The  Mosaiquetour Project for establishing an eco-tourism community 
With the authorization of Quang Binh local authority, Mosaiquetour is a consultant group for setting up  a community tourism project in the village of Thon Chi (Quang Binh district in Ha Giang province.)
After a thorough study of the local social environment, the project is developing one step at a time, always in tune  with the way of life and way of thinking of the inhabitants of Thon Chi.
The aim of the project is to create a model for community tourism in which all the villagers are able to benefit from tourism activities.
The pitfall that we wish to avoid at all costs is allowing the presence of visitors and the economic benefits from tourism to have an adverse affect on the local people.
The foundations of the project are the efforts and financial means of the local people themselves, based on the principle: "God helps those who help themselves."
The essential conditions for the realization of community tourism are as follows:

• Finding a suitable location (Thon Chi is perfectly located between the well known tourist areas of Sapa and Ha Giang)
• Attractive landscape for travelers.
• A team responsible for developing the project
• The active  involvement of the community

What kind of tourism ?
The main idea of the project is to introduce to the people of Thon Chi village a type of tourism  that takes two forms:
“Community” tourism (in which the whole village participates), and "clean" tourism (‘clean’ both for the environment and the mentality of people) This will result in a "community  based eco-tourism "
The Aim

• At the heart of the community tourism project in Thon Chi is the development of the village: the introduction and development of services to tourists will help to provide additional income for the community, to improve its living standards and strengthen its cultural values.

 - to build up its cultural heritage once more, and to restore to its inhabitants a real pride in their identity
  - to  revive traditional crafts such as weaving and braiding
 - to strengthen the community spirit of the villagers
 - to encourage the villagers to preserve and promote their heritage, and to protect them against any negative moral  influence from income from tourism
 - to help and motivate people to improve their hygiene, and therefore their health.
Project Schedule:
 Preparation
 Step 1 : topographic survey, selecting the site for the project.
Step 2 : Training the team responsible for the project.
Step 3 : setting up meetings in the village, to help the people to understand the definition of tourism, the meaning of community tourism, and the way to establish it.
 Step 4 : setting up meetings to develop an awareness of the need to combat environmental pollution (as well as adverse moral influence) and to revitalise a truly Vietnamese community spirit.
Trying it out and gauging community reaction
Step 1 : Select one or two families to be focuses of welcome
Step 2 : To accommodate travelers and observe their reactions, as well as get any tips from them.
Step 3 : Look closely at the reactions of the villagers to the presence of tourists and to what they bring financially.
Implementation 
 Step 1 : Create a cooperative for both tourism and agriculture to manage, coordinate and market the tourism activities without letting the villagers neglect their farms. Both activities of the cooperative (tourism and agriculture) must be developed in parallel.
Step 2 : Encourage all villagers to take part in tourism activities. As the number of participants increases, there will be more revenue to share out among  the community.  The additional income generated by tourism activities will improve the life of the local people, but will not become so great as to change the fundamentally agricultural nature of the community (so noble in its simplicity, sincerity, honesty and hospitality). The income from tourism must not lead to any significant disparities between the different members of the community.
Step 3 : Form a group of dancers and musicians involving all the different generations to revive the cultural heritage within the community.
 Step 4 : Make a list of guest houses and of individuals who will be involved in the provision of Community Tourism, in order to have a fair system for sharing out both the work involved in providing service to tourists , as well as for sharing out the income generated.
 Step 5 : Establish and implement:   
a code of conduct for the cooperative in which all the villagers will be members.
a second code of conduct for managing relationships with tour operators, guides, and even the tourists themselves,  to protect the community against any environmental or moral ill-effects.
 a third code of conduct for how the co-operative shares out its income: 90% to the provider of the service and 10% for the overall development of the project.             
 Step 6 : mobilizing the community to participate in cleaning up the village together once a month, until all the villagers acquire both the habit of keeping their village clean and the will to continue this.
Each person in the village should take responsibility for keeping his own property clean. We can then consider ways of making the village more attractive by providing  flowers to people, so that every house has a small flower garden.
 Step 7 : To test the formula by setting up groups to research various forms of tourism, in order to then collect their opinions and advice. This will enable us to perfect our own ‘tourism product’ and to accommodate different forms of tourism.
Step 8 : to analyze this advice, and to apply it where possible, in order to develop a more attractive product.
Step 9 : Launch an advertising campaign for the project on the Mosaiquetour website, as well as on social networks such as Facebook etc ...  Also to advertise the project by word of mouth.
 Step 10 : Open a Shop (cooperative) to display products from the local craft and agricultural groups. Both the price and the origin of these products will be labelled.  This will be the only place managed by the co-operative where tourists can trade directly with the community.
 Step 11 : Use some of the income generated by tourism to make limited loans to families who do not have enough resources to be able to take part in tourism activities (microcredit).  Other resources will be distributed to needy families.
 Step 12 : Applying for grants from local government, NGOs, individuals, travelers to help to develop the project. This support need not only be financial, but can also be in the form of training in languages or in tourist services. The support can also take the form of  just spreading the word about the project in their own circles.
 Step 13 : Set up language courses for those taking part in the project (compulsory) and for any villager who wants to learn. Set up courses for training in cooking, hospitality, and other services.
Village autonomy
 Once everything is on track, and people's lives are improving, the village can show its autonomy to the world around and subsequently offer some of the aid it has received to other villages, so that they in turn can improve their lives by the same formula of community tourism. The ambition of this project  is to see this form of tourism spread to and benefit other communities.

 

                                                                                                        * How to build a house on stilts?
                                                                                                        * with the community !