z VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI INSTITUTE OF VIETNAMESE STUDIES AND DEVELOPMENT SIENCES  NGO HAI NINH A RESEARCH TO ASSESS COMMUNITY ECOTOURISM AND SUGGESTIONS OF SOLUTIONS FOR SUSTAINABLE TOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN VAN DON DISTRICT- QUANG NINH PROVINCE MASTER THESIS Major: Vietnamese Studies Code : 60 31 60 Supervisor : Prof DSc Truong Quang Học Ha Noi, 2011 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My Master’s thesis entitle, “A research to assess community Eco – tourism and suggestion of Solutions for sustainable tourism development in Van Don Distrist, Quang Ninh Province” was complete at the Institute of Vietnamese studies and development Sciences I sincerely thank the teachers who are working in Institute of Vietnamese studies and development Sciences, National Library, Library of the Ha Noi University of Social Sciences and Humanities has helped me during my materials learning and research process With all my love, I would like to express my deep gratitude to Prof.DSc Truong Quang Hoc who has dedicated great to my study and completion process of my Master thesis I would like to wish him and his family good health and happiness I would like to send my gratitude to the office staff who are working at the office of Culture and Information Van Don district, the management of Bai Tu Long National Park, the provincial library, Department of Culture – Sports and Tourism of Quang Ninh that was so helpful and supportive providing me useful documents for the completion of my thesis I would like to thank the College’s board of Ha Long Culture Arts and Tourism, my colleagues, friends and family who have helped, encouraged and motivated me endlessly during the learning, research and completion process of my Master’s thesis Ha Noi, December 2011 Author Ngo Hai Ninh ACRONYMS BD: Bio-diversity CET: Community eco-tourism ET: Eco–tourism EU: Europe Union IUCN: International Union Conservation of Nature LC: Local Community NGOs: Non-government Organizations NP: National Park NR: Nature reserve PC: People’s Committee SD: Sustainable Development ST: Sustainable Tourism WTO: World Tourism Organization LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Figure 1.1 Community structural components…… .11 Figure.1.2 Relationship between tourism resources and Community tourism activities…… .14 Figure 1.3 Model of community-based tourism in Huay Hee hamlet - Thailand 18 Figure 1.4 Model of community-based tourism in Annapurna national conservation area-Nepal 19 Figure 1.5 Model of SD of IUCN, 2004 21 Figure 1.6 The concept of sustainable development [Unesco] 24 Table 2.1 The legend of the brooch forest - Minh Chau commune 29 Table 2.2 International visitors to Van Don (period 2006-2010) 53 Figure 2.2 Number of international visitors compared to the total number of visitors to Van Don period 2006-2010 54 Table 2.3 Domestic visitors to Van Don (period 2006-2010) 56 Table 2.4 Tourism revenue of Van Don district (period 2006-2010) 58 Figure 3.1: Minh Chau Commune map………………………………… 79 Figure 3.2 The model of community ecotourism development in communes: Minh Chau, Van Don and Quang Ninh 82 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION Aims of the study Background 3 Object and scope of the study Study methodology and methods 4.1 Methodology 4.2 Methods The structure of thesis CHAPTER ONE THEORETICAL BASIS OF COMMUNITY ECOTOURISM TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 1.1 Ecotourism 1.1.1.Overview of research on ecotourism 1.1.1.1 In the world 1.1.1.2 In Vietnam 1.1.2 The concept of ecotourism 1.2 Community-based tourism 1.2.1 General theoretical basis for community-based tourism 1.2.1.1 The concept of community-based tourism 1.2.1.2 The Significance of community tourism development 11 1.2.1.3 Principles of community tourism development 11 1.2.1.4 Conditions for community tourism development 11 1.2.1.5 Characteristics of community tourism 12 1.2.1.6 The purpose of community tourism 13 1.2.1.7 The relationship between tourism activities and local community13 1.2.2 The experience of some countries in community-based ecotourism development 16 1.2.2.1 In Huay Hee hamlet - Thailand 16 1.2.2.2 In Ghandruk village of Annapurna national conservation area – Nepal18 1.3 Sustainable Tourism Development 19 1.3.1 The concept of sustainable development 19 1.3.2 Sustainable tourism development 22 1.3.3 The goals of sustainable tourism development 25 CHAPTER TWO STATUS AND POTENTIALS OF COMMUNITY ECOTOURISM ACTIVITIES IN VAN DON DISTRICT, QUANG NINH PROVINCE 27 2.1 General introduction to Van Don district 27 2.1.1 Geographic site 27 2.1.2 Area 28 2.1.3 Population and population distribution 28 2.2 The potential for community ecotourism in Van Don, Quang Ninh 29 2.2.1 The potential of the topography and geology for tourism 29 2.2.2 Climate potential 30 2.2.3 Hydrographical, maritime potential for tourism 30 2.2.4 Biodiversity potential for tourism 31 2.2.4.1 Ecosystems 31 2.2.4.2 Diversity of species and genetic resources 35 2.2.5 Some of the typical tourism destinations 36 2.2.6 Humanity tourism resources 40 2.2.6.1 Historical, cultural relics 41 2.2.6.2 The typical traditional festivals in Van Don 46 2.3 Current status of community ecotourism in Van Don 46 2.3.1 The main destinations 46 2.3.2 The facilities for tourism 47 2.3.2.1 Staying service 47 2.3.2.2 Restaurant 48 2.3.2.3 Transport services 48 2.3.2.4 Additional services 49 2.3.3 International visitors 49 2.3.4 Domestic visitors 51 2.3.5 Revenue on tourism 53 2.3.6 The participation of the people, participants and forms of participation in tourism activities 54 2.3.7 The impact of tourism on local communities 58 2.3.7.1 The positive impacts 58 2.3.7.2 The negative impacts 60 2.3.8 Some comments on the type of community ecotourism 61 2.3.8.1 Limitations in the development of community tourism in Van Don 61 2.3.8.2 Limitations in sharing of benefits between tourism development units with local community 62 CHAPTER SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS FOR SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITY ECOTOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN VAN DON DISTRICT, QUANG NINH PROVINCE 64 3.1 The premises for tourism development orientation in Van Don 64 3.2 Recommendations 65 3.2.1 Orientation of tourism development in Van Don 65 3.2.2 Improvement of tourism legislation and policy system 66 3.2.3 Training of local tourism human resources 67 3.2.4 Attraction of local community participation 68 3.2.5 Improvement of environmental quality for tourism 69 3.2.6 Enhancement of promotion, advertising of tourism product forms 70 3.2.7 Mainstreaming environmental and climate change issues into local tourism developmental strategies, plannings, plans and programs 72 3.2.8 Proposal of sustainable community ecotourism development model in Minh Chau commune, Van Don and Quang Ninh 72 CONCLUSIONS 78 REFERENCES 80 INTRODUCTION Aims of the study *Rationale of the study Tourism is nowadays becoming a indispensable need in the socio-economy all around the world Tourism activities is rapidly developing and becoming an important economic sector of many countries Tourism is called a “non-smoke industry” due to the huge income from its activities In the eco-friendly orientation, sustainable development and response to global climate change of the economic sectors, the tourism industry has emerged some tourism forms associated with environmental protection, such as eco-tourism, country tourism, community tourism As a result, the study of the development of this tourism type is essential Located about 40 kilometers from Ha Long city (Quang Ninh province), Van Don is known as one of the attractive landscape for eco-tourism of Quang Ninh In the overall plan for tourism development of Quang Ninh, period 2000-2010, Van Don was identified as one of four key areas to develop tourism In particular, the Prime Minister has delivered the Decision No 786/QDTTg dated 07.26.2007 on the approval of the project "Development of socioeconomic in Van Don Economic Zone in 2020 and a vision to 2030", which focuses on "Building the general economy of the island district of Van Don to be a high-quality resort island." With the natural tourism resources and rich human history along with a long history of tradition, Van Don Island district has great potentials to develop tourism, especially community ecotourism In fact, the inner strength of Van Don has not been effectively made advantage; people of the island have a low living standard Though the living standard of many communes is being improved and income from tourism development is increased, the risk of poverty again hasn’t disappeared due to the unsustainable tourism investment and development It can be said that natural conditions, the issue of human resources and infrastructure are three fundamental elements which have a direct effect on the economic value from tourism The communes who have potentials to develop ecotourism face difficulties due to limited power system and fresh water for people and for tourists In addition, the local community doesn’t often take part in tourism activities, economic benefits is low and unusual, depending largely on the tourist season The form of participation of the local people almost spontaneous, stem from the rule of supply - demand (That is when the tourists need something, people see the revenues from that service to improve their life, therefore, they participate actively) For the purpose of investment in tourism development, the area of agriculture and aquaculture production is becoming narrow Consequently, solving jobs for local people is more and more urgent From the above fact, the author courageously chosen the study: "A research to assess community eco-tourism and suggestions of solutions for sustainable tourism development in Van Don District, Quang Ninh province" as my master's degree graduation study, major Vietnam, in the hope of contribution to the sustainable tourism development particularly in Van Don district and generally Quang Ninh province *Scientific significance of the study The results of the study contributes to further clarify the concepts of ecotourism, community tourism, sustainable tourism development - a development has multiple meanings and prospects in Vietnam nowadays *Practical significance of the study - Communities eco-tourism model towards sustainable development proposed in the thesis can be applied to improve the quality and effectiveness of current tourism activities in Van Don and to further research and build a model community ecotourism towards sustainable development in Van Don district, Quang Ninh province - The results of the thesis can be used as a reference for other districts in similar situations of this field Background There have been so far many scientific articles, documents and research of the author to write about Van Don, Quang Ninh, but most of them are historical studies, folklores and coastal people to praise the natural beauty of this place Several master theses refer to the object of their studies as tourism contributing to tourism development in Van Don, but they only focus on the potentials and policies to develop the planned functional tourism areas The study on community eco-tourism associated with objective of sustainable development is a branch new research which has never done before yet 3.Object and scope of the study - Object of the study + Ecotourism potentials in Van Don District + Community ecotourism activities being done in Van Don District towards a sustainable development + Local people who are living in the areas belong to the planned ecotourism in Van Don District - Scope of the study + Place: Inner town of Cai Rong, areas along coast in Ha Long District, islands of Minh Chau, Quan Lan, Ba Mun, Ngoc Vung in Van Don District, Quang Ninh Province + Time: The research is done in years, from 2009 to 2011 Study methodology and methods 4.1 Methodology Tourism in general as well as community ecotourism in particular is an interdisciplinary problem, involving many areas of natural resource extraction, human activities and socio-economic, educational, business, share public interest to institutional policies, security Therefore, the methodology is system and interdisciplinary, approaching from the top down and bottom up ... study: "A research to assess community eco -tourism and suggestions of solutions for sustainable tourism development in Van Don District, Quang Ninh province" as my master''s degree graduation study,... current tourism activities in Van Don and to further research and build a model community ecotourism towards sustainable development in Van Don district, Quang Ninh province - The results of the... essential Located about 40 kilometers from Ha Long city (Quang Ninh province) , Van Don is known as one of the attractive landscape for eco -tourism of Quang Ninh In the overall plan for tourism development