Hoai Nhon Town: The potential of tourism development associated with "one commune one product" (OCOP) program

The enormous potential of tourism development in the town

Located about 90 km from Quy Nhon City, Hoai Nhon Town is the northern gateway of Binh Dinh province. The transport system in the district is quite synchronous, associated with National Highway 1A, Bong Son train station; Provincial Highway 629 to the west, Provincial Highway 639 to the east and Tam Quan Bac estuary. Hoai Nhon tourism ecosystem also owns rivers, mountain forests and lakes in the northwest with spectacular and poetic landscapes. Tourism resources of Hoai Nhon town are greatly abundant, spreading throughout the district, from the plains to the mountains and the sea. Running along the east of Hoai Nhon, it is a 24 km long coastline with many beautiful beaches such as Thien Chanh, Lo Dieu, Bai Con, Tang Long, Cuu Loi ... which creates many unspoiled rocky rapids and attracts tourists to experience like Lo Dieu, Hoai Hai, Bird's Nest Cave. The system of mountain forests and lakes in the northwest have magnificent and impressive sceneries, such as Golden Stream, Lord Mountain, La Vuong (Hoai Son); My Binh reservoir - the largest freshwater lake in Hoai Nhon Town, Da Ban (Hoai Phu). Especially thanks to the tropical climate, the coastal sandy soil is favorable to develop coconut trees. Standing on the top of Binh De pass and looking down in the south, there are thousands of coconut forests widely spreading that bring to Hoai Nhon an identified name as “the land of coconut”.

Lo Dieu Beach. Source: Lam Ngoc Tin

In addition, Hoai Nhon is also a traditional land with a great variety of art and culture, unique folk games preserved by the community to this day, such as folk huts, singing and dancing, ancient games; fishing praying festival, weaving ceremony... Relics of resistance: Cuu Loi Souvenir House (Tam Quan Nam), Hill 10 (Hoai Chau Bac), Cat Market (Hoai Hao), No. 7 Tai Luong (Hoai Thanh Tay), relics of the numberless ship at Lo Dieu beach (Hoai My) ... And it is also the place of many long-standing traditional craft villages: Chuong Hoa sedge mat village; coconut water rice paper and Bún Số 8 (Tam Quan Nam), coconut fiber carpet, fish sauce processing village…

Hoai Nhon's strengths are also extremely characteristic specialties such as sesame, Hoai Thanh bánh đúc; Nem Chả Bong Son; Hoai Duc’s Bánh Xèo, Bánh Dây... and it is obviously impossible to ignore specialties made from coconut ingredients that its taste and aroma will attract visitors’ attentions such as coconut water rice paper, coconut candy, Bánh Hồng (pink cake) ... Besides, Ocop-standard products are also popular with tourists as souvenirs: Mat Coi, Pure Coconut Oil, Bird's Nest, Coconut Milk Rice paper, Bánh Hồng (Pink Cake), Bánh Cốm Nếp Ngự, Bun số 8, Fish Sauce, and dried seafoods...

“One commune One product” (OCOP) is associated with tourism development

Currently, in Hoai Nhon town, there are 23 products that meet OCOP standards, including Tuna of Hai Nguyen Co., Ltd., and Tan Xuan Loc Co., Ltd., Pure coconut oil of Ngoc An Agricultural Cooperative. , Bep Xua fish sauce of Hung Thinh Dat Trading Production Co., Ltd are honored to achieve 5-star OCOP standard. Particularly for the first phase of 2021, the town has 9 products with 3-5 star OCOP standards.

With the strengths of tourism and culture, tourism in Hoai Nhon Town has been strongly developing in the direction of turning craft villages into destinations, turning local specialties into products for tourism.

OCOP products not only connect and promote the image of Hoai Nhon Town in particular, Binh Dinh province in general to domestic and international friends but also contribute to creating jobs and raising incomes for local people. Ms. Nhuong Le– Deputy Director of Ngoc An Agricultural said that the cooperative currently has about 1,620 cooperative members who have been transferred organic coconut growing technology and technical advances in breeding, intercropping and intensive farming to increase economic value. Ngoc An Cooperative helps to buy coconuts from communes serving the processing of coconut oil, coconut milk rice paper ... with stable output prices for people to be assured of cultivation and has long-term attachment to coconut trees.

Not only Ngoc An coconut oil, ocean tuna and Bep Xua fish sauce, other 4-star and 3-star OCOP products of Hoai Nhon Town also contain the cultural essence and traditions of the community throughout history. Quality products to tourists are also the direct transmission and promotion of regional culture to the consumer community in the market. Since then, it has been promoting the tourism industry with gradual sustainable development in the homeland and financially contributed to building socio-economic and stabilizing people's lives.