Market driven training to take Vietnam’s homestays to the next level

Homestays are becoming more prevalent in Vietnam. Typically a family-run business favoured by ethnic minority people, homestays are found throughout Vietnam, particularly in the mountainous north east and north west, the central highlands, and in and around Hoi An and Hue City.

Homestays are not just about providing the tourist with accommodation and meals, but provide visitors with an authentic peek into the life of the Vietnamese people; in particular its rural people who represent the hard- working backbone that the country has been built on.

Whilst homestays in key tourist destinations are becoming key income generators particularly for women and their families, a market study revealed that the sales and average income of homestays in Vietnam was poor, mostly due to a lack of understanding of tourists’ needs and wants, coupled with weak business skills and English language ability.

Recognising the importance and development prospects of homestay businesses, the ESRT programme has thrown its support behind the High Impact Tourism Training (HID) programme in order to help develop a highly-tailored and engaging homestay training curriculum and materials that are specific to the realities of the Vietnamese situation.

Having been involved with the rigorous research that went into the homestay training programme, the ESRT programme is confident that the training will have a real and positive impact on the employment and income of Vietnam’s rural homestay operators, and in particular ethnic minority women and their families. For this reason the ESRT programme has also decided to further extend the HID training beyond 2013 to 2015.

Source: vietnamtourism.gov.vn