Collaborative marketing for the sustainable development of community-based tourism enterprises: voices from the field

ABSTRACT

This paper examines stakeholder engagement in the collaborative marketing of community-based tourism enterprises (CBTEs). The study explored the various collaborative marketing approaches shaped by diverse stakeholders’ perspectives on ways to achieve the sustainable development of CBTEs in Vietnam. The results of 30 in-depth, semi-structured interviews from three CBTEs in Vietnam showed that three collaborative marketing approaches were prevailed among CBTE stakeholders and were categorised as commercial viability-driven, community development-driven and balanced approaches. The approaches’ differences were reflected in the marketing objectives to achieve CBTE sustainability, the central linkages of CBTE collaborative marketing, and the facilitators of stakeholder collaboration. The research found a knowledge gap between researchers and research participants and divergent perspectives among different categories of research participants regarding marketing and CBTE sustainability. This paper implies the role of a knowledge co-production approach to drive the stakeholder engagement in CBTE collaborative marketing for CBTEs’ long-term success. Additionally, this study provides insights into the discussion of marketing for sustainable tourism. Furthermore, the findings contribute to a better understanding of the collaborative approach at the organisational level.

KEYWORDS:

• Community-based tourism enterprises
• collaborative marketing
• knowledge gap
• sustainability
• Vietnam

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Equivalent to US$0.50.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Tramy Ngo

Tramy Ngo is a PhD candidate and HDR member of Griffith Institute for Tourism, Griffith University, Australia. She has worked as a tourism lecturer, project coordinator, and researcher in Vietnam. Her research interests include sustainable tourism, sustainable tourism marketing, community-based tourism, and knowledge co-production approach in tourism.

Gui Lohmann

Dr Gui Lohmann is associate professor in Air Transport and Tourism and also a member of the Griffith Institute for Tourism (GIFT) (Australia). He has authored several books, including “Tourism theories: concepts, models and systems” published by CAB International, and peer-reviewed journal articles in English, Spanish and Portuguese on transport and tourism-related topics. He has worked as a consultant for the Brazilian Ministry of Tourism, the World Tourism Organization and the United Nations Environmental Program, in addition to providing consulting to Adelaide Airport, Brisbane Airport Corporation and Queensland Airport Ltd.

Rob Hales

Dr Rob Hales is the Program Director of the Griffith Centre for Sustainable Enterprise and lectures in the Department of Tourism, Sport and Hotel Management at Griffith University, Australia. His research interests include climate change, sustainable tourism, social movement studies, Indigenous studies, adventure tourism and outdoor recreation.