The Thua Thien-Hue Province Department of Culture, Sports and Tourismhas teamed up with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) toturn Thanh Toan Bridge, with its tiled roof, in Thuy Thanh commune,Huong Thuy township, into a destination for community based tourism.

As part of the ‘Developing community based tourism’ project, thebridge has been given a face lift and the local people have been trainedin tourism services.

Thanh Toan Bridge ,along with the tour ‘Countryside markets on festive days’ has attracted alarge number of domestic and foreign tourists, especially during HueFestival.

JICA will set up a management office and encourage the involvement of travel agencies in the programme.

In another effort to help Thua Thien-Hue develop community basedtourism, JICA chose Phuoc Tich, a 500-year old village in Phong Hoacommune, Phong Dien district, to launch the ‘Upholding the community’srole in sustainable development through tourism’ project.

With many communal houses, pagodas, Champa relics sites and nearly 40ancient houses, Phuoc Tich has attracted the attention of many visitorsand travel agencies.

The agency has also organised aprogramme to help the ancient village restore pottery, with theparticipation of over 20 local residents, mostly artisans.

Another community based model of tourism can be seen in An Tay ward inHue City , which helps to raise income and generate jobs for localpeople.

Ngo Hoa, the Permanent Vice Chairman of theThua Thien-Hue People’s Committee, said community based tourism helps topromote Hue ’s culture and local products, especially handicrafts.

The model is expected to help the province reach its target of welcoming three million visitors by 2015, he said.-VNA