Vietnamese cuisine and tourism in Ben Tre province today

ACADEMY

VIETNAMESE SOCIAL SCIENCES

Academy of Social Sciences

PHAN THI NGAN

VIETNAMESE CUISINE ASSOCIATED WITH TOURISM IN BEN TRE PROVINCE TODAY

Major: ANTHROPOLOGY Code: 9.31.03.02

DOCTORAL THESIS IN ANTHROPOLOGY

SCIENCE GUIDE

1. Dr. Nguyen Thi Thanh Binh

2. Dr. Hoang Huu Binh

Hanoi – 2021

COMMITMENT

I hereby certify that this is my own research work, the data presented in the thesis are honest and have clear sources. The scientific conclusions in the thesis have not been published in any other research work.

Thesis author

THANK YOU

To complete this thesis, first of all, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my parents and my entire extended family. I would like to express my sincere thanks to the teachers at many levels who have guided and taught me step by step to grow up in science. In particular, I would like to express my deep gratitude to Dr. Nguyen Thi Thanh Binh and Dr. Hoang Huu Binh - who directly guided me in writing my thesis.

I would like to thank the leaders of agencies and organizations: Academy of Social Sciences, along with functional departments; Agencies, units, people and tourists of Ben Tre province for supporting me during the process of implementing the thesis.

Finally, I would like to thank my colleagues and friends who have always encouraged and helped me complete this research project.

Thanks a lot.

Hanoi, date month year 2021

Phan Thi Ngan

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

NCS

PhD student
Real Estate	Mekong Delta
UNWTO	World Tourism Organization
TNTS	Ethnic minorities
People's Committee	People's Committee
MTTQ	Fatherland Front
GRDP	Overall economic growth rate
Culture, Sports and Tourism	Culture, sports and tourism
OCOP	One Commune One Product Program
RAV	Vietnam Restaurant Association
Publisher	Publishing house
National University	National University
Ho Chi Minh City	Ho Chi Minh City

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INDEX

INTRODUCTION 1

1. Urgency of the topic 1

2. Research purpose and tasks 3

2.1. Research purpose 3

2.2. Research task 3

3. Research object and scope 4

4. Methodology and research methods 4

4.1. Methodology 4

4.2. Research methods 6

5. Scientific contributions of the thesis 8

6. Scientific and practical significance of research 9

6.1. Theoretical significance 9

6.2. Practical significance 9

7. Structure of the thesis 9

Chapter 1 OVERVIEW OF RESEARCH SITUATION, THEORETICAL BASIS AND RESEARCH AREA 10

1.1. Overview of research situation 10

1.1.1. Foreign research 10

1.1.2. Domestic research 17

1.1.3. Some general comments on the overview of documents related to the thesis 26

1.2. Some basic concepts, theoretical basis and approaches 28

1.2.1. Basic concepts 28

1.2.2. The relationship between culinary culture and tourism activities 34

1.2.3. Theoretical basis and approach 36

1.3. Research area 40

1.3.1. Cultural boundaries and space 40

1.3.2. Ethnic composition and population distribution 43

Chapter 2 VIETNAMESE CUISINE IN BEN TRE PROVINCE 46

2.1. Natural, economic, social and cultural characteristics of Ben Tre in relation to cuisine 46

2.1.1. Characteristics of natural conditions 46

2.1.2. Cultural and social characteristics 48

2.2. Vietnamese cuisine in Ben Tre 50

2.2.1. Dishes 50

2.2.2. Drinks 66

2.3. Characteristics of Ben Tre cuisine 68

2.3.1. Raw material sources 69

2.3.2. How to prepare 71

2.3.3. Color, flavor 74

2.3.4. Taste 76

2.3.5. Space for enjoyment and behavior in eating and drinking 77

2.4. Ben Tre cuisine in the culinary culture space of the Mekong Delta 80

2.4.1. Similarities and characteristics of Vietnamese cuisine in Ben Tre with the cuisine of the Mekong Delta 80

2.4.2. Changes in traditional cuisine 82

Chapter 3 CURRENT STATUS OF CULINARY EXPLOITATION ASSOCIATED WITH TOURISM IN BEN TRE PROVINCE 86

3.1. Overview of tourism in Ben Tre province 86

3.1.1. Investment in tourism development 86

3.1.2. Tourist attraction 88

3.1.3. Tourism products 89

3.1.4. Exploiting cultural tourism resources 91

3.1.5. Marketing and promoting Ben Tre tourism 92

3.2. Food and beverage establishments 95

3.3. Cuisine in tourism 100

3.4. Culinary souvenirs and organic food use 104

3.5. Assessment of the current status of culinary exploitation associated with tourism in Ben Tre 107

3.5.1. Stakeholder Assessment 107

3.5.2. General assessment 121

3.6. The role of cuisine in life and tourism development in Ben Tre province 124

3.6.1. Tourist attraction motivation of tourist destination 124

3.6.2. Local economic development 126

3.6.3. Preserving local cultural identity – region 127

Chapter 4 SOLUTIONS TO PROMOTE CULINARY VALUES WITH TOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN BEN TRE PROVINCE 130

4.1. Basis for proposing solutions to exploit culinary values to develop tourism in Ben Tre 130

4.1.1. Government Strategy and Action Program of Ben Tre 130

4.1.2. Recommendations from researchers and culinary experts 133

4.1.3. Proposals from businesses 134

4.1.4. Tourist Suggestions 136

4.1.5. Local People's Proposal 137

4.2. Proposing solutions to exploit and promote culinary values for tourism development in Ben Tre 139

4.2.1. Proposal to the Provincial People's Committee 139

4.2.2. Proposal to the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Ben Tre province 141

4.3. Some recommendations for implementing solutions 145

4.4.1. Recommendations to the Provincial People's Committee 145

4.4.2. Recommendations to the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism. 146

4.4.3. Recommendations for businesses 146

CONCLUSION 147

LIST OF PUBLISHED WORKS OF THE AUTHOR 151

LIST OF REFERENCES 152

APPENDIX 165

Appendix 1. MAP 165

Appendix 2. LIST OF SPECIAL DISHES IN BEN TRE 168

1. Rice and staple food group 168

2. Food group 170

3. Drinks 199

Appendix 4. SURVEY FORM 204

Appendix 5. FORM INFORMATION 214

Appendix 6. IMAGE 215

1. Ben Tre Landscape 215

2. Ben Tre Cuisine 217

3. Processing image 224

4. Image of local people working 226

LIST OF TABLES

Table 2.1. Characteristics of Ben Tre culinary ingredients 70

Table 2.2. Characteristics of Vietnamese culinary processing in Ben Tre.

Table 2.3. Typical culinary dishes made from coconut in Ben Tre 74

Table 2.4. Characteristics of Ben Tre culinary flavors 75

Table 3.1. Number of international and domestic tourists to Ben Tre 2015 - 2019 88

Table 3.2. Total revenue from tourists in the period 2015-2019 89

Table 3.3. Ben Tre culinary marketing channel 92

Table 3.4. Tourism revenue at current prices by economic sector 95

Table 3.5. Ben Tre culinary organization serving tourists 96

Table 3.6. Culinary products exploited for tourism in Ben Tre 113

Table 3.7. Cuisine service style for tourists in Ben Tre 114

Table 3.8. Information channels for visitors to know about Ben Tre culinary culture 120

Table 4.1. Businesses give reasons for hindering bringing culinary culture to tourists 135

Table 4.2. Enterprises propose solutions to attract customers to use culinary.....

Table 4.3. People's suggestions for introducing culinary culture to tourists. 137 Table 4.4. People's suggestions for bringing culinary culture to tourists. 138

Vietnamese cuisine and tourism in Ben Tre province today - 1

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