“To make Vietnam closer worldwide,” a non-profit tourism project brings foreign visitors into the homes of local Hanoians for a homestyle family dinner and a firsthand experience with true Vietnamese culture. Aptly called Home Visit, the non-profit tourism project was launched last week by the Hanoi Kids and Students in Free Enterprise of Hanoi University (SIFE HANU). SIFE HANU was founded by the Faculty of Tourism and Management at Hanoi University in 2009. Its mission is to encourage university students to apply business concepts they learned in school to develop outreach projects that better the quality of life of less fortunate people.

The host families of the Home Visit Project invite tourists into their homes and talk about Vietnamese history, religion and art while enjoying home-made popular local dishes. During the visit, the ${bigcity_Hanoi:"Hanoi"} family explains to their foreign visitors Vietnam’s rich history and even the food they eat. A typical Vietnamese home usually has three generations of its family living in one roof and they explain this long history of close family bond to their guests. Even traditional Vietnamese furniture arrangement is taught to the tourists.

Three-fourths of the tour profits goes to the host families who graciously offer their homes and time to the visitors. One-fourth of the sales cover the cost of preparing the tour, insurance, marketing, transportation and tour guides. The home-visit tours happen daily from 6pm-9pm wherein a group of two to eight guests are picked up from their hotels and brought to their host families. One of the fun parts of the tour is that different modes of transportation are used to bring the tourists to the Hanoi families, including a taxi, motorcycle, bus, or even the local Hanoi cyclo.

If you want to know more about this Home Visit or are visiting Hanoi and interested in getting into one of these tours, email [email protected] or contact Mr. Minh at (+84) 1674104618 or Ms.
Hien at(+84) 9 164 48068.