Ta Phin Dialogue Session

It was amazing connecting and reconnecting with the Red Doa homestay owners in Ta Phin. Our team received a very warm greeting upon arrival.

The Ta Phin Dialogue Sessions purpose was to follow up with the homestay owners, confirm their businesses are running successfully and receive feedback. 

The following questions were answered:

1.     Are tourists treating you well?

-       For the most part, foreigners respect and are not taking advantage of the   homestay owners 

-       Domestic tourists sometimes litter, while international visitors don’t

-       A few cases of visitors not being honest has been disappointing 

2.     How are the tour operators treating you?

-       Extremely respectful, as they have worked with other ethnic minorities and understand how to maintain a positive relationship 

-       The majority of the tour operators they work with are located in Hanoi

3.     From what we understand tourists and tour operators are treating you with respect, although sometimes they expect too much for little money. Is this correct?

-       Yes

-       Some tour guides may be dishonest in regards to payment 

4.     How do you or could you work with other homestay owners to have a fair deal?

-       One challenge involves tour operators negotiating a price with other homestay owners to obtain an inexpensive price, while they are supposed to stay at another homestay

-       All homestays owners charging a flat rate would not work, due to the different quality of each homestay 

5.     Even though the rate of staying at a homestay is low, can you profit off other expenses?

-       Yes

6.     Are the homestays working and worth it?

-       Homestays are working really well

-       Agreed that homestays are the best and easiest way to make revenues

7.     If you weren’t working in tourism, as a tour guide or homestay owner, what would you do?

-       Farming

-       Selling flowers

-       Working for a flour or vegetable farm 

-       Labor

-       Building houses

-       Street vendor

-       Selling cardamom 

We concluded there needs to be a system in place, in which everyone collaborates and benefits. One solution involves working directly with tourists, and each homestay owner managing their own business.

Looking forward, the Red Dao homestay owners would like their children to be educated on the logistics of social media and booking channels. 

This is a topic we are exploring, specifically a phase four involving the Ta Phin CBT Vietnam Project.