Hoa An is a commune directly under Cao Lanh city (TPCL), with a natural area of ​​1,122.5 ha divided into 6 hamlets, with 4,486 households; It is a place with a long history and a strong tradition of revolutionary struggle. Not only leaving an unforgettable historical mark, that is the first Party cell of the province, born (November 1929), but from the day of liberation until now, people in Hoa An commune have joined together and worked together to build build a rich and beautiful homeland. Creating a new face, restoring the "title" of Hoa An plum, which is famous in TPCL, has been eroded . Over the past time, in order to preserve the fine cultural and spiritual values ​​left by the ancients; creating a characteristic for TPCL - The name of the tree associated with the land name appears over 100 years. Plum cotton is very beautiful, plums make many delicious dishes. Plum Hoa An has entered the top 20 delicious and novel dishes in Vietnam announced by the Vietnam Record Organization. This is the ideal place for rest and relaxation after hard working days; brings great experiences to those who come to Hoa An like traveling with a "fairy" in the garden.

First of all, you must listen to the "fairy" about the sights of Hoa An historic works

"Our people must know our history, Let us know the
origin of the country of Vietnam"

Yes, the Hoa An people who work on tourism more or less introduce to visitors that this is one of the meaningful destinations such as going "back to the source" or going "looking for a red address". The place that early responded to the proletarian Revolution movement that was absorbed and spread about Vietnam by Uncle Ho is one of the cradles of the Revolution in Dong Thap that recorded in history. In particular, in the 20s, Hoa An honored to welcome Mr. Nguyen Sinh Sac, Mr. Nguyen Sinh Sac, to cultivate the thought of patriotism and fight against foreign aggression, helping to multiply the inherent patriotic tradition of Hoa An people. .Those great contributions, especially achievements in the resistance war against the US, the Hoa An People and a party member, Tran Thi Thu, are honored to be awarded the title Hero of the People's Armed Forces by the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. people. This honor and pride is not only the Party Committee and People of Hoa An, but also the entire Party, army and people of Dong Thap province.

On the Hoa Dong route in Hoa An commune, there are two historical and cultural works, that is the stele marked with martyrs and souvenir stele where the first Communist Party cell of Sa Dec was established (now Dong Thap. ). The beer and beer house is located in Hoa Loi hamlet, Hoa An commune - where the first Party Branch of the province was born, at that time called An Nam Communist Party. The Party cell has 6 members (3 Hoa An). Beer design is a large hammer and sickle, symbolizing the Party flag. On the hammer head is a stylized lotus with many wings overlapping like historical pages, in the middle is a floating arc with the words An Nam Communist Party. Below is the first line of Chi Bo. Beer is placed on a high background. In the front is a yard and a road leading to concrete, with flower beds, beautiful plants. Next to there are 10 big trees to give shade Behind there are rows of blind trees.

Figure 1. Souvenir stele where the first Communist Party Branch of Dong Thap province was established

In addition, in Hoa An commune, there is also 01 Kim Quang pagoda in Dong Binh hamlet, Hoa An commune (adjacent to Ward 6, TPCL), 01 Temple of Quan Thanh De Quan in Dong Binh hamlet (near Thong Luu market). This place is also the destination of spiritual tourism. Spiritual tourism has become a cultural beauty of the Vietnamese people, generally handed down for thousands of generations, a piece of the puzzle for festivals and Lunar New Year. Not only paying homage, worshiping, praying for peace for the family, but going to a place of spiritual and spiritual tourism as purity, it is an indispensable spiritual dish in the majority of the people.

Next, listen to "fairy" about Hoa An community tourism

Garden homestay is a new and unique type of tourism in Dong Thap province, including Hoa An commune, TPCL. This model is considered very suitable for travelers who want to experience the rustic life of the West. In December 2020, Dong Thap province officially opened the community tourist destination Duyencasa Hoa An Homestay.

Figure 2. Delegates cut the ribbon to open the Duyencasa Hoa An Homestay Community Tourist Site

This is a community tourism destination, one of the best places to stay in TPCL. Duyencasa has 2 facilities: Facility 1 is located on Le Van Cu Street, a motel designed in association with nature, with a green tourist garden, such as mango trees, longan, and bushes, each season has a characteristic floral fragrance. Facility 2 is located on Rach Ba Moi Street, Hoa An Commune, TPCL. The total scale of these two establishments is about 5,000 m2. Design the second phase motel in a modern style for visitors to have more different spatial experiences , with a new one for visitors to choose from.

Here, visitors can cycle to visit orchards in Hoa An and neighboring communes with experience, resort services, homestay, swimming pool ... To home garden tourism destinations, visitors Not only enjoy the fresh air and beauty of the countryside, but also have many unforgettable experiences. It is sitting in the small leaf buds in the garden and walking around the gardens, enjoying many delicious plants, such as plums, mangoes and using specialties such as steamed snakehead fish in Hoa An plum, plum jam, mango jam, Delicious dishes from mango, plum ... the home garden tourist spot also has the program Do Ca Tai Tu, Cai Luong singing, souvenir sales ... Derived from the love for nature, the desire to promote garden tourism. coming to tourists near and far, but the owner of the community tourist destination Duyencasa Hoa An Homestay has the idea of ​​forming this tourist destination. This is also a bright spot for connecting community tourism development.

K recover and develop orchards, create a destination for visitors

With the potential and advantages in soil, agricultural production is still its strength, economic development from fruit growing, in which mango is the main one, has brands and names in the domestic and foreign markets. Water - That is Cao Lanh Mango. In recent times, many people have boldly converted their inefficient rice-growing areas to crops and fruit trees in the direction of linking sub-regions with a solid dyke system. At the same time, the field of trade - service also increased in quantity and quality, contributing to job creation for local workers, especially in the recovery and development of Hoa An plum.

Figure 3. Plum Hoa An - a tree restored and developed by the locality

Previously, almost every house planted, along Nguyen Thai Hoc Street, Hoa Long Hamlet, there were dozens of households growing plum. Planting is not for every house but the common pride of Hoa An - Cao Lanh land. But due to urbanization, the influence of weather and more and more new plums in the market ... the area of ​​growing plums in Hoa An is getting narrower. At the end of 2015, the People's Committee of TPCL supported gardeners to restore plum gardens associated with sightseeing, with a few households implementing, producing according to a safe process, using microbiological organic fertilizers and fruit bags, Before, due to not taking care of, the yield was low, the fruit was lost all over the garden. Recently, the gardeners started to take care of them again and cut branches and plant more trees in the garden, to earn more income for the family, the oldest tree is now 97 years old.

Figure 4. The Farmers Union and TPCL Economic Division jointly organize a plum orchard restoration demonstration

Restoring Hoa An plum is to preserve the fine cultural and spiritual values ​​of the ancient people left to the people of this beautiful countryside; at the same time, for economic development associated with community tourism development. Because, in the flowering season, the fruit here is more vibrant , the fruit has a sweet and sour taste. When ripe, it has a characteristic pink color, branches hanging on the tree. Plums process many delicious dishes such as snakehead fish steamed with plum, sour soup, plum hot pot, making jam ... Everyone wants to try it every time. Plums are available everywhere, but Hoa An plums have different flavors such as sour, sweet, and acrid, different from other plums. Average selling price is 30-40 thousand VND / kg ... Plum is one of the most popular crops in many localities.

Figure 5. Plum steamed snakehead fish plate

 It is very respectable that although the current area of ​​Hoa An plum is not much, there are still many households in Hoa An commune dedicated to preserving the precious plum variety bearing their local name. This activity has brought about positive results initially. Thanks to the gardening households, plum are located adjacent to the countryside. This is very suitable for tourism development, Hoa An plum garden tourism can be very poetic and charming, with home-grown tourist destinations, visitors not only enjoy the fresh air and scent. of plum blossoms combines the admiration of the beauty of the plum blossoms, like the beauty of a "fairy" in the countryside but also has many unforgettable experiences, creating an entertainment area with folk games with plum cotton very beautiful (with plum blossoms - charm, wreaths, hairpin ... to remember childhood).

Figure 6. Plum cotton

Both agricultural production and tourism, the farmers here always warmly welcome visitors to the garden, from Hoa Long hamlet along Nguyen Huu Kien, Rach Ba Buoi there are many households planting Hoa An plum varieties. ; Last year, there were 26 plums growing households, with an area of ​​2.7 hectares, this year mobilized the development of 10 more plum growing households. There are 36 plums growing households with an area of ​​3.7 ha. Establishment of 01 Hoa An plum cooperative group consisting of 16 members, area of ​​1.7 hectares, the organic plum model with 8 members, area of ​​0.97 hectares. Tourism development in the direction of expanding and exploiting linkages between different types of local tourism, in order to harmonize the interests of tourism organizations, the interests of local communities, with participation of the community, pay attention to the direction of the local government to contribute to the local rural development in a sustainable direction.

Figure 7. Plums Hoa An is in harvest season

To identify tourism as one of the important areas in socio-economic development for Hoa An commune. Hoa An has been linking the tourist destination Duyencasa Homestay Hoa An with gardeners, tourist destinations in Tan Thuan Tay commune, cycling experience along Tien river ... On the other hand, the locality maintains reality. At present, in the year of urban civilization, implementing sanitation and planting flowers, green trees are still thin for the roads registered for the commune and hamlet, so far the flower and greenery routes have flowered sprouting things more, the roads are clean, beautiful and well ventilated. As a result, 861 officials, civil servants, teachers, union members, members and 584 people participated in the week's implementation. The transport - irrigation system is deployed quite synchronously, in which many works are done under the motto "The State and people work together", contributing to improving the material and spiritual life of people in the commune, ready to welcome tourists to visit. This shows that the people's awareness and consensus on cultural - tourism development is very high; This is a favorable condition for Hoa An commune to restore this plum variety in the coming time to better serve tourism development.

However, there are also some difficulties and problems that need to be removed

- Typical local brand products are monotonous, low quality of service, not creating the ability to keep visitors coming back.

- There are not many fun activities, entertainment, experiences, shopping to create a sense of excitement, attraction, keeping visitors for a few days.

- The professional qualifications and skills of workers in the tourism sector have not yet met development requirements; Human resources to serve tourism development are limited.

- Not much connection with tours, tourist routes from neighboring areas.

- The investment and development funding for tourism is limited and inconsistent; The level of community participation in tourism activities is low, mainly spontaneous.

Draw some valuable lessons and experiences

Firstly, actively communicating, propagating and promoting the image and potential of Hoa An commune is the driving force for tourism development, contributing to economic development.

Secondly, to promote the advantages of the locality, continue to develop complete tourism products typical of each site - in doing so, tourism will develop sustainably.

Third, only developing specific tourism products in the area, diversifying tourism products; rationally exploiting resources to develop tourism.

Fourthly, doing well regional integration, improving socio-economic and environmental efficiency, contributing to improving people's lives, beneficiaries are also the first tourists who are local people.

Fifth, if Hoa An locality can do better in regional integration, improve socio-economic and environmental efficiency, it will contribute to improving both the material and spiritual life of the Hoa People. An . Hoa An will definitely be in the top tourist cluster of the province.

For the "Fairy" of Hoa An garden tourism to develop quickly and sustainably, it is necessary to need a number of solutions:

1. Promoting the role of socio-political organizations and models of clubs, self-governance, clubs ... in the construction of garden tourism, Hoa An is truly "an attractive tourist destination. guide - safe - friendly - quality "Do not let the" beheading tourists "happen but lose the beautiful image of the people of this revolutionary area. cooperation, association, promotion, promotion and branding in tourism.

2. The gardening house that is tourism must closely link with scientists and engineers to apply advanced technical processes to fruit trees. At the same time, grasp the knowledge to act as a tour guide for your facility.   

2. To link tourist enterprises, tourist zones, tourist sites and accommodation establishments to tourists and invest in exploiting services in planned tourist development zones and spots in Hoa An commune.

3. To step up the creation of capital sources for socialization, mobilize investment capital for tourist development spots and tourist activities.

4. Intensively exploiting traditional cuisine and processing new dishes, creating a unique "culinary culture" for Hoa An commune to meet the needs of guests to prolong their stay.

5. Create unique travel products such as souvenir packages from Plums: jam, juice; Plum, mango seedlings (accompanied by fertilizers, compact design).

6. Coordinate the organization of cultural events - Sports - Tourism, develop the type of singer song. At the same time, to restore a number of traditional means of passenger transport to serve tourists such as cyclo, rickshaw, bicycle ... to create excitement for visitors.

7. Organizing training courses on cultivation techniques, service culture skills, communication skills and behavior for the labor force in tourism business establishments and workers directly serving them. To create conditions for tourism administrators and workers in tourism business establishments to learn experiences in tourism development in regions of the country and places where the tourism industry thrives.

In short, with the mark of the establishment of the first Communist Party Branch of Dong Thap province is also the highlight of the tourist destination, with the feature of the land with warm sunshine all year round, favorable climatic conditions. for fruit trees to develop, especially the Dam tree associated with the famous place name Plum Hoa An for generations. T tigers soil that natural gift for Hoa An is the potential strengths and weights o no small attraction for visitors four directions while in Hoa An, is a prerequisite for the development of community tourism. Visiting Plum Garden is one of the new tours of the Province. Visitors will hear the "fairy" traveling with the garden tell historical events ,introducing Western dishes bearing the essence of the countryside, participating in folk games, enjoying very rustic dishes ... make sure that when leaving their hearts, visitors are still attached and unforgettable.

Dr. Ho Thi Hong Cuc, Dong Thap Community College