Building Linh Son Pagoda and some historical relics - nearby cultural works to become key tourist attractions of Kien Thuy district - 2

3. Subject and scope of the thesis

+ Research object: Linh Son Pagoda and surrounding historical relics and cultural works.

+ Research scope:

- About space: The thesis researches Linh Son pagoda and surrounding historical relics and cultural works.

- About time: The thesis studies the relics and works that still exist today.

4. Research method of the thesis.

The thesis is conducted by the following methods:

- Observation method: By going to the field, directly observing relics and constructions to collect information.

- Statistical methods, statistics.

- Sociological investigation methods.

5. Sources of thesis materials.

The main source of material for the thesis is local fieldwork, in addition, it also inherits the research results on relics in Kien Thuy district that have been published.

6. Contribution of the thesis.

The thesis introduces some relics and new constructions recently built, evaluates their value and potential for tourism development in the district. At the same time, proposes methods to effectively exploit these relics and constructions for tourism.

7. Structure of the thesis.

The thesis is divided into 4 chapters:

Chapter 1: Some issues on tourism and cultural tourism.

Chapter 2: Introduction to Kien Thuy district and its tourism potential. Chapter 3: Potential and current status of Linh Son pagoda and surrounding historical relics and cultural works.

Chapter 4: Building Linh Son Pagoda and surrounding historical relics and cultural works to become key tourist attractions in Kien Thuy district

CHAPTER I: SOME ISSUES ON TOURISM AND CULTURAL TOURISM

1.1. Concept of tourism

A tourism expert commented: "For tourism, there are as many definitions as there are researchers."

Among the scholars who gave the shortest definition (though not the simplest), we must mention Ausher and Nguyen Khac Vien. According to Ausher, "Tourism is the art of traveling for individuals", while academician Nguyen Khac Vien believes that tourism is the expansion of human cultural space. In Vietnamese dictionaries, tourism is explained as traveling to know the people.

In 1963, with the aim of internationalization, at the United Nations conference on tourism in Rome, experts gave a definition of tourism: "Tourism is the sum of relationships, phenomena and economic activities arising from the journeys and stays of individuals or groups outside their usual place of residence or outside their country for peaceful purposes. The place they come to stay is not their place of work".

Different from the above viewpoint, the scholars who compiled the Vietnamese Encyclopedia separated the two basic contents of tourism into two separate parts. According to these experts, the first meaning of this word is a form of active sightseeing and recreation of people outside their place of residence for the purpose of: resting, entertaining, seeing scenic spots, historical relics, cultural and artistic works... In the second meaning, tourism is a comprehensive business with high efficiency in many aspects, improving understanding of nature, historical traditions and national culture, thereby contributing to increasing love for the homeland.

For foreigners, tourism is a very effective business sector and can be considered a form of exporting goods and services on the spot.

In the 2005 Vietnam Tourism Law, tourism is defined as "Activities related to human trips outside their regular place of residence to meet the needs of sightseeing, learning, entertainment, and relaxation within a certain period of time".

1.2. Types of tourism:

Tourism is a comprehensive industry , related to many different industries and fields, so there are many scholars from many fields studying tourism. Many people have proposed many different criteria to classify tourism into types. If classified according to the natural environment, in the book: "Geographical basis of tourism and sightseeing services", Pirojnik said that tourism includes: Nature tourism and cultural tourism.

1.2.1 . Nature tourism:

Is a tourism activity that takes tourists to places with favorable conditions, fresh natural environment, and attractive natural landscapes to satisfy their specific needs.

Nowadays, with the strong development of science and technology, people's income and life are increasingly improved. However, the speed of urbanization makes people increasingly need entertainment, improve health by living closer to nature. This explains why tourism in general and nature tourism in particular has been, is and will become a promising economic sector in the future.

But now, massive tourism activities are at risk of degrading the natural environment. The concentration of too many people in one place makes it impossible for nature to recover, leading to the gradual destruction of nature.

To find an effective solution to this situation, people have introduced the concept of ecotourism, changing human behavior towards nature with a greater awareness of caring for nature and making more efforts to protect it.

1.2.2 . Cultural tourism:

Is a tourism activity that mainly takes place in a human environment, or that tourism activity focuses on exploiting human tourism resources.

Cultural objects are considered extremely attractive resources, attracting visitors by their richness, diversity, uniqueness, tradition as well as locality. This is the basis for creating rich types of cultural tourism.

We can understand cultural tourism as a type of tourism where people enjoy the cultural products of humanity, of a country, a region or a nation.

People call it cultural tourism when tourism activities take place in a humanistic environment, or when tourism activities focus on exploiting humanistic tourism resources.

*Characteristics of cultural tourism products.

 Is a product with human creativity

 Is a product bearing the mark of history and tradition of that community and era.

 Cultural tourism products are expressed as tangible or intangible.

*Factors affecting cultural tourism.

Cultural tourism develops in an environment with human tourism resources. These are the system of historical and cultural relics, types of cultural and artistic works, scenic spots, festivals, customs and practices, etc. Factors that affect the distribution, formation, development or loss of these resources all have an impact on cultural tourism.

+Objective factors

 Climatic conditions affect the development of resources. Rain, wind, floods or harsh weather conditions all reduce the life of structures, causing them to deteriorate quickly.

 Unstable political conditions and war bombs also caused destruction to buildings.

 History and time also destroy and seriously degrade buildings, requiring human repair, preservation and conservation.

 Political institutions and policies: Have positive impacts on preserving, promoting or embellishing cultural values.

+ Subjective factors.

The subjective factors mentioned here are the human factors. If people are conscious of preserving and promoting traditional cultural values, culture will be able to develop brilliantly, promoting its role in developing cultural tourism. On the contrary, if people overexploit without renovating, protecting and preserving, it will also reduce the value of those resources.

1.3. The impact of tourism on other sectors:

1.3.1. The impact of tourism on society.

+ For society, tourism plays a role in maintaining, restoring health and enhancing vitality for people, limiting diseases, prolonging life and increasing human labor capacity. According to medical research by Dorin and Crivosev in 1981, thanks to optimal rest and travel, people's illnesses can be reduced by up to 30%. The truth is that medical tourism has been around for a long time, and medical tourism destinations

Attracting tourists are the high mountains with cool climates, or the natural mineral springs from underground that are exploited.

+ Tourism increases community solidarity. For people in the country, tourism promotes the spirit of solidarity and mutual love. For people from different countries, tourism increases friendship between countries. Because tourism is the meeting and exchange between people, through tourism people have the opportunity to contact each other, get closer to each other, which is the condition to strengthen relationships.

+ Tourism also has the effect of educating patriotism, arousing national pride. These are journeys to famous landscapes, historical sites, and cultural works. When in direct contact with familiar everyday objects, we may not pay much attention to them and will feel that they are very normal, but if we hear explanations about the origin or events associated with those objects, we will see all their values.

+ Another positive impact of tourism on society is that tourism contributes to raising people's knowledge. This role of tourism can be described by a Vietnamese proverb: "Traveling a day, learning a basketful of knowledge"; "Seeing once is not as good as hearing a hundred times". Each trip often brings experiences to tourists, brings them knowledge, experiences, increases their understanding and life experience.

+ Tourism also plays a very important role in creating jobs, increasing income for people and creating a high-quality and highly-skilled workforce. Because tourism is a multi-sector, multi-professional economic sector, its activities lead to the development of many other sectors, while attracting a very large workforce. Because people travel not only to sightsee and visit, but also have to use many other services such as food, accommodation, guides, souvenir shopping, etc., which are provided by industry, agriculture, etc.

industry, trade... Therefore, it can be said that tourism development is a way to reduce unemployment and improve people's living standards.

+ However, besides such positive impacts, the negative impact of tourism on society is not small. Because the nature of tourism is the meeting between people and people, is communication in a community, this is also an extremely favorable environment for increasing social evils. These are drug addiction, prostitution, gambling, robbery, and begging at tourist destinations. Many bad guys have taken advantage of trips to commit illegal acts, or tourists themselves are victims of these evils.

+ At the same time, the culture and customs in each region are different, so the local people often find it difficult to accept some of the styles that tourists bring, causing the local people to have a lack of sympathy for tourists. Or conversely, the actions and costumes of tourists, although not suitable for the local culture, many young people imitate them because they consider it a fashion, causing cultural distortion.

Also due to differences in religion, customs, culture, politics, etc., if there is no understanding and mutual respect, it will easily cause misunderstandings, disputes, conflicts, and create tension between the host and the guests. In addition, it can arise between local residents and suppliers when they bring guests.

1.3.2. Impact of tourism on culture:

+ Tourism has the effect of preserving, maintaining and promoting traditional cultural values. Because traditional culture is an important resource for tourism development, it determines the ability to attract tourists to that locality. Therefore, to increase the attractiveness of tourists, local authorities always try to introduce policies to preserve traditional cultural values. For example, one of the tours that many tourists seek is: