A decade ago, then-Capilano College instructor Geoffrey Bird established a relationship between the institution's tourism and outdoor recreation faculty and those working to practice sustainable tourism in the remote Sapa region in northern Vietnam.
This week, a delegation of two Capilano University instructors and two students embarked on a three-week visit to two small villages Ta Phin and Lao Chai to monitor the state of those efforts and help villagers make the most of the economic opportunities that tourism can bring without surrendering their unique cultures.
The Sapa region is a popular trekking route for those looking for an authentic experience among some of the country's minority hill tribes, Cap U instructor Stephanie Wells told The Chief. With a grant from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), in 2003 Cap College's tourism and recreation faculty and students began offering those in Ta Phin help, with the goal of ensuring that the tourism industry is sustainable over the long term.
Tourism has great economic benefits but can also have a harmful impact, Wells said. We have a strong focus in our programs on the environment community tourism, sustainable tourism. I think a lot of this all came about because when Geoff was travelling there, he thought this could be a great project for Capilano to take on.
We are the faculty of global and community studies and this fits in with both of those fields.
In Ta Phin, a village of Red Dao people, Cap U staff and students have helped establish a community-based tourism management board that includes representation from those who run homestays in the village, local government, and others involved in the industry, Wells said.
They have helped a group of 10 to 12 women who operate local homestays establish a working relationship with Hanoi-based tourism booking agents, so that guests can book homestay accommodation as part of their hill tribes trek. This eliminates the need for homestay operators to aggressively tout their accommodations to busloads of arriving tourists.
The board helps ensure quality and an equitable rotation among the homestays, Wells said. That's our goal: To build the community so it's not necessarily just one person taking it all.
While many of the villagers have learned English and even have cell phones, Cap U officials stress that it's important for them to retain as much of their culture and traditional way of life as possible. For example, during a recent visit the group told Wells they were thinking of offering a basket weaving class to tourists at 11 a.m. Wells, though, told them that if they would normally be home making lunch for their families at 11 a.m., they should continue to do that.
The idea is that you should not compromise your lifestyle and culture to promote tourism, Wells said. Those small things are so important.
Guests just really like to learn a little about their way of life, which is quite simple. It makes you think when you come home, 'Do I really need all of this?'
The current Cap U visit is being funded through a grant from the Pacific Asia Travel Association. The visit to Ta Phin is merely intended as a chance to monitor the progress made to date and offer some direction, Wells said. Lao Chai, a village of Black Hmong people, is also a popular destination but the tourism infrastructure there is less sophisticated. The Cap U group hopes to help villagers there develop their homestay offerings similar to what's been done in Ta Phin, she said.
Along with Wells, Cap U instructor Chris Carnovale is making the trip, as are Kristine Johnson, who recently graduated from Cap U's Destination Resort Management Program, and Caitlin Rowe, a North Vancouver-based tourism management student.
Students, in fact, are part of each trip Cap U officials make to the region.
The purpose is really for them to engage, learn and bring back the lessons for the classroom here, Wells said.
Both students are making their first trip to Vietnam and each has a specific objective for the trip Johnson to set up meetings between the homestay and Hanoi tourism operators and Rowe to help establish youth environmental groups in each of the villages
While the villages are far from urban areas, they have no garbage collection and Johnson hopes to help them help themselves clean up the trash that can accumulate in the villages if left unchecked, Wells said. Rowe's aim is to help educate youngsters about the interactions of nature so that they can be part of the solution.
How do we go about educating them that it's important for them, for their tourism industry and for the future of their communities that they develop more sustainable practices? Wells asked.
The Cap U group departed on Monday (July 29). To follow them on their journey, go to Facebook and key in cbtvietbnam.
