Hanoi (VNA๊) – A series of training courses are being organised for 1,200 ethnic minority people who are part of ecotourism chains in the central provinces of Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Thua Thien-Hue and Quang Nam.

The programme, which is being run by Helvetas Vietnam, aims to improve livelihoods for communities living in buffer zones of national parks and nature reserves in Vietnam. The training courses equip ecotourism households with essential knowledge and skills to build campfires and organise campfire games for visitors. The participants are being instructed on implementation procedures, safety principles, and how to create a good atmosphere through campfire games. They are also learning how to prepare and present food and drinks using locally available materials and showing the uniqueness of their local culture. The trainers also provide instructions on filming, photography and editing with mobile software to write content and create posts on Facebook and TikTok. The involvement of professional trainers from travel companies, associations and training schools has helped ethnic minorities in remote areas learn more about professional tourism. After the courses, participants can immediately apply what they have learned to provide tourists with unique experiences of the natural landscape and culture with higher quality, safe, and eco-friendly services. Ho Thi Hui, who lives in Huong Phung commune, Quang Tri province’s Huong Hoa district, said she learned a lot through the training course, adding that she is planning to set up a performance team to serve tourists. Ho Van Nhang, a trainee who has taken part in several training courses, said his life has changed. Now he knows how to promote local tourism on Tiktok, Facebook and Zalo. Nhang’s Tiktok account, which was created two weeks ago, already has more than 700 followers. He has received up to 200 orders, worth about VND 10 million (427 USD), after posting articles about food. These training courses are part of Sub-Component 6 within the project “Vietnam's Forest Management and Biodiversity Conservation (VFBC)”. It is funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and Helvetas, in collaboration with the Forestry Projects Management Board under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. The project's objective is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, increase carbon sequestration in Vietnam's natural and planted production forests, and ensure biodiversity conservation in high-value forested areas. Helvetas is in charge of sustainable value chain development, ecotourism, and livelihood improvement for communities involved in the project./.