Perceptions of the impacts of tourism development : a case study of Hue city, Vietnam

Abstract

Since the 1970s, tourism development has been advocated by international development agencies as a strategy for national governments that have limited options in developing their economies. Tourism was considered most effective in earning foreign revenues, creating employment and stimulating the national economy, particularly for the less developed countries. Following the reform introduced in 1986 by the Vietnamese government, the country’s centrally planned economy turned to a market-oriented approach. In 1995, the government further lifted the trade embargo and identified tourism as one of the major industries for fuelling economic growth. The government and its functional departments were very optimistic of the potential benefits tourism could generate although a literature survey had revealed that increasingly tourism could also bring to the host society numerous adverse social, economic, cultural and environmental impacts. Yet in Vietnam only the number of tourist arrivals and turnover was considered as a valid criterion for the evaluating of tourism’s success. This thesis is a case study of how the residents of Hue, an ancient capital city and one of the major tourist destinations in Vietnam, perceived their livelihoods, community structure, cultural traditions and habitat have been impacted by the burgeoning tourism activities. Based on qualitative, semi-structured in-depth interviews with a broad range of local residents and incidentally sampled international visitors, this research found that tourism was perceived to have brought profound impacts on Hue people. As an income generator for the locals, tourism was seen to have created employment and was instrumental in reducing poverty in the city. In addition, expansion in tourism development was also credited to contribute to the improvement of the city’s infrastructure, restoration of natural and historical landscape and revitalisation of traditional arts and crafts. However, the research also indicated that there were great concerns over the emerging problems of inequality, particularly in accessing resources for tourism development. Changing community structure, declining traditional values and cultural identity were also perceived as under threat from tourism development. Ultimately, local residents showed strong support to preserve their cultural traditions while expecting tourism to develop further.The study suggests that Hue’s tourism authorities should take into account the big picture of tourism development in the region and on the national level to map out ways to maintain and strengthen its comparative advantage as a historical royal city for developing a more sophisticated program and product in cultural tourism. More grounded research on local capacity, tourist demands and expectations, environmental resources and trends in international tourism market was also suggested as ways to guide the city to develop strategic directions for maximising its potential in tourism development.