Active Travel Asia & Caritas Switzerland Working Together in a Survey of a Responsible Tourism Project in Quan Ba, Ha Giang Province, Vietnam

The survey is beginning step of 3-year project named “Quan Ba District Integrated Community Development Project, Ha Giang province”. This project is implemented by Caritas Switzerland in Vietnam to set up sustainable livelihood for the poorest households and the poorest community with attention to indigenous knowledge, strengthening the culture which is facing a risk of oblivion, and obtaining sustainable maintenance of the environment resources.

In this project ATA plays the role of sustainable tourism development consultant and will be the key partner of Caritas through out the project. In a week the inspection team will scan the whole area, mapping all the potential routes for different activities like trekking, biking,… the team also check on the current condition of local homestay as well as the infrastructure of the whole area.

After the trip, ATA inspection team is going to report to Caritas existing natural and social condition of Quan Ba in developing eco-tourism and community tourism. The team also propose a plan to for sustainable tourism development in the area.

Located at the highest latitude in Vietnam, Ha Giang Province shares a border with China in the north. Ha Giang’s complicated topography with a relatively high altitude from 1,000m to 1,600m, is made of rocky mountain, separated rivers, sloping mountain sides, high passes, valleys, and narrow springs. The climate is divided in two distinct seasons, rainy and dry. The annual average temperature varies between 24 and 28ºC. In winter, the temperature is sometimes down to -5ºC.

QuanBa district in Ha Giang province is one of the poorest areas in Vietnam. About 85% of the people are ethnic minorities, mainly Mong, Dao, Nung, and some other smaller communities, such as Tay and Pu Y.