minorities, awaken the potential and pride of the local indigenous people, and promote the development of OCOP tourism products, contributing to improving the material, spiritual, and living environment of the local indigenous people.

Buon Kuop is located west of Dray Sap commune, 8 km from the commune center, and 21 km from the center of Buon Ma Thuot city. It has convenient transportation with 2 main roads: the road from Buon Kuop through the center of Dray Sap commune to Provincial Road 2 is 9 km; from Buon Kuop through Hoa Phu Industrial Park to National Highway 14 is 14 km (the main road operating the Buon Kuop Hydropower Plant), which is convenient for tourism exploitation. The population consists of 306 households, 1922 individuals, including 213 households and 1153 individuals of indigenous ethnic groups (Ede, Mnong), accounting for 73%. The village has two main religions: Christianity and Buddhism, with stable political security and social order. Buon Kuop has a natural area of about 1,286 hectares, of which forests account for about 30%. The Serepok River runs along the length of the village for about 10 km, with the High Dray Sap - Dray Nur waterfall cluster.

Kim Bao