Don't forget the inspirational small tourism businesses struggling through the coronavirus crisis

Mu Cang Chai - Yen Bai, Vietnam © Mark Bowyer

The tourism industry tragedies being served up by the coronavirus crisis are too numerous to get your head around. Much of the media attention has been focused on the big players - airlines, cruise lines and major tourism corporations. But the heart and soul of the tourism industry, and its most valuable economic development work, happens in disadvantaged remote areas across the globe.

As I've been looking through images and video from my 2019 travels, I've been especially alarmed to consider the impact the crisis must be having on the most fragile communities I visited last year in Vietnam's far north.

VIetnam’s far north is the most unique and dramatic part of the country. And like remote places all around the world that have built a dependence on tourism, some of Vietnam's most fragile communities will be hit hard by the coronavirus shutdowns.

At its best, tourism brings benefits to remote communities © 2020 Mark Bowyer

There's plenty of cause for cynicism about the way tourism plays out in remote communities with limited economic power. Sapa in Vietnam's far north is a study in overtourism and the destructive power of tourism. But many of the businesses in these regions are not part of the mass-tourism juggernaut. Many of them have been built around respect and support for local communities. Many of them have put the protection of these communities and the breathtaking settings where they live, at the centre of what they do. The impact of the coronavirus crisis on these important businesses is heartbreaking.

So, as a little reminder, here's a video I made about the coolest place I stayed in 2019. Mu Cang Chai ecolodge is a blissfully simple place in Yen Bai province. It neatly encompasses many of the best values of travel - it's low-impact in all senses, it complements its setting, it employs local people and it puts the simple beauty of its location at the heart of its operation.

Enjoy this video and let's keep thinking about inspirational people and places during these times of travel restrictions. If you run a business in these parts, be sure we're thinking of you and we hope you're doing OK. As soon as we can travel again, we’ll be heading out to spread the word about the great work you do.

You can check out Rusty Compass's guide to Yen Bai province here.