Tourism development in southern red river delta’s provinces towards sustainable development i

tourism development among the goals towards sustainability. However, sustainable tourism development is associated with specific, unique, quality from that creates satisfaction of tourists needs, economic and social benefits. Extensive integration with all countries has a 7 significant impact on economic development in general, tourism development in particular. Studying the impact criteria but authors put them in the context of integration and globalization in a specific tourist area. There is an agreement on the role of tourism sustainability in the economy is the economic efficiency that tourism brings like social stability and sustainable environment. “Sustainable tourism development in Ninh Binh province in the present conditions”, the author set a set of criteria for evaluating sustainable tourism development of a province. It emphasizes the role and participation of parties in sustainable tourism development in the present conditions. 1.2.3 Factors affect tourism development and tourism towards sustainable development There are a number of studies that have mentioned and analyzed the factors affecting sustainable tourism development: “Sustainable tourism”; “Sustainable tourism development in Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park”; “The role of provincial governments in sustainable tourism development in Ninh Binh Province”; “Local state management for sustainable tourism development in some central provinces of Vietnam”. These referred to the role of the state management agency in charge of tourism, especially inspection stages. Then development solutions have been proposed by many topics, each with specific characteristics of diffirent regions in “Scientific basis and solutions for sustainable tourism development in Vietnam”. Bui Thanh Toan (2018) [43] proposed the research model for sustainable development for Phu Yen province in AEC. 1.3. Evaluation of research works To begin with, this dissertation identified the basics of tourism, tourism development, sustainable tourism, implications for sustainable tourism development; the concept of sustainable development, sustainable tourism development, tourism management ... There are many different views both domestical and international dissertation. Second, the hot trend is the countries focus on developing tourism towards sustainable development. There are many different experiences in the goal of developing tourism towards sustainable development of some localities in Vietnam and countries around the world. 8 Thirdly, this dissertation analyzed and assessed the systematic and sustainable nature of tourism. The role of sustainable tourism development for the country, the region and the locality. Fourthly, the situation of sustainable tourism development in some provinces of Vietnam such as Lao Cai, Phong Nha Ke Bang, Cuc Phuong National Park (Ninh Binh), of the Northeast, Western Tourism regions, Tay Nguyen and North Central have been studied in depth. Fifthly, some sustainable tourism development solutions are given: Planning, managing and organizing the implementation of tourism planning; diversifing tourism products; investing in tourism development; improving mechanisms and policies to attract the efficiency of investment capital; improving the efficiency of tourism resources. CHAPTER 2. THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL BASIS ON TOURISM DEVELOPMENT TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 2.1 The concept of tourism 2.1.1 The concepts Article 3 - Vietnam Tourism Law 2017: Tourism activities related to trips of people outside their regular place of residence for no more than 01 consecutive year to meet the needs of sightseeing, relaxation, entertainment, exploration, discovery or other lawful uses. From the above concepts, it is recognized that tourism is diversified involving many objects such as tourists, transport, ... and many other socio-economic fields in order to bring about economic, political and social benefits for countries and localities. However, the impact of tourism activities on localities and countries depends on many factors such as: mechanisms and policies on tourism development, types of tourism, tourism products and tourism resources of each region. 2.1.2 Features of the tourism industry Firstly, tourism is a resource-dependent industry. Secondly, tourism is an integrated business to serve the diverse consumption needs of tourists Thirdly, tourism is not only a business but also a service that 9 must ensure the security, political and social safety needs of tourists, localities and countries to welcome tourists. Fourthly, the tourism industry is a versatile economic - social - service sector. It is also true that ranking tourism as an economic industry, a cultural and social branch. 2.2 Tourism development towards sustainable development 2.2.1 Sustainable development 2.2.2 Tourism development towards sustainable development 2.2.2.1 The concepts At the 70th meeting in September 2015, 154 member countries of the UN General Assembly adopted sustainable Development Agenda through 2030. The program consists of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) , including a number of important goals such as eradicating poverty, protecting the planet, and ensuring prosperity for all. In the tourism industry, UNWTO strives to link tourism with global goals and actively contact governments, banks, financial institutions and UN agencies to discuss and achieve sustainable development goals, focusing on the 8 goals (Promote long- term, open and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all), goal 12 (Ensuring sustainable consumption and production models), goal 14 (Conservation and sustainable use of oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development), in which tourism is typical and important. 2.2.2.2 The content of tourism development towards sustainable development “Tourism development towards sustainable development bases on the rational and efficient exploitation of resources, it also ensures the three sustainable attainment: economic, sociocultural and environmental sustainability in the locality, the region and the country, that has to meet requirements and principles of sustainable development.” The implication of sustainable tourism development is the development process that has a close, reasonable and harmonious combination of three aspects of development, economic sustainability, environmental sustainability and social-cultural sustainability. Environmental responsibility requires all sectors to identify and take 10 interventions otherwise the environment is degraded in the future. The tourism industry itself must know what to do to make tourism develop more sustainably. 2.2.2.3 Criteria for assessing tourism development towards sustainable development Based on the reference of sustainable development criteria in the United Nations and local sustainable development monitoring and evaluation criteria for Vietnam from 2013 to 2020, the author chose accordingly to form a system of general criteria for tourism development towards sustainability. An economic perspective: Location and scale of tourism, economic benefits from tourism. A cultural - social perspective: People's participation; Livelihoods of local people, preserving the cultural and historical value of the tourist destination. An environmental perspective: Preserving tourism resources, pollution reduction, conserve biodiversity, ecosystems and landscapes. 2.3 Factors affect tourism development and tourism towards sustainable development 2.3.1 Socio-economic environment 2.3.1.1 Planning systems and policies of government 2.3.1.2 Local business environment 2.3.2 Support services 2.3.3 Human resources 2.3.4 Cooperation activities in tourism 2.3.5 Tourists’ the satisfaction and needs 2.3.6 Promote tourism development 2.3.7 Impacts of climate change, international economic integration and industrial revolution 4.0 2.4 Experience in tourism development towards sustainability This dissertation explores domestic and international experiences including the South Central Coast (Vietnam), Annapurna- Nepal Conservation Area, Thenmala- India, Koronayitu- NewZeland. The dissertation draws some lessons: Firstly, fFully aware of sustainable development. Secondly, to formulate a suitable tourism development strategy for the region and the province. Third, 11 organizational management is unified and specific. Fourth, mobilize all resources for tourism development investment. Fifth, the participation of local communities is very important in sustainable tourism development strategy. Sixth, training high quality human resources. Seventhly, localities must have a suitable plan to promote tourist sites. Eighth, rational exploitation of resources and environmental protection is the responsibility of the state management, local residents and tourists. CHAPTER 3 CURRENT SITUATION OF TOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTHERN RIVER DELTA’S PROVINCES TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 3.1 Tourism potential in southern Red River Delta’s provinces 3.1.1 Overview of south Red River Delta’s provinces 3.1.1.1 Natural features The southern Red River Delta includes three provinces: Thai Binh, Nam Dinh and Ninh Binh with area of 4,600 km2 and a population of 4.6 million people. Its tourism is a lot potential such as famous scenic spots: Cuc Phuong, Tam Coc, Bich Dong, Trang An ... and beaches of Hai Thinh, Quat Lam, Tien Hai. Besides, these provinces also preserved unique historical and cultural values like relics of Bai Dinh, Hoa Lu, Co Loa, Keo pagodas ... Particularly, on October 13, 2008, UNESCO awarded the certificate of World Biosphere Reserve for coastal wetlands of these three localities. That recognition has initially impacted on changing the perception and management approach of government, department and localities to enhance the value and promote the advantages of this large wetland area including tourism. 3.1.1.2 Socio-economic features and tourist space The three provinces of southern Red River Delta are planned in the northern coastal economic region with various types of terrain and 142 km coastline. Its provinces have great potential tourism with long and beautiful beaches, long historical sites and unique natural landscapes. After more than 30 years of renovation, the economy of it has witnessed a strong change and development. In recent years, tourism has contributed significantly to provinces’ economic 12 development. Besides, many old tourist sites have been exploited and new places have been built which create a unique attraction for it. 3.1.2 Tourism potentials of southern Red River Delta’s provinces 3.1.2.1 Natural tourism potentials 3.1.2.2 Cultural tourism potentials 3.2 Situation of tourism development in southern Red River Delta’s provinces towards sustainability 3.2.1 An economic perspective 3.2.1.1 Position and scale of the tourism industry a) Tourism in local economic policy (1) Tourism in southern Red River Delta’s provinces is increasingly being affirmed in terms of potential, location, image, and quality on Vietnam's tourism map. (2) The tourist sites are located in favorable locations, many places border between neighboring provinces, that is convenient for sightseeing, travel and links. (3) The tourist sites are interspersed with residential areas not far from the city center. b) Tourism growth Tourism growth is fast and continuous (at about 18.78%), which is much higher than the GRDP growth rate in general and the service sector growth rate in particular. Tourism plays an important role in local economic development. c) Shifting in the tourism industry’s structure Tourism support services are insufficient and weak, specific products are lack, entertainment areas and additional services need to be plentiful. In the investment structure of the southern Red River Delta, there is no foreign direct investment project in tourism but only projects with domestic investment, most of which is state capital. 3.2.1.2 Economic benefits from tourism a) Contribute to GRDP and other industries In 2010, the added value of the tourism industry accounted for 0.57% GRDP, in 2018 it reached 1.5%. The contribution of tourism in the GRDP is small, compared to with the position and potential of of provinces’ tourism (in the whole country, tourism contributed about 5.9% GDP). 13 b) Tourism labor Along with the rise of the tourism industry, tourism labor saw dramatic increases. Localities and tourist attractions have attracted and addressed employment needs for the community, for workers from other localities and industries. c) Tourists Domestic tourists to the southern Red River Delta’s provinces accounted for more than 90% from 2005 to 2018, an increase of of 12%. The majority of domestic tourists to the southern Red River Delta is to Ninh. Bình (over 70%). Although Ninh Binh is one of the biggest tourist attractions in the country the southern Red River Delta’s provinces attracts the lowest tourists in the tourist areas (at only 1/3 of the central sub-region and ½ of the Northeast coastal subregion). d) Tourism revenue In 2010, the total revenue from tourism in the southern Red River Delta’s provinces reached 979,927 million VND. This figure rose to 4,486,000 million VND in 2018, and this was over three times. In the coming years, the total tourism revenue of this region will increase, contributing positively to the socio-economic development. e) Travel service prices Hotel prices, tickets at tourist destinations are also not higher than some tourist destinations in Hanoi and neighboring provinces. f) The spending level of tourists The current average expenditure of the southern Red River Delta’s provinces is mainly for accommodation, meals and transportation. Travel service, guide groups to visit scenic places, caves, pagodas... still accounts for a low proportion of the total revenue. There are a variety of reasons to explain. Firstly, the number of tourists often visit during the day. Secondly, the stay time is not long. Those affected the total revenue of the tourism industry. 3.2.2 A social - cultural perspective 3.2.2.1 Livelihoods of local people a) Jobs in the tourism industry Similar to the tourism industry, labor in the tourism industry increased considerably between 2005 and 2018. Localities and tourist 14 attractions have attracted labor needs for their community, other localities and industries. However, the total number of employees participated (both directly and indirectly) in tourism in the southern Red River Delta’s provinces remained below 5% in 2018 - the proportion is much lower than tourism potential. b) The figure of local labor involved in tourism When tourism developing, local labor’s career has changed significantly, many poeple quit traditional jobs (mainly agriculture) and turned to tourism services such as motels business, restaurant, travel guide. With households works in handicrafts, tourism helps them create more motivation for production development, especially creating unique products which attaches the local traditional breath. c) Local people’s income Through the interview, the households who answered the better income regularly participated in tourism activities in the provinces. People’s income in the three provinces has increased considerably from 2005 to 2018. The average local people's income in 2018 was was over three times higher than those of 2005. 3.2.2.2 Preserving cultural and historical values at tourist sites a) The conservation of monuments The southern Red River Delta’s provinces are still exploiting and researching to restore and conserve relics. In parallel, the provinces submitted documents to the Ministry of Culture to verify, evaluate and rank the relics at different levels, that hepls them mobilize and allocate capital from investors combining local people’s preservation. b) The number of traditional festivals and crafts villages is preserved The number of festivals in the southern Red River Delta’s provinces is very large, so the provinces have exploited to serve customers. The festivals show poeple’s richness of the spiritual life in provinces, those are also a great resource for managers to plan local development policies. But it is also important to preserve and promote the cultural identity and tradition. 3.2.2.3 Participation of the people a) Forms of citizen participation in tourism activities People's participation in tourism activities such as renting houses, eating and drinking goods, souvenir, taking photos, 15 participating in management around tourist sites (parking, participating in comments...). b) Local people’s the level of satisfaction and cooperation 3.2.3 An environmental perspective 3.2.3.1 Preserving tourism resources a) Density tourist destinations In general, the density tourism destinations the southern Red River Delta’s provinces is relatively dense with a full range of cultural, historical, and monuments mixed with natural landscapes. b) Number of planned tourist areas The southern Red River Delta’s provinces had a comprehensive and detailed planning for many tourist areas and destinations. Ninh Binh had the planning for Trang An, Tam Coc-Bich Dong, Van Long, Kenh Ga-Van Trinh and Bai Dinh pagodas ... Thai Binh had the planning Con Vanh beach and Keo Pagoda area. Nam Dinh planed the tourism area of Xuan Thuy National Park, Tran cultural and historical relics complex ... c) The proportion of contribution to the conservation and protection of environmental resources 70-80% of the fee are retained for local, 20% is remitted to the state budget. 3.2.3.2 Minimizing pollution In the southern Red River Delta, there are a national park, a Ramsar site, a World Heritage Site and a world heritage site. The "hot" development of tourism, especially in the peak season, environmental and tourist capacity overload, which affects the plants and behavior of the animals in the tourist areas. a) Water power Due to people’s perception in the use of fertilizers, pesticides, industrial wastes, domestic wastes causes water pollution. b) Waste is collected and treated The arrangement of trash systems and garbage collection bags in urban centers, tourist resorts and residential areas is inadequate and not suitable for waste classification. Only a few operating businesses have standardized waste collection and treatment system. c) Air environment 16 Environmental pollution in trade villages is being alarmed in provinces, especially Thai Binh and Nam Dinh. Some air pollution sources like construction, means of transport, especially vehicles carrying sand, bricks and stones, construction materials, craft villages, exhaust gas from air-conditioning system ... with gas and dust concentrations excesses allowed level such as CO2, CO, NO2, NO .. 3.2.3.2 Conserving biodiversity, ecosystems and landscapes a) Degradation levels of the tourist landscape The urbanization process has had a significant impact to the tourism landscape and nature. This greatly affected the space and tourism environment. In addition, the use of some monuments does not function, role and purpose in some tourist sites, leading to damage and degradation. b) Consumption of rare animal products The survey results show that no store sells wildlife products as souvenirs and decorations (such as the use of animal skins, horns, teeth and claws). * Overall assessment of the level achieved according to the criteria of tourism development towards sustainability There are 17/25 targets that have not yet reached the sustainability criteria, combining with with the results of surveys and assessments of the objects on tourism development towards sustainability (most of the answers got an average score of 3-3,4/5) shows that tourism development in southern Red River Delta’s provinces has not been sustainable. 3.3 Situation of factors affecting tourism development towards sustainable developmnet in southern Red River Delta’s provinces 3.3.1 Institutional and policy environment 3.3.1.1 Planning system and policies of the state and local authorities The three provinces of southern the Red River Delta have had valid plans about tourism development. For example, No. 3562 / QD- UBND, September 9, 2017 of Thai Binh Provincial People's Committee, approving the Planning on development of Thai Binh Tinh tourism to 2025, orientation to 2030 and No. 1501 / QD-UBND, September 1, 2011 of the People's Committee of Nam Dinh province, approving the economic-technical report on the planning project of 17 Nam Dinh tourism development up to 2020, with a vision to 2030. On August 30, 2018, the People's Committee of Ninh Binh province issued No. 1124 / QD-UBND, approving the Master Plan for tourism development in Ninh Binh Province up to 2025, with orientations to 2030. 3.3.1.2 Collaboration among agencies in tourism management The state management about tourism has come into the system with coordination between all levels, sectors, localities, businesses and residents into tourism activities. Besides, There is the coordination and participation of security forces to ensure safety and civilization for tourist areas and destinations. 3.3.1.3 Participation of the community and stakeholders In fact, the local people's contribution to tourism planning and management is still very few. They are lacking in information about tourism projects, so they have not really participated in the project implementation and monitoring process. 3.3.1.4 Local business environment In past several years, southern Red River Delta’s provinces have made many changes and efforts to create a stable and healthy business environment, in order to attract a large number of businesses to participate in business and development local tourism. 3.3.1.5 Investment for tourism development Three provinces have not had foreign direct investment projects in tourism. This is also the general situation of some neighboring provinces. The majority of development investment comes from the state. Attracting other sources of capital for investment in developing infrastructure for tourism still faces many difficulties because investors are less interested in investing in tourism infrastructure. 3.3.2 The support services 3.3.2.1 The infrastructure According to the tourists’ assessment about the quality of infrastructure in three provinces: roads, Internet and communications, electricity and water are good, but the point for the quality of the road system is highest. Survey results show that good and very good 69.2% are for the quality of roads, 58.8% for information quality, 59.28% for electricity quality, 59.8% is devoted to water quality. However, the 18 current rapid expansion of the information network, tourists want the provinces to improve the quality of the Internet and communications to connect domestically and internationally easier and faster. 3.3.2.2 Support services a) System of material and technical facilities for tourism The survey results of tourist about the quality of material facilities - tourism techniques in three provinces are average and good. b) Ancillary service system Tourists assessed the quality of ancillary services: the health system reached 3.38 points, the bank reached 3.37 points, that means the quality of ancillary services reached an average level (over 56% of visitors rated the quality of the health system as average, banking services were rated at more than 60). Therefore, in the coming time, the provinces need to increase the quality of ancillary services, especially health services and banking to increase the tourists’ satisfaction. 3.3.3 Human resources The tourism labors in southern Red River Delta’s provinces has increased sharply over the years from 2005 to 2017 (2,143 and 10,658 respectively). But the percentages of tourism workers who are trained professionally is still low. The quality of training labor is still limited, they do not meet the requirements professionalism, management skills and service quality. 3.3.4 Tourism cooperation Since Tourism Association established, it has been on strengthening the organizational structure and mutual a