Some Lessons Learned in Community Tourism Development

+ Homestay tourism develops based on the attractive values ​​of nature and especially indigenous culture. The Unesco Messenger magazine (December 1989) wrote: “Adventure now has no geographical horizon, no virgin continents (…) Yet, in many ways, peoples are still strangers to each other and the customs, hidden hopes, and deep convictions of each people continue to be things that other peoples know little about”.

Thus, the cultural identity of each land is always an attractive mystery, becoming a motivation for tourists to come and explore.

+ Homestay tourism shares the benefits of tourism with the local community, ensuring fair distribution among participants, contributing to efforts to conserve resource values ​​and develop the community.

+ Homestay tourism is organized according to the method: "three together": Eating together - staying together - living together. This is the most prominent feature of this type of tourism. Tourists come to live temporarily, are considered as an official member and directly participate in some daily activities of the local family.

The relationship between community tourism and homestay tourism is shown in the following comparison table:

Criteria

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In terms of type, objectives, visitors or benefits, Homestay tourism is a part of community tourism. If community tourism is a type of tourism that exploits and ensures benefits for the whole community, Homestay tourism is a type of tourism that exploits a part of the community's value but ensures benefits for a part of the community in terms of economy and ensures benefits for the whole community in terms of environment, culture and society. Thus, Homestay tourism is a part of community tourism.

1.3.6.4 Sustainable tourism

Sustainable development has become the socio-economic development goal of all mankind in the 21st century. Sustainable tourism development has become the trend and development goal of the tourism industry of many countries in the world as well as Vietnam in the present and future.

According to the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) “Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”.

According to Clause 21, Article 4, Chapter I - Vietnam Tourism Law (2005 ): "Sustainable tourism is tourism development that meets current needs without harming the ability to meet the tourism needs of future generations".

In the principles of sustainable development, there are 2 principles that refer to local communities:

+ Support local economy:

The resources that the tourism industry is using are owned by the local people. Tourism activities on the one hand bring positive effects to the local economy and society, on the other hand, they also leave many negative consequences for the local environment and economy. Therefore, the tourism industry has the responsibility to contribute a part of the income to the local economic development.

+ Attracting local community participation:

The participation of local communities in tourism activities not only benefits them and the environment but also contributes to maintaining and developing tourism, diversifying and improving the quality of tourism products, creating attraction for tourists.

1.4 Some lessons learned on community tourism development

1.4.1 Cuc Phuong National Park

Cuc Phuong National Park has many resources for ecotourism development. The dense population living in and around the National Park is one of the outstanding features of most National Parks in Vietnam. Most of them are poor people, living mainly

rely on slash-and-burn farming and the collection and hunting of wild animals and plants and other forest products. This is the main cause of deforestation and the decline in the number of animal and plant species living in the National Park. To overcome the above situation, it is necessary to implement many synchronous measures, but the key point is still how to improve the living standards of local people. Experience of Cuc Phuong National Park shows that if tourism is organized properly, it is possible to attract a part of the local population to participate in tourism and thereby increase income . Currently, Cuc Phuong cooperates with the local government and people to build 3 tourist villages in Khanh, La, and Bien Dong villages. These tourist villages are all located in the buffer zone of the park, thereby minimizing the negative impacts of tourism activities on the park's ecosystem. The above tourist village is connected to the tourist route departing from the park by the park's staff. With income from tourism, Cuc Phuong National Park has supported local people in improving the value of family gardens, building small hydroelectric plants, and rural roads. All of the above activities have had a positive impact on the management and protection of the park.

1.4.2 Xuan Thuy National Park

Xuan Thuy National Park is located in Giao Thuy district, Nam Dinh province, with ideal natural conditions for aquaculture and exploitation of aquatic resources and tourism development. According to Mr. Nguyen Viet Cach - Director of Xuan Thuy National Park, the first thing is to protect the environment well, this with wetlands always brings results in protecting long-term natural values. Even in practical conditions here, it has met the main life of the local community. This natural reserve provides a source of life, food reserves and habitat for aquaculture and exploitation models in the buffer zone and part of the core zone. From there, it contributes to the development of the local environment and socio-economy, becoming the basis for providing the development of unique ecological models of the new land, bringing great potential for development purposes.

The tourism function of the National Park must be promoted to create common welfare for the community and this has been gradually achieved here. In addition to upgrading infrastructure and service quality, the National Park has a community tourism project to promote all possible potentials, meeting the needs of tourists visiting nature and having a truly comfortable weekend.

1.4.3 Sapa

Sapa is a small district in the north of Lao Cai province, a magically beautiful “city in the mist”. According to statistics from the General Department of Tourism, if in 1995 there were 9,300 visitors (2,300 foreign visitors) to Sapa, then in the first 6 months of 1996 there were 7,282 visitors, including 3,282 foreign visitors. It can be seen that tourism activities have really brought economic benefits to this district, creating conditions for the development of the material and spiritual life of the people here.

On the other hand, tourism development also has negative impacts on the natural ecosystem and social life. Sapa's natural ecosystem has been rapidly transformed, especially the cultural and social life. The strong attack of the commodity economy - the tourism economy has caused significant impacts on cultural products and at the same time changed the economic activities of ethnic minorities in the highlands. For example: For hand-embroidered products, in order to increase the number of goods sold and reduce labor, ethnic people have reduced the traditional patterns. The complexity and sophistication of lines and colors are no longer much.

The entire Sapa tourism area is gradually being commercialized (both in terms of psychology and lifestyle). Therefore, it is necessary to protect the cultural quality of tourism activities. The most important condition to ensure the sustainability of tourism activities is the sustainability of tourism products. However, a problem arises: in the process of cultural exchange through tourism activities, between regions and countries, there is often an assessment of this place or that place as "progressive" or "backward". Countries with developed economies and regions with high living standards often consider themselves "progressive". Countries with underdeveloped economies and regions with low living standards are often assessed as "backward".

"backward". Therefore, there are often slogans: "Vietnam catches up with advanced countries", "mountainous areas catch up with the plains"... People in "progressive" areas often have a sincere desire to improve "backward" areas. People in "backward" areas often have many complexes and try to eliminate what they consider inferior to reach progress. If we consider it from an economic perspective, in terms of living standards, in terms of material comforts, there is nothing to argue about, but if this happens in the field of traditional culture, it is a "huge disaster" for tourism: When ethnic groups and minorities try to abandon their cultural identity, trying to blend into the culture of the majority, it means that the cultural environment - the product of tourism has lost its "strange", "unique" element, and lost its attractiveness.

Therefore, we need to affirm and protect the cultural quality in tourism - humanistic ecological tourism. In the process of tourism, cultural exchange between regions in a country as well as cultural exchange between cultures of many countries, mutual influence is inevitable, but if we lose the "strangeness", the uniqueness of ethnic cultural nuances, it means we have lost the sustainability of tourism products, and also lost the goal of sustainable tourism.

It can be said that in the field of culture, especially spiritual culture, there are only differences between cultures, not high cultures and low cultures. “Tolerance is a positive attitude, not implying favor or condescension towards others. Tolerance is respect for the diversity of cultures. Tolerance is the recognition that no culture, nation or religion has a monopoly on knowledge and truth…” (Unesco’s statement when choosing 1995 as the International Year of Tolerance when discussing cultural contact in tourism activities).

1.4.4 Nepal and the Annapurna region:

Tourism is one of Nepal’s major sources of foreign exchange earnings. Every year, more than 36,000 trekkers and over 36,000 porters visit the Annapurna region, providing income for more than 40,000 people.

local. About 60% of these visitors come within 4 months of the year. They are concentrated in just a few locations, thus causing serious destructive effects on both the natural and local cultural environments.

Every year, forests are cut down to build hotels, motels and home amenities, to provide firewood for cooking, hot baths, campfires, etc. Every year, 400,000 hectares of forest are cut down. The rate of deforestation is 3%/year. Also every year, for every 1 hectare of forest cut down, 30-70 tons of soil are lost. This has led to serious landslides and floods.

86% of Nepal’s energy comes from forests. In Annapurna, everyone uses firewood for cooking because there is no other source of energy. The total amount of wood consumed daily by a tourist is equivalent to the amount of wood used by a Nepalese family in about 5 days or 1 week…

Nepal has therefore sought to ensure that the beneficiaries of conservation and road tourism activities are local people; and to make local people the guardians of their resources. The approach has been to draw on local experience rather than textbook philosophies. The result is that traditional practices are integrated into a vital resource management system, supported by small-scale energy and conservation projects that minimize the impact of tourists and improve the living standards of local people.