Red Leaf homestay is a small house in Sapa town. In order to attract tourists and create it own imprints, Red Leaf has been remodeled, redecorated and created many spaces for tourists to explore. With the criterion of taking the identity of the local people as the original, the rustic, breath-taking highland spirit of Red Leaf leaves many impressions on tourists.  

Red Leaf homestay attracts tourists to check-in

First, Red Leaf refreshes the form, such as using wood materials and many potted plants. Red Leaf also has a rather large indoor space, decorated with brocade materials, creating many miniatures for guests to "check-in" such as fishing nets, swings. The interesting thing about Red Leaf homestay is the combination of a cafe and a homestay.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Huong, owner of Red Leaf homestay, said: Sa Pa has hundreds of large and small homestays, with many segments for customers to choose from. With the desire that tourists will remember and come back, Red Leaf always has to renew itself. In addition to refreshing the form, we focus on propagating, promoting, and introducing new images and tourism products of the homestay on social networks. Red Leaf also listens to comments and feedback from customers to bring better service quality.

Although there are no official statistics, compared to the time when there was no Covid-19 pandemic, the number of homestays in Sa Pa has decreased significantly. Mr. To Ba Hieu, Vice Chairman of Sa Pa Town Tourism Association said: Most of the people who do homestay tourism in Sa Pa are renting houses from local people. When the pandemic broke out, there were no tourists, many tourists returned home. Until now, some homestays have restarted, but caution remains. However, most of the homestays still in operation have been embellished, remodeled and supplemented with cultural experiences, such as picnics, photography, living experiences of local people,... to serve tourists.

So H'mong homestay in Bac Ha creates a space for tourists to have outdoor barbecue.

In contrast to Sa Pa, the number of homestays in Bac Ha has increased compared to the time before the Covid-19 pandemic, because most of the homestay workers in Bac Ha are locals, they remodel and renovate the house themselves to welcome guests. Currently, Bac Ha has 45 homestays, an increase of 5 homestays compared to the same period in 2019. As one of the households running homestay services in Ban Lien commune, Mr. Vang A Binh, Doi 4 village also boldly "renew" homestay. He sewed pillows, curtains, and made traditional seat cushions by hand; planted more vegetables and flowers around the house. In particular, Ban Lien is famous for Shan Tuyet tea, so his family has created a new product, Shan Tuyet tea. When the Covid-19 pandemic was complicated, he renovated his house, dug more ponds to release fish so that when tourism restarts, there will be more new products for tourists to experience. Mr. Binh confided: The latest thing when tourism restarts is that tourism households in Ban Lien unite, jointly build mass art team, perform to serve tourists at homestays. Hopefully this new feature will be a highlight to attract more tourists to Ban Lien and promote the local culture to all parts of the country.

Not ending at 45 homestays, during the Bac Ha White Plateau Festival 2022, to ensure the conditions for tourist accommodation, Bac Ha Tourism Club has guided households in towns and communes. Ta Chai, Na Hoi commune... uses their own house to welcome guests. Households buy bed sheets, duvet covers, pillowcases, towels,... to clean their houses, then share photos on the club's social networking site for members to introduce when guests have needs to stay at the peak of the festival as well as other tourism times.

Mr. Bui Van Vinh, Head of Culture - Information Department of Bac Ha district said: After a long time affected by the pandemic, the homestays have embellished, upgraded and renewed facilities, planted trees and flowers to create landscapes, check-in points, and learned more experiences in many places. Recently, Bac Ha has also coordinated with other units to organize training for homestay business households. In particular, the Department of Tourism has issued cards to 16 local tour guides.

With the determination of the tourism industry and localities, especially the people themselves, it is hoped that homestays will welcome many tourists to experience, help people have more income, and contribute to improving the quality of life.