Research on building coffee tourism products into one of the main brands of Dak Lak tourism

1. Reason for choosing the topic

INTRODUCTION

Dak Lak has long been known as a land with the space of Central Highlands gong culture, epic treasures, long house architecture, fiery songs with the sound of the great forest... Besides, Dak Lak also owns a system of majestic and diverse natural landscapes. Typical are waterfalls such as: Gia Long waterfall (Dray Sap upper waterfall), Krong Kmar waterfall, Thuy Tien waterfall, Suoi Mo waterfall,... many large poetic lakes such as: Lak lake, Ea Kao lake, Ea Don lake, Dak Minh lake,... primeval forests such as: Yok Don national park, Chu Yang Sin, Ea Kao forest park. Most notably, Dak Lak is known for coffee, a drink that has become a specialty of the region, coffee is considered a unique cultural feature of the Central Highlands people. These are very favorable conditions for tourism development.

However, in recent times, the exploitation of tourism development potential in this locality has not yet created a clear impression. Currently, Dak Lak welcomes an average of 500 - 600 thousand visitors each year, with an average growth of 15 - 20% per year. The tourism products currently being developed in Dak Lak focus mainly on: eco-tourism, elephant riding, waterfall viewing, learning about ethnic cultural identity, gong space, etc. Tourism is mainly concentrated in prominent tourist areas and spots such as: Buon Don tourist center, Lak Lake tourist area, Buon Jun cultural tourism village, Ko Tam ecological community tourism, etc. Up to now, these types of tourism have become too familiar, no longer having much difference or uniqueness. In addition, the increasing exploitation of reservoirs for hydropower is also threatening tourism resources and ecological landscapes. The water level at waterfalls is depleted to the point where tourism exploitation is no longer possible. The number of elephants is also decreasing due to many objective reasons. Up to now, in Dak Lak, there are only no more than 50 elephants left, mainly serving the daily life of ethnic minorities and tourists.

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It is clear that the reality of the issue of building tourism products is still lacking, especially tourism products that can be exploited in the long term, associated with advantages in potential and cultural characteristics, as well as the ability to define a tourism brand for the locality. Compared to the Central Highlands provinces as well as the whole country, Dak Lak coffee has the greatest value in terms of quality, output, process, scale and diversity. That is why Dak Lak coffee has a unique feature that has become famous not only domestically but also internationally, not only for the province but also for the reputation of the entire Central Highlands region.

Learning, visiting, and enjoying coffee can bring experiences that suit the desires and needs of tourists: from visiting coffee farms, coffee flower seasons to harvest seasons, or visiting the picking, drying, roasting process at factory scale or household scale, from packaging, brewing coffee or the process of raising and producing special civet coffee... and finally learning about finished coffee products to enjoy and buy for use or as gifts.

All of these are attractive activities and experiences in a unique and characteristic tourism product that Dak Lak can completely implement. This tourism product promises many values of experience and cultural learning about the characteristics of the Central Highlands.

Coffee here is different but also very diverse in types, besides that it is also associated with learning about the life, culture, and customs of the people of this land in the process of living and cultivating coffee. Coffee tourism products can be considered an agricultural eco-tourism product. Many countries in the world and some localities in the country have also been very successful in exploiting and developing these products, such as in Da Lat, which is a place where many flowers, strawberries are grown... and these products have also become famous, a typical image when mentioning Da Lat.

As for Dak Lak, the lack of typical tourism products with local brands is a major concern for tourism workers.

tourism here. Therefore, finding a separate path for Dak Lak tourism to flourish is really necessary. Recognizing the current situation and outstanding tourism potential, I chose the topic "Research on building coffee tourism products into one of the main brands of Dak Lak tourism" with the desire to contribute a small part of my efforts with the government and people here in shaping a brand for Dak Lak tourism products.

2. Research purpose and tasks

2.1. Research purpose

Exploiting the abundant and potential coffee resources to serve the research and development of tourism products associated with understanding coffee to bring great experiential values, capable of positioning the brand for local tourism products.

2.2. Research tasks

- Research on theoretical system on building tourism products and tourism brands.

- Research the current status of tourism development, existing tourism products and market demand for tourism products associated with coffee in Dak Lak.

- Assess the possibility of exploiting coffee into tourism products in Dak Lak.

- Proposing directions for building coffee tourism products typical of Dak Lak.

- Proposing directions for developing coffee product brands into Dak Lak tourism brands.

3. Research object and scope

3.1. Research subjects

The topic focuses on researching and building Dak Lak coffee tourism products.

3.2. Scope of research

- Regarding content: Research the basis and propose directions for building coffee tourism products into Dak Lak tourism brand.

- Regarding space: The scope is limited to Dak Lak province, focusing on Buon Ma Thuot city based on considering the relationships of tourism development within the region and inter-region.

- Regarding time: The topic is carried out through collecting statistics and business situation of Dak Lak tourism industry in the past 5 years and orientation in the coming years.

4. History of research on the problem

Over the course of development, many scholars have mentioned the concepts of tourism products and tourism brands, notably scholars in the field of marketing such as: Phillip Kotler in Marketing Essential or Marketing management or John Wiley. Most scholars discuss theories about products in general.

In the next stages, many researchers have delved into the field of tourism products such as authors M.Coltman, Phillip Kotler also had important studies related to tourism products. Theories about tourism brands were discussed a lot by Crouch & Richie. These theories have clarified the issues of attributes and characteristics of tourism products and branding.

The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) is one of the United Nations agencies that has published important documents, namely the Guidebook on Tourism Destination Branding (2009) and the Guidebook on Tourism Product Development (2011). These are theoretical documents and documents summarizing world tourism practices with great reference value.

In Vietnam, research projects on the issue of building tourism products and tourism brands up to now include ministerial-level topics focusing on building national tourism products such as: topic: "Research on building Vietnamese tourism products that are competitive in the region and internationally" - Dr. Do Cam Tho (2008), topic: "Research on developing a system of cultural tourism products at Vietnam's world cultural heritages (limited to the heritages: Hue, Hoi An

An, My Son)” – Dr. Hoang Thi Diep (2011), topic “Solutions to develop Vietnam tourism brand” – Dr. Do Cam Tho (2014).

In addition, some scientific articles have also mentioned different aspects of tourism product development but not comprehensively. Some recent master's theses have also mentioned tourism product development in certain localities. However, most of the authors' research works only focus on exploitation for the purpose of promoting business activities of enterprises or building brands to serve business. Meanwhile, the Vietnam tourism development strategy approved by the Government for this period has many contents orienting tourism product development for the next period.

However, currently there are no research projects that delve into the exploitation of tourism products associated with the study of coffee as one of the typical tourism products with local brands to serve the needs of tourism development.

5. Research methods

To achieve the set objectives, the thesis uses methods to implement, including:

- Synthesis and collection method: the topic has synthesized and collected documents and secondary data from the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Dak Lak, tourism businesses operating in the province on tourism business and development data... In addition, the topic also synthesized and collected other relevant sources of documents, data and information from local and central agencies, departments and other organizations...

- Document and data analysis method: conducted synthesis analysis, reviewed and analyzed data to assess the current status of tourism development in Dak Lak and the current status of exploiting the potential for tourism product development.

- Field investigation and survey method: conducted a market survey of international and domestic visitors in the entire Dak Lak province, neighboring areas and some places in neighboring provinces for 15 days. Total

250 ballots were issued and 200 ballots were collected. Using descriptive statistics (Google Drive) combined with data analysis and processing (Excel) to obtain reliable and objective data results.

- Conduct in-depth interviews with many subjects including tourists, businesses, authorities and people. The topic also uses field survey methods, learning about tours and tourist routes in Dak Lak, main tourist attractions, coffee farms, households, coffee processing and production facilities, coffee display and product centers, coffee shops...

- Method of asking for expert opinions: approached and asked for opinions from leading experts (enterprises) in the tourism sector in Dak Lak such as: Mr. Le Hoang Co, former Chairman of Dak Lak Tourism Association, Director of Dam San Tourism and Trading Company Limited; Mr. Dang Xuan Vu, Director of DakViet Tourism Company Limited; Mr. Pham Chi Ta, Director of Vietnam Highlands Travel Company Limited; Mr. Hoang Manh Cuong, Director of Kien Cuong One Member Company Limited.

6. Structure of the topic

In addition to the introduction, conclusion, references and appendices, the main content of this work includes 4 chapters:

Chapter 1. Theoretical basis of tourism products and tourism brands. Chapter 2. Current status of tourism product development in Dak Lak.

Chapter 3. Exploitation potential and market demand for tourism products associated with coffee exploration in Dak Lak.

Chapter 4. Proposal to build coffee tourism products into Dak Lak tourism brand.

CHAPTER 1. THEORETICAL BASIS OF TOURISM PRODUCTS AND TOURISM BRANDS

1.1. Theoretical basis of tourism products

1.1.1. Concept of tourism products

+ Products

Products are the center of all production and business activities. According to the International Standard ISO 9000:2000, “product” is the result of a process of interrelated or interacting activities to transform inputs into outputs. Thus, the inputs of a process are often the outputs of other processes.

Vietnamese dictionary definition: A product is something created by human labor. Products include both material and immaterial elements, tangible objects are called material products and intangible are called services.

Kotler and Turner defined a product as follows: “A product is anything that can be offered to a market for acquisition, use, or consumption: physical objects, services, persons, places, organizations, and ideas ” [25] .

“Products are also defined as things that can be offered to a market for attention, sale, or consumption” – According to Ph.Kotler, it includes physical characteristics, services, product features, place, organization, and product ideas [27] .

+ Tourism products

The concepts of tourism products are very diverse due to many different approaches, but most of them include the common characteristics of tourism products. Tourism products are a broad and comprehensive concept, including many tangible and intangible components, these components combine to form a complete tourism product to serve the needs and desires of tourists.

In the Law on Tourism passed by the National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in 2005: “Tourism products are a set of necessary services to satisfy the needs of tourists during their trip” [8] . Those services include: travel services, passenger transportation services, accommodation services, food and beverage services, entertainment services, information and guidance services and other services to meet the needs of tourists. Thus, according to the viewpoint in the Law on Tourism of Vietnam, tourism products are simply tourism service activities, but in reality, the content of tourism products is much more diverse and rich.

According to Michael M. Coltman: "Tourism product is a whole consisting of heterogeneous tangible and intangible components" its tangible nature is specifically expressed as food, drinks, souvenirs... and its intangible nature is expressed as types of tourism services, other supporting services [22] . Robert Christie Mill believes that tourism products have 4 positioning dimensions: Tourist attractions; Tourism technical facilities; Tourism transportation; Hospitality [29] .

In studies summarizing the practice and development trends of modern tourism, tourism products are referred to as a customer experience. Authors of this school of research believe that in addition to common features such as providing food, accommodation, transportation, sightseeing, etc., creating a valuable experience for customers is an important part of modern tourism products, creating added value and competitive advantage of the product. According to Ritchie and Crounch, researchers on competition also believe that "The basic product in tourism is the experience of the destination" [28] .

1.1.2. Characteristics of tourism products

Characteristics of tourism products: Tourism products are a special type of product, it is not a specific labor product expressed in material form but an intangible product expressed in many types of services. Some characteristics of tourism products:

Research on building coffee tourism products into one of the main brands of Dak Lak tourism - 2

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