Quang Dai Tuyen is the founder of Sen Caraih Cultural and Ecotourism Village in Vietnam and Professor in Tourism Studies. Sen Caraih won Gold Responsible All-Inclusive in the ICRT Southeast Asia Responsible Tourism Awards.
“Sen Caraih Cultural and Ecotourism Village is a grassroots community-based tourism initiative rooted in Mỹ Nghiệp village, Ninh Thuận province, Vietnam. Established in 2017, it emerged from a deep desire to breathe new life into Cham cultural heritage while creating meaningful, sustainable livelihoods for local people. What began as a humble lotus farm has been reimagined into a dynamic cultural destination—one where visitors can experience the rhythms of Cham life, and where community members lead the way in storytelling, hospitality, and ecological care. Sen Caraih is more than a place to visit; it is a living model of how indigenous knowledge, local initiative, and responsible tourism can come together to build pride, opportunity, and resilience from the ground up.
What are you taking responsibility for?
“I grew up in a small Cham village in Ninh Thuan Province, a place that many once dismissed as remote and forgotten. As a child, I remember how the lotus fields stretched endlessly across muddy lowlands, beautiful but seen by locals as unproductive. My parents worked hard as farmers, growing lotus roots and seeds, but often earned little because they had to sell to middlemen. Around us, young people were leaving for the cities, hoping for a better future. At the same time, I noticed something even more painful: the slow fading of our language, our music, our stories, and our pride.
“That experience stayed with me, even as I left the village to study anthropology and heritage tourism. What I realized through my education and travels is that the world is beginning to value what we once took for granted. People are curious about Indigenous cultures. They want meaningful experiences, not just sightseeing. But often, those experiences are designed by outsiders, and our communities remain on the sidelines.
“That is why I started Sen Caraih. I wanted to take responsibility for our own cultural future, and to show that we, as Cham people, can lead the way in preserving and sharing our heritage. We take responsibility for protecting what is sacred to us: our stories, our rituals, our environment, and our right to tell the world who we are, in our own voice.
“At Sen Caraih, we have built a model of tourism that is rooted in community knowledge and led by local people. We welcome visitors not just to take photos, but to sit with elders, listen to traditional music, walk through the lotus fields, and taste the flavors of Cham cuisine. We encourage respectful exchange, and we ask all visitors to follow a code of conduct that honors our beliefs, protects the land, and values our time and labor.
“But beyond these activities, what we are really doing is creating reasons for young people to stay. We are creating income from what once had no market value. We are turning a place that people avoided into a space of learning, healing, and pride. For the first time, our community is not just participating in tourism; we are shaping it on our own terms.
“Taking responsibility, for me, means honouring my parents and their struggles, while also opening new doors for the next generation. It means proving that small communities like ours are not too poor, too remote, or too traditional to innovate. In fact, we may be the ones holding the key to a more responsible and meaningful kind of tourism. And we are just getting started.”
Why are you doing this?
“I am doing this because I believe that no one understands a place better than the people who have lived there for generations.
“I am Cham. I was born into a farming family in a quiet, overlooked village where the rhythms of life were shaped by the seasons, the lotus harvest, and the ancient cultural traditions passed down from our elders. From a young age, I saw how hard my parents worked, and yet how little they earned. I saw how tourism buses passed through our province without ever stopping in our villages. We were visible on postcards, in photos of Cham towers and traditional crafts, but rarely were our voices heard, our stories told, or our communities invited to be more than decoration for someone else’s itinerary.
“As I grew older and had the opportunity to study anthropology and travel to places like Australia and Hawaii, I saw something powerful: Indigenous peoples around the world were reclaiming their narratives and creating tourism on their own terms. They were teaching visitors about their culture, their history, and their way of life—not as museum pieces, but as living, evolving communities. That deeply inspired me. It made me ask myself: why not us?
“So I returned home and looked again at the very lotus fields that once seemed so ordinary, even forgotten. I realized that these fields, and everything they represented, our land, our labour, our heritage, could become the foundation for something new. Not tourism that extracts and consumes, but tourism that respects and uplifts. That’s how Sen Caraih began.
“I am doing this because I want young Cham people to see value in their own identity, and to feel that they don’t need to leave their village to have a future. I want them to know that our culture is not a barrier to success, it is our strength. I am doing this for my parents, who sacrificed so much to raise their children with dignity. I am doing this for our elders, whose music, stories, and wisdom are treasures we cannot afford to lose. And I am doing this for visitors too – so they can see that real beauty is not always found in luxury, but in the honest, humble lives of people who take care of each other and the land they live on.
“Sen Caraih is more than a destination. It is a dream of what tourism could look like if it is led with heart, guided by local voices, and grounded in care for culture and community. I am doing this because I know we deserve that dream, not just to imagine it, but to live it.
What are you doing?
“At Sen Caraih, we are building something small but deeply meaningful, a place where Cham culture is not only preserved but lived, performed, tasted, and shared with respect. What we are doing is not just offering tours or organizing events. We are weaving together memories, traditions, and local livelihoods into experiences that allow visitors to truly connect with our community.
“We began by transforming an abandoned lotus field in Hamu Phaok, once considered a muddy, forgotten patch of land, into a peaceful cultural ecotourism space. This was a place that many in the village had given up on. But we saw its potential. That field now blossoms each season with vibrant lotuses and with the laughter and footsteps of guests from near and far.
“What we offer is not a checklist of attractions, but an invitation to step into our everyday world. Visitors can walk through our lotus ponds, learn how to harvest the stems and seeds, sit down to enjoy Cham meals prepared by women in the community, or watch traditional music performed by elders who have carried these rhythms for decades. We host workshops on weaving, lead storytelling circles, and bring guests into contact with the daily life of Cham villagers, not as a spectacle, but as an exchange.
“We also organize cultural heritage tours to nearby villages and traditional craft communities. These are not outsourced operations, but tours designed and guided by local Cham youth who have been trained to become cultural interpreters and proud storytellers of their own heritage.
“Sen Caraih has also taken deliberate steps to ensure that tourism here is not exploitative. We have created a community visitor code of conduct, which guides both guests and operators to act with mutual respect. We limit group sizes, refuse mass tourism, and always prioritize our community’s well-being over commercial gain.
“And importantly, we are not doing this alone. We are nurturing a growing ecosystem of local partners, farmers who supply vegetables, women who provide catering, elders who teach music, and young people who dream of opening their own community-based homestays. This work is not only about tourism; it is about mobilizing pride, building skills, and fostering a future where culture and economy move together, not apart.
“That is what we are doing, planting seeds of change in our own soil, and inviting others to grow with us.”
What is the impact?
“Although Sen Caraih began simply as a small eco-cultural tourism site, a lotus field quietly transformed by one family, it has grown into a powerful starting point for broader Cham participation in tourism. The most visible impact is not only economic, but psychological. It has encouraged a new generation of Cham youth to believe that they too can start something of their own and take ownership of their futures.
“Across the village and nearby areas, we are now seeing early signs of Cham-led entrepreneurship taking root. Young people are opening homestays in their own homes. Some are setting up small food stalls to serve Cham dishes. Others are creating handmade products or establishing local tour services that offer authentic Cham cultural experiences. Even though Sen Caraih was just the first small step, it has inspired others to imagine their own paths. It has changed the mindset from waiting for outside help to taking initiative from within.
“Of course, this journey is not without its difficulties. There are internal and external barriers. Limited capital, language skills, market access, and hesitation from within the community itself continue to pose challenges. But despite these obstacles, people are stepping forward. The willingness to try, to take risks, and to imagine new futures is perhaps the most significant shift of all.
“Sen Caraih has shown that tourism does not have to come from outside investors or external companies. It can emerge from within the community itself. Local women, elders, youth, and farmers are all part of shaping the visitor experience. Through storytelling, food, music, art, and everyday interactions, they are reclaiming the right to present their culture with dignity. This sense of pride has begun to spread. People are no longer waiting to be discovered or invited into the tourism economy. They are realizing that they can create spaces where their culture is respected and their contributions matter.
“Recently, our community was administratively merged into Khánh Hòa province, one of Vietnam’s most prominent tourism destinations. This region is already home to major coastal resorts and has the advantage of being near an international airport. While such changes bring both uncertainty and competition, they also open new doors. We believe that this shift may bring more visibility and access to opportunities for our Cham communities. If we stay united, organized, and culturally grounded, we can take part in this growth on our own terms.
“Sen Caraih is still a small destination, but its impact has already reached far beyond its size. It has become a symbol of what is possible when tourism is led by local people who care about their heritage. It has helped spark a wave of energy and creativity, particularly among Cham youth. It has offered a real-life example that development can be rooted in culture, driven by community, and connected to broader visions of sustainability.
“What began in a muddy lotus field once seen as useless land has grown into a space of learning, inspiration, and renewal. Sen Caraih is not just a destination. It is a movement, and it marks the beginning of a different story for the Cham people.”
Sen Caraih Cultural and Ecotourism Village will now contend against regional winners from Latin America, Africa, Europe and the Indian Subcontent for a Global Responsible Tourism Award sponsored by Sabre, with winners announced in November 2025.
Read all the finalists here: 2025 Global Responsible Tourism Awards Finalists
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License