Community-Based Ecotourism and Conservation Tourism Development in the Evolution of Livelihoods in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam

Abstract

Although tourism is being promoted as an effective tool for economic growth and environmental conservation, its actual contributions to sustaining local livelihoods are questionable. Suffering from the parallel impacts of Mekong dams and climate change, local people in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam are struggling to find solutions for their nature-based livelihoods as well as the region’s unique ecosystem. Understanding how tourism is evolving within this context is important to justify the actions of key stakeholders and beneficiaries in the ecotourism sector, as is the evaluation of the roles of the government and civil society organisations in securing benefits from tourism for local people and the environment. In an effort to contribute to the limited literature on community-based ecotourism and conservation tourism in the Mekong Delta, this study was carried out to evaluate the development trend of this new sector and local people’s position and benefits, and to identify the gaps which need to be filled to ensure a sustainable development pathway. Secondary information was gathered from selected English and Vietnamese publications, and the databases of the Vietnamese government, international non-government organisations, and other non-profit organisations. Primary data was collected through online interviews with different actor groups, including tourism specialists, people working directly in the tourism industry and non-government organisations, journalists, and government agencies, in order to collect up-to-date facts on the development trends, case studies, as well as the stakeholders’ views, evaluations, and recommendations. The findings indicate that there has been a significant increase in community-based ecotourism activities and conservation tourism in both quality and quantity, and recognised benefits in terms of income, local empowerment, and environmental protection. While community-based ecotourism has been showing evidence for the theoretical assumptions of tourism’s benefits to local livelihoods and the environment, conservation tourism has not proved itself as an effective tool to support conservation activities and reduce the pressure on the natural resources. The analyses also illustrate that this subsector has not yet received enough attention and support from the government and non-government organisations. As tourism development is unavoidable in the Mekong Delta in the broader national context of tourism promotion and local circumstances, only by eliminating poor tourism practices and enhancing the roles of different local stakeholders, especially non-government organisations, can sustainable tourism development be ensured for the benefits of local people and the environment.