Research on community tourism development in Don Duong district, Lam Dong province

livestock. Thanks to the development of high-tech vegetable and dairy farming, Don Duong has increased its average income per capita from 18.3 million VND/year (2010) to 41.4 million VND/year (2014), second only to some major centers of the province such as Da Lat and Bao Loc. In the forestry sector, afforestation and scattered tree planting are carried out annually, with forest coverage in the district reaching 56.8% (2014). Currently, the district has 22 forest owners, of which 02 are assigned forests and forestry land by the state, 20 non-state units rent forests and forestry land for afforestation, forest protection and management, and tourism business under the forest canopy with an area of 5,005 hectares; over 27,000 hectares of forest are assigned to 926 households, of which 816 are ethnic minority households. The district's economic growth rate reached 14.4%, with agriculture and forestry accounting for the highest proportion in the economic structure, accounting for 56.4%, followed by the service sector accounting for 30.2% and the construction industry accounting for 13.4% (2014).

In terms of tourism, based on rich natural and cultural tourism resources, Don Duong has the potential to develop various types of tourism such as sightseeing tourism, eco-tourism, cultural tourism, agricultural tourism, community tourism, and research tourism. However, the system of accommodation facilities and tourism services in the district is still poor and has not been invested in; the tourism workforce is still lacking, and tourism planning has not been focused on, leading to slow development of tourism activities. Tourists have only known and come to Don Duong in the past 3 years thanks to beautiful photos posted on media channels, especially the "viral" effect on social networking sites after photographers and young people with a passion for photography shared information and beautiful photos of Don Duong through their perspectives. This is the premise to strengthen the promotion of nature, culture and people of Don Duong to tourists, thereby attracting tourists and helping tourism activities develop more strongly in the future.

In October 2015, Don Duong district was recognized as the first new rural district of Lam Dong province as well as the whole Central Highlands region and is one of 6 districts meeting new rural standards in the country. This contributes to creating motivation to develop the cultural economy and improve the lives of local people, thereby building

Part I: People's views on community-based tourism . This part includes 26 closed questions to capture the views of local communities on the concept of community-based tourism and the impacts of community-based tourism on economic, socio-cultural and environmental aspects in both positive and negative ways. Respondents answered the questions on a 5-point Likert scale from 1 equivalent to "completely disagree" to 5 equivalent to "completely agree". The content of the questionnaire in this part includes 07 questions to know how local communities understand community-based tourism, 12 questions related to the positive impacts of community-based tourism and 07 questions related to the negative impacts of community-based tourism.

Part II: People's participation in community tourism activities in Don Duong. This part includes 07 closed questions to assess the current status of community participation in tourism activities in Don Duong by using the scale of people's participation based on the theory of Pretty et al. (1995).

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Part III: People's needs and expectations in developing community tourism in Don Duong . In this part, 17 closed questions are asked to assess people's needs and expectations in developing community tourism in Don Duong according to the Likert scale with 5 levels from 1 equivalent to "completely disagree" to 5 "completely agree" and 01 closed question in the form of arranging the priority order of each content in the question.

Part IV: Respondent's personal information. The purpose of this section is to collect respondent's demographic information including occupation, age, gender, education level, ethnicity, length of residence in the locality, income level and main source of household income. There is also 01 open-ended question for respondents to express their personal views on community tourism development in Don Duong.

2.3.1.2. Sample size

According to the Statistics Office of Don Duong district, the total population in the district in 2014 was 98,608 people, with 24,443 households. The research topic selected households as representative samples through simple random sampling so that the ability to be selected into the total sample of all units of the total population is the same. Based on the formula for calculating sample size n = N / (1 + Ne 2 ) in which N is the population, e is the standard error

one of the most majestic and beautiful passes in Vietnam. Reaching the top of the pass, the entire natural landscape of a vast land with majestic mountains, the echoing sound of waterfalls, winding, dangerous bends and further away, the Phan Rang - Ninh Thuan plain appears before your eyes, extremely impressive. In addition, Dran Pass in Dran town is the second pass in Don Duong district connecting Ngoan Muc Pass to Da Lat, the pass has less winding bends than Ngoan Muc Pass, on both sides of the road are pine hills and green tea hills, stretching the entire pass, right next to the two sides of the road is the bright yellow color of Wild Sunflowers in full bloom at the end of the year.

With an average temperature of 21 - 22 0 C, the climate is cool all year round and less susceptible to drought.

Due to the impact of erratic weather changes (Central Highlands Hydrometeorological Station, 2015), the climate conditions in Don Duong are suitable for local people's vegetable and flower cultivation and dairy farming activities, and are also ideal conditions for tourism development.

The natural landscape in Don Duong is very rustic and simple with Chau Son pine hills, wild sunflower hills, sunflower fields, mustard flowers in Tu Tra commune and vast green vegetable gardens such as mustard, lettuce, onions, potatoes, bell peppers surrounding the whole district. This place is considered the "tomato granary", the largest vegetable growing area in Lam Dong province, and is also famous for Cayenne pineapple - a typical plant of Don Duong region, which was certified by the Intellectual Property Office with the trademark "Don Duong Cayenne Pineapple" in 2009.

Passing the passes, you will reach Da Nhim Lake in Dran town, located on the way from Phan Rang to Da Lat. The lake is also a beautiful sightseeing stop for tourists when coming to Don Duong. In addition, Don Duong also has beautiful waterfalls such as Cha Tay waterfall located in Lac Xuan commune with cool water, flowing gently under the canopy of the primeval forest, still full of wild beauty. Thien Thai waterfall in Lac Nghiep commune, located right at the beginning of Ngoan Muc pass, is completely different because the waterfall flows along the rocky ravine, standing upright, making the water splash white, the surrounding natural scenery is full of pristine nature. In short, Don Duong's natural tourism resources are harmoniously combined by water resources, flora and fauna.

The terrain and climate factors contribute to creating a very simple and unique feature for this place and will be favorable conditions for exploiting and developing local tourism.

3.1.1.2. Cultural tourism resources

In terms of cultural tourism resources, Don Duong has an advantage with intangible cultural resources associated with the Churu ethnic group; most notably, the Central Highlands Gong Cultural Space is not only the pride of the Churu community in Don Duong in particular but also of the Central Highlands ethnic groups in general when it was recognized by UNESCO as an Oral and Intangible Masterpiece of Humanity in 2005. The performances imbued with indigenous culture in traditional costumes of the Churu community promise to bring visitors unforgettable experiences, especially the artist Ma Bio and the gong group in Diom A village, Lac Xuan commune.

In the rich treasure of material and spiritual cultural values of the Churu people, there is a long-standing and famous traditional craft, which is the goldsmith carving craft, especially the silver ring making craft, which is still preserved until now, but is at risk of being lost if not preserved in time. For the Churu people, a silver ring is not only a piece of jewelry but also considered a valuable dowry, with special significance in marriage and funeral ceremonies. On the other hand, the ancestors of the Churu people are a part of the Cham community (Ninh Thuan), so they still preserve the traditional pottery craft with the unique feature of not using a turntable and not firing; the sophistication of ceramic products created by human hands combined with the secret of choosing soil that only people in the community know always contain the unique cultural value of the Churu people here. Furthermore, the Churu people also make woven products such as household items made of rattan, bamboo or tools for daily life and agricultural production including knives, sickles, hoes, grass scrapers, etc.

Regarding traditional costumes, the Churu people actually do not have a weaving profession, so their costumes are made from materials from the Co Ho and Cham communities. Therefore, the Churu people's costumes are a blend and combination of the costumes of the

The Churu women wear mainly silver jewelry and they believe that silver is a metal more precious than gold.

Talking about the culinary culture of the Churu people, we must mention bitter melon soup cooked with buffalo skin, grilled stream fish wrapped in forest leaves served with green chili salt. Being an ethnic group specializing in wet rice cultivation, the main food of the Churu people is rice and porridge. In addition, they also eat dishes such as meat, dried meat, grilled fish, dried fish, fish sauce, vegetables, ... from ingredients that can be found around their living area, the Churu people have prepared dishes with their own flavors that are also imbued with the flavor of the mountains and forests.

Because it is a place where the Churu community lives and is closely associated with it, most of the architectural works in Don Duong exude the traditional culture of the local people, such as the houses and community houses that still exist, such as the ancient Churu ethnic stilt house in Diom A village or Ka Don church (Ka Don commune), one of the extremely unique architectural works in Don Duong, designed and built based on the architectural ideas of the Churu people's houses, respecting natural materials and the surrounding natural landscape, and was honored to receive the 4th European Sacred Architecture Award - 2011, in Italy; second prize in the 6th International Sacred Architecture Competition (2016), in Germany.

The daily life and culture of the Chu Ru people in some villages and communes such as Pro, Tu Tra, Da Ron, Ka Don still retain their originality thanks to the characteristic of living close together without other communities living together. The Churu people's religious culture is also richly expressed not only in production activities and daily life but also in the thoughts and ways of thinking of each person; that is, the worship ritual of "yang" - the god of the Churu people, the worship ritual related to the rice production cycle, the ritual associated with the human life cycle and especially the magical forms (healing, love) and taboos in the lives of the people.

In addition, when it comes to traditional occupations in Don Duong, the Lac Lam traditional rice paper village in Xuan Thuong village, Lac Lam commune is gradually becoming known. There is an entire village here that makes traditional rice paper, and the people themselves

In terms of age, people aged 31-50 years old accounted for the highest proportion, 56.1%, followed by people aged 18-30 accounting for 20.5%, people surveyed aged 51-60 accounted for only 16.7%, and people over 60 had the lowest proportion, 6.8%. In terms of gender, the proportion of women accounted for more than half of the respondents, 51.5%. The majority of people surveyed were Kinh (54.5%) and Churu (38.6%) while the proportion of other ethnic groups such as Co Ho, Chil, Ma, Ede, etc. accounted for only 6.9%. In terms of education level, the number of respondents who have studied up to Level 2 accounts for the highest percentage, 34.8% and 20.5% is the percentage of respondents who have studied up to Level 3, the percentage of respondents with a level of education from Level 1 or below is 21.3%, while University and Postgraduate degrees account for 12.9% and finally Secondary and College degrees account for 10.6%. The people surveyed represent each household currently living in 10 communes and towns in Don Duong district, so the number of respondents is distributed throughout 10 communes and towns, in which the percentage of respondents in communes and towns such as Tu Tra, Thanh My, Lac Lam, Pro, Lac Xuan and Ka Don accounts for over 10%. The majority of people surveyed have lived in the locality for over 20 years, accounting for 74.2%, followed by the proportion of people living from 16 - 20 years, accounting for 10.6%, 7.6% is the proportion of people living from 11 - 15 years and 3% is the proportion of people living from 6 - 10 years and finally 4.5% is the proportion of people living for less than 5 years.

In terms of occupation, the majority of people surveyed are farmers, accounting for 53.8%, followed by business and trade, accounting for 18.2%, office workers and civil servants accounting for over 6%, 5.3% is the proportion of respondents working in teaching, and the lowest is students over 18 years old, accounting for 1.5%. In general, the income of respondents is relatively high compared to some localities in mountainous areas, the average income of respondent households over 4.5 million VND/month accounts for the highest percentage, 44.7%, followed by income from 1.5 million - 4.5 million VND/month, accounting for 38.6%, the income from 700 thousand - 1.5 million VND/month is 7.6% and households with income under 700 thousand VND/month account for 9.1%, mainly Churu ethnic households living in Pro commune - this is also the only commune in Don Duong district that has not met the new rural commune standards by the end of 2015. The main source of income of households is mainly from agriculture (growing vegetables, flowers, raising dairy cows) accounting for more than half of the respondents, 53.8%, income from business and trading activities accounts for the remaining percentage. 13.6%, from providing tourism services accounting for the proportion

Based on the average value of the rating scale from 1 corresponding to the opinion of completely disagreeing to 5 corresponding to the opinion of completely agreeing, among these activities, the highest demand of local people is providing tourism services, reaching 4.15 including eating, accommodation, providing local specialties, souvenirs, explanations, guides, etc. On the contrary, the lowest demand of people is providing raw materials and fresh food for tourism businesses, with only 3.5. In general, most people are willing to participate in meetings and contribute ideas related to local tourism development, ready to welcome visitors to visit their family's vegetable and flower gardens (level above 4), while the need to participate in community cultural festivals, preserve handicrafts to serve the needs of tourists or persuade others to participate in tourism activities, people are still hesitant, afraid and have no opinion (3.79 - 3.85).

3.2.1.4. People's expectations

With the need to be ready to participate in tourism activities, Don Duong people hope to receive support and assistance from local authorities, organizations outside the community and tourism businesses to provide tourism products and services that meet the needs of tourists while bringing benefits to the community.

and so far has not received support or assistance from non-governmental organizations.

Regarding tourism planning: Don Duong has advantages for tourism development including both natural and cultural tourism resources. Local leaders are very interested in developing district tourism, for example, building a "Project to preserve, promote and develop Churu cultural heritage to form a community tourism model in Don Duong district in the 2014 period".

– 2015 and vision 2020” and especially with the new rural district standards bring Don Duong advantages in investment and development. On the contrary, the locality still faces some difficulties, specifically poor tourism products, unconcentrated tourist attractions, some dilapidated intra-district traffic routes, tourism promotion has not been promoted and people's awareness of tourism is still limited. The work of planning tourism by territory has not been implemented, the locality only plans tourist routes in the District Tourism Development Plan for the period 2011 - 2015.

In summary, respondents want the locality to develop community tourism in particular and the tourism sector in general. To do this, it is necessary to first organize Famtrip tours, seminars, promote local tourism, attract investment from businesses and raise public awareness about tourism.

Source: In-depth interviews, 2016

For commune/town level authorities, local leaders have almost no idea about exploiting and developing tourism, leading to a lack of initiative in developing plans or proposing issues related to local tourism development strategies. Even some communes that focus on natural and cultural tourism resources, especially cultural values associated with the Churu people such as Pró, Tu Tra, and Ka Don communes, still do not have plans to implement conservation and promotion of indigenous cultural values. However, local authorities realize that they have the advantage of understanding the characteristics of the population in the area, so propaganda and education work to raise local people's awareness and encourage their participation in tourism activities can be implemented in practice while building close ties with the local community; on the other hand, they also clearly understand the strengths and weaknesses of their locality in tourism development. In short, local leaders want to develop community tourism in particular and tourism activities in general, but initially they need advice and support from superiors from the orientation, planning and implementation stages to ensure unity and smooth coordination between government levels in developing tourism in a sustainable direction.

Research on community tourism development in Don Duong district, Lam Dong province - 5

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