A place where millennial culture is preserved

Go Co community tourism village was recognized as a 3-star OCOP product in Quang Ngai province in 2020

Go Co village in Pho Thanh ward (Duc Pho town, Quang Ngai province) has a natural area of about 105 hectares, and is located in the core area of Sa Huynh’s ancient heritage and cultural center. Not only that, but the village also used to be inhabited by Cham people and later Vietnamese. The imprint of Sa Huynh, Champa civilization has been preserved by the people for thousands of years. This feature is reflected in works such as temples, shrines, stone wells, stone bridges, thatched-roof houses,... It seems that the rock also has "breath", it is present in every corner, village road, field bank, and fence.

Although the village is ancient, peaceful, and nestled on the coast of Sa Huynh, the spiritual culture of Go Co people is very rich. The art of singing “Bai Choi”, fishing, and net weaving,... has created community connection and teamwork. The "cultural fossils" here are still intact; the transmission is crystallized from the spirit of optimism, love of the homeland, and the desire for development. People cherish the quintessence that Mother Earth bestows, preserving a long-standing cultural identity without changing before any exogenous influence. The neighborly situation here can hardly be replaced by hustle and temptation and material temptation. Therefore, people – with human values are the most valuable thing that Go Co Village Heritage Park has.

In order to maintain and promote the values of tangible and intangible cultural heritages in Go Co village and develop tourism potential, Ms. Nguyen Thi Diem Kieu (31 years old) - Director of SUNGCO Co., Ltd. (a community enterprise that has been supporting Go Co village to build a tourism model) began to learn about the villagers' personalities, customs and practices of this land to study the formula to build a suitable tourism model and persuade residents to realize that goal. "With the mission of organizing and coordinating conservation activities, improving the capacity and role of management of natural and human resources of the village,... In April 2019, Go Co village community tourism cooperative was established," said Ms. Kieu

Building a sustainable community tourism village

Go Co village is a place to preserve many heritage and cultural values of Sa Huynh and Champa residents

Since Go Co Village Community Tourism Cooperative was established, all tourism activities and services in the village have been participated in and built by indigenous people to bring visitors original and unique experiences integrated with cultural and historical stories, the legacy of the land itself. Currently, the cooperative has 34 members and is pided into groups such as: a community tourism team (homestay, dining, socializing, Bai Choi, singing and dancing), an experience group (cooking, weaving, and farming), and a team with experience of bamboo fishing boats.

From the end of 2022 to February 2023, the resort attracted nearly 2000 visitors. "Currently, the target tourists that the tourism village is aiming to are delegations from many localities, departments, businesses learning community tourism models, students, and international tourists", Ms. Kieu shared. The trip of the delegations of officials, people, and businesses will bring revenue to the villagers, and it will also have a positive impact on investment and the improvement of tourism services. Go Co tourist village does not chase revenue and visitors, but wants to build a happy village. People here are the real subjects and build a sustainable tourism model. This model both brings a great experience to visitors and ensures tourism activities, but does not change the lives of local people.

Visitors will experience interesting activities such as farming, fishing, net making,... and enjoy the specialties of Quang Ngai land

During the process of building and operating the community tourism model, Go Co village faced many difficulties, especially financial problems. In addition, most of the people living in the village are elderly and children, so the speed of completing and developing the model is slow. However, with the will and determination of the cooperative and villagers, in December 2020, Go Co Village Community Tourism was recognized by the People's Committee of Quang Ngai province as the first community tourism destination of the province to achieve 3-star OCOP rating. This is a testament to the value of a village that still retains the ancient cultural space but still integrates into the modern breath to survive and develop. In the future, Go Co village will upgrade OCOP to 5 stars. Business households belonging to cooperatives continue to invest and expand the scale of production and service establishments. In addition, the tourism village will promote the training of young human resources to participate in cooperative management, make mobilization plans, and encourage households in the village to bring their children back to their hometowns to contribute to tourism activities. In the coming time, the cooperative will replicate this model of community tourism in other localities and provinces.
With many years of experience in the field of culture and tourism, Ms. Kieu affirmed: "Go Co village Heritage Park contains many things related to history, tangible and intangible culture. In order to preserve those values, not only through communication but also to combine heritage and culture with sustainable economic development, people will be motivated to preserve and promote those beauties." Go Co village is considered a priceless "treasure" on the land of Sa Huynh, Quang Ngai. Every stone, every citizen embodies the precious cultural values of the village.

Ngoc Tram