Community-based tourism: Opportunities and challenges a case study in Thanh Ha pottery village, Hoi An city, Vietnam

Abstract

Hoi An is located in Vietnam’s central Quang Nam province and is considered a cultural melting pot as the city reflects a fusion of indigenous and foreign cultures. Many parts of these cultures have been preserved and displayed in the form of traditional crafts and craft villages. In recent years, community-based tourism (CBT) in craft villages in Hoi An has been developing following the prevailing trend of natural and cultural-oriented tourism. To achieve sustainable development, CBT in craft villages is required to be carefully managed, and its opportunities and challenges should be assessed with the aim of enhancing positive values and tackling existing problems. This study aimed to identify the opportunities and challenges of community-based tourism development in Thanh Ha pottery village. The study employed observations and a survey of local residents in the village. The results indicate that it is the diverse tourism potentials in Thanh Ha pottery village that can attract tourists. Additionally, the government’s support and international organizations in conjunction with the hospitality of the locals have promoted the development of CBT. However, a lack of human resources, production space and raw material resources in conjunction with the competition from industrial products impede progress of CBT in Thanh Ha pottery village. As a result, some recommendations are given in order to sustainably develop CBT there.

Keywords:

• Thanh Ha village
• community-based tourism
• Hoi An
• tourism development

PUBLIC INTEREST STATEMENT

Tourism has become one of the fastest growing economic sectors globally and contributed to the development of national and regional economies. However, in reality, the explosive growth of the tourism industry has also exerted negative effects on the host destinations including environmental deterioration and cultural damage. Additionally, under industrialization and modernization impacts, a variety of traditional and cultural values have fallen in oblivion. Especially, traditional craft villages, which have numerous meaning, are increasingly disappearing. In recent years, Community-based tourism is seen as one of the best approach used to tackle tourism-related problems and preserve traditional culture. Therefore, this research aims to evaluates the opportunities and challenges of CBT development in Thanh Ha pottery village and proposes recommendations for sustainable development of CBT there.

1. Introduction

Tourism has become one of the fastest growing economic sectors globally and contributed to the development of national and regional economies. According to a report of the World Tourism Organization, in 2018, the tourism’s contribution to global GDP was 10.4%, producing an export value of 1.6 trillion USD and creating 319 million jobs worldwide. The number of tourists is also expected to increase by 3.3% per year from 2010 to 2030, reaching 1.8 billion visitors by 2030 (World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), 2019). Therefore, tourism has become the potential economic development strategy for many countries (Harrison & Schipani, 2007; Juma & Khademi-Vidra, 2019). However, in reality, the explosive growth of the tourism industry has also exerted negative effects on the host destinations including environmental deterioration and cultural damage (Juma & Khademi-Vidra, 2019). As a result, countries should choose effective tourism models in order to develop tourism as an economic sector and simultaneously achieve community goals relating to indigenous cultural values preservation and environmental sustainable development (Salazar, 2012).

Community-based tourism (CBT) was mentioned by Murphy (1985) in the study of the effects of tourism in developing countries, and since then, the concept of CBT has gradually evolved and received the attention of numerous researchers from different contexts (Ashley & Garland, 1994; Asker et al., 2010; López-guzmán & Sánchez-cañizares, 2011; Manyara & Jones, 2007). This model is originated by community development and involvement in the process of creating and planning tourist products (Asker et al., 2010; Hatipoglu et al., 2016; Menbere & Menbere, 2017), and it has been considered as an effective solution to mitigating negative effects resulting from mass tourism, also being a community development strategy. Put differently, CBT makes vital contributions to preserving natural resources, traditional and cultural values, and promoting socio-economic development with an increasing role of the community in managing and operating local tourism (Asker et al., 2010; López-guzmán & Sánchez-cañizares, 2011; Manaf et al., 2018; Salazar, 2012). This is important in the alleviation of poverty, not to mention a way of empowering local communities and diversifying livelihoods (Salazar, 2012).

Notably, in CBT models, traditional craft village tourism has increasingly received attention from many scholars due to its significant positive outcomes to local citizens, culture—society, and the environment. In particular, the presence of handicraft villages is one of noticeable characteristics of Vietnam’s rural areas (Phat et al., 2012; Thirumaran et al., 2014; Tsuji & Van, 2002). Many handicrafts made by the local inhabitants during the off-peak farming seasons have become goods that can be exchanged for other products, which increases household living standards in these areas. In addition, handicraft villages often have a long story intertwined with the socio-economic, cultural and agricultural development of Vietnam, therefore, CBT development will be able to preserve the unique cultural values of each trade village. For that reason, CBT development in Vietnamese handicraft villages should raise more attension and supported of stakeholders. One of the first endeavor is to study the conditions for CBT development in craft villages, including opportunities and challenges as several CBT models applied in some countries show its deficiency leading to a failure. Among traditional Vietnamese craft villages, Thanh Ha pottery village in Hoi An city has applied this tourism model since 2010. However, it is inevitable that CBT in Thanh Ha pottery village also faces several challenges. Therefore, this study examine the current tourism development situation in Thanh Ha pottery village in Hoi An city, Vietnam, thereby initiating the most effective solutions to CBT application.

Based on the above, this paper has the following objectives: Firstly, this paper evaluates the current tourism development situation of Thanh Ha pottery village. Secondly, the case analysis uncovers the opportunities and challenges of CBT development in Thanh Ha pottery village. Thirdly, with the assistance of this comprehensive analysis, this paper proposes recommendations for sustainable development of CBT in Thanh Ha pottery village.

The remainder of our paper is structured as follows. Section 2 reviews the literature. Section 3 describes the data and explains research methods. Section 4 describes the case background. Section 5 discusses the results, followed by conclusion and recommendation in section 6.

2. Literature review

In the context of sustainable tourism development, the importance of CBT has been clearly recognized over the past two decades (Juma & Khademi-Vidra, 2019; Oketch, 2016; Yanes et al., 2019). Along with eco-tourism and pro-poor tourism, CBT has been considered as one of the effective tools for sustainable tourism development, especially in rural areas, suburbs (Harrison & Schipani, 2007; Lama, 2014; Lankford & Howard, 1994). On the other hand, this alternative form of mass or mainstream tourism has attracted trenchant criticism as a shallow and degrading experience for developing countries (Alfaro Navarro et al., 2020; Hatipoglu et al., 2016; Juma & Khademi-Vidra, 2019; Salazar, 2012). Notwithstanding this criticism, the CBT benefits are still perceived, encouraging many regions around the world to invest in developing this tourism model, and in this process, like other tourism types, CBT has encountered many opportunities in conjunction with challenges.

In the current literature, the challenges of CBT models have been widely examined by international academicians (Mgonja et al., 2015; Ngonya, 2015). Accordingly, Ngonya (2015) conducted a research on CBT development in Tanzania, a case study of the Arumeru district in the Arusha region and presented challenges in the development of CBT tourism, ranging from a lack of government and community support, education and training to poor infrastructure, marketing strategies, insecurity and poor customer care service. Also, this study recommended that CBT project managers and service providers should receive a proper education and training scheme, and there should be an improvement in infrastructure, an involvement of local communities to CBT projects, an adoption of aggressive marketing strategies and an improvement in CBT customer care services. In a similar vein, Mgonja et al. (2015) showed that the CBT models in some rural areas in Tanzania varied considerably in structure, size, development level, resource capacity, and clear benefit-sharing mechanism. It is vital to note that a lack of clear and equitable benefit sharing systems can ostensibly lead to disagreements, strife, or splinter groups and finally the collapse of CBT (Alexander et al., 2018; Gaitho, 2014; Odede et al., 2015).

Expanding from prior studies focusing only on challenges of CBT model, Meseret Tamir (2020) examined both key challenges and opportunities of CBT development in Guwagusa and Banja woredas, Awi Administrative Zone. The research revealed that during the implementation and running process of CBT projects in the study area, there was a lack of knowledge, interest and perception of local community towards CBT, a low level of attitude of the community towards CBT, conflicts over resource ownership capacity problems of the direct CBT participants and Woredas-level government office staff, incompatibility of policies and legislations, a low quality and standard of products and services and a weak cooperation among stakeholders. However, a number of opportunities are identified including a strategic location of the CBT sites, positive attitudes of the CBT participants towards CBT, the hospitality of the local community, and the great potential tourism resources of the area. These are considered significant factors for the CBT development in the area (Tamir, 2020). Similarly, a study by Menbere and Menbere (2017) in Dinsho and Goba Woredas, Southeast Ethiopia for community-based ecotourism development found that the diversification of potential ecotourism resources, the existence of local institutions such as the Gada system and the presence of various conservation organizations were three leading opportunities for developing community-based ecotourism in the Woredas. Inadequate infrastructure was the main challenge for community-based ecotourism development in Dinsho, while problems regarding awareness were the major challenge in Goba. The study also identified an absence of sufficient accommodation and food and water services as the main ecotourism facility problems in both Woredas. Another endeavor came from Dodds et al. (2018) who carried out knowledge mobilization, aiming at outlining key elements of success and barriers in CBT.

3. Methodology

This study followed a case study approach (Carson, 2018; Dmmi & Whms, 2015; Dodds et al., 2018; Hieu & Rasovska, 2017; Lenao, 2015; Mensah, 2017; Oketch, 2016) which was conducted in Thanh Ha pottery village, Hoi An, during March-August 2019, in order to identify the opportunities and challenges of CBT there. The authors summarizes the research methods as qualitative research. A major part of the field work consisted of extensive observations. The authors joined tourists 5 tours as a participant and spent many hours socializing with locals and informally talking to them to identify knowledge, skills and attitude of the villagers. The second-most important source of data was interviews. Accordingly, face-to-face interviews and discussions were conducted and recorded with 34 residents (direct participants of CBT project), 3 local tour operators and 4 local tourism authorities in order to perceive existing and potential challenges and opportunities for the development of CBT. The data gathered is analyzed in descriptive terms.

Secondary data were collected from journal articles, scholarly articles, previous publications, reports, and book chapters.

4. The case background

There are around 950 traditional handicraft villages in Vietnam searching for ways to generate more income and work for their residents (Giang, 2015). Strengthening linkages between tourism and traditional handicrafts is critically essential to poverty alleviation in rural areas (Mitchell, 2012; Scheyvens & Russell, 2012). It is significant that connecting tourism with traditional handicraft villages requires trade promotion, market development, and building a brand identity for both the handicrafts and the villages (United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), 2013). In fact, many projects have been carried out in traditional handicraft villages, ranging from improving infrastructure to building their own museum or exhibition house, but only a few villages have been successful in attracting tourists, while other villages did not survive for long.

Many international scholars have explained that countries benefit from handicrafts as a part of cultural tourism because they provide communities with a source of income and job opportunities, and such benefit varies, from one country to another (Mustafa, 2011; Torabian & Arai, 2016). The benefits of handicraft village development do not just lie in economic aspects; such development also contributes to the conservation of cultural villages. Accordingly, tourism creates new jobs, income-earning opportunities for some of the poorest people and simultaneously provides opportunities for them to practice important cultural traditions of handicrafts, which has been eroded as a result of the pressure of poverty (Asker et al., 2010). The World Tourism Organization stated that “handicrafts are an integral part of the tourism experience for international tourists. But the linkage between tourism and handicrafts has not yet been fully explored, understood or developed, with a resultant loss of valuable revenue and job creation opportunities” (United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), 2009). This study focuses on a single case study—Thanh Ha pottery village in Hoi An city, Quang Nam province (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Location of Thanh Ha pottery, Hoian City, Quang Nam province.

Thanh Ha village has been famous for pottery, terracotta products traded throughout the central provinces of Vietnam. Its pottery products are made from the main raw material of clay serving different purposes in daily life such as cups, bowls, jars, vases, flowerpots, animal shapes, and among other examples with various designs and rich colors; Especially, Thanh Ha pottery is notably lighter than other brands such as Bat Trang and Phuoc Tich products. Thanks to the special technique of processing soil and the combination of successive manipulations, the durability of products from Thanh Ha is extremely strong and the pieces uniqueIn addition to the development of craft-based tourism, the artisans in Thanh Ha pottery village have desired to find an effective strategy for developing their ceramic products, for example, manufacturing fine art ceramic products for export (Figure 2 and Figure 3). The markets of Thanh Ha pottery village mainly follow 3 distribution channels:

Figure 2. Turntable used for making ceramics.

Figure 3. The majority of ceramic products in the village are fine-arts.

- The domestic market with a forcus on interior design and decoration.

- The international markets selling handicrafts directly to international tourists.

- The international export markets, mainly in Europe and North America.

The revenue from sales through tourism channels has accounted for 85% of the total ceramic revenue. Visiting pottery village, tourists not only buy souvenirs but also observe the process of creating handicrafts from local artisans. Moreover, visitors are also instructed by the artisans to make their own products and bring home as a souvenir afterward.

Thanks to the efforts of developing tourism, the number of tourists coming to Thanh Ha has been increasing (Table 1).

Table 1. The numbers of tourists visiting Thanh Ha Pottery Village annually

	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
Total of tourists	82,327	176,877	367,512	615,809	707,549
International tourists	70,185	152,175	340,139	537,319	683,365
Domestic tourists	12,142	24,702	27,373	78,490	24,184

4.1. Source: Hoi An Office of Culture—Information

The Table 1 indicate that the number of visitors coming to Thanh Ha pottery village has increased sharply in which the figure for latter year approximately doubled the figure for previous year. It is noticeable that the year 2018 witnessed a spectacular increase in both domestic and international tourist arrivals. It is worth noting that 90% of visitor arrivals in Thanh Ha are international tourists.

Tourism industry requires a balancing act between development and sustainability, so it is necessary to understand the strenghs and limitations when developing local tourism, thereby seeking suitable solutions to the local tourism activities. In this study, based on the aspects of tourism in craft villages, we conducted a direct assessment of opportunities and challenges of Thanh Ha pottery village.

5. Results and discussion

5.1. Opportunities of CBT development in Thanh Ha pottery village

5.1.1. Potential tourism resources

An area’s CBT potential depends on the presence of community tourism potential (Braun, 2008). These potential tourism resources are known as “community—based tourism assets” and can range from nature-based activities to local handicrafts to cultural events (Cooper, 2004). Tourism resources in Thanh Ha pottery village possess many unique and favorable values for CBT development. Firstly, Thanh Ha pottery village still retains much of its traditional values such as space, landscape, and architecture under the umbrella of urbanization. Secondly, the village still maintains the traditional ceramic production process which allows visitors to gain hands-on experience. Thirdly, traditional festivals still occurs on an annual basis with quite a few unique games attracting the participation of tourists. The authors posit that these resources have formed unique tourism products for Thanh Ha pottery village. Accordingly, apart from buying handicraft products made by highly skilled artisans, what chiefly attracts visitors to Thanh Ha pottery villages is the great opportunity of watching and making pottery products directly by themselves under the guidance of artisans. In addition, tourists have the opportunity to explore ancient architecture in the village to enjoy a rustic atmosphere such as the ancestor’s temple, the communal house of the ancestors of the village. The current prevailing tourism trend reveals (López-guzmán & Sánchez-cañizares, 2011) that tourists are increasingly interested in cultural exchange and staying with local residents or ethnic communities in rural, peri-urban or mountain areas, so it is the inherent interesting tourism resources that make Thanh Ha pottery village attractive to a large number of tourists.

5.1.2. The government support

Tourism has been recently given a stronger mandate in the new national social-economic development program (2013). The Government’s commitment and progress to the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goal (MDG) facilitate integrated tourism development as a supporting strategy (Xu et al., 2009). Additionally, tourism policy-setting bodies are making use of rich folklore inherent in Vietnamese culture to recently develop culture-based tourism products with the aim of attractting tourists to year-round cultural activities and displays (Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT), 2013c). International organizations as the German Technical Cooperation Agency (GTZ), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Netherland Development Organization (SNV), and the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) supported the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism in developing and promoting these new types of tourism and facilitating the linkages between Vietnamese tourism industry and traditional handicraft industry. As a result, Thanh Ha pottery village has also received great attention and support from the authority. Another endeavor from the government to develop tourism in this village is to provide training classes about pottery products taught by artisans for the young generation in the village. This policy obviously contributes to preserving traditional craft skills not to mention creating jobs for young locals. In addition, the government also supports the residents in their demand for capital so that they can upgrade their production facilities; therefore, Thanh Ha pottery village posses better conditions for developing CBT.

5.1.3. Awareness towards CBT of Thanh Ha community

A lack of awareness towards CBT can contribute to false expectations about the benefits of tourism and limited readiness for the changes associated with tourism. Similarly, a lack of knowledge about the meaning and values of CBT is a significant factor that could affect the participation of communities and the competence of the tourism sector (Tamir, 2020). In Thanh Ha pottery village, meetings between the authority and the community occur on a regular basis, as the government wants to raise the community’s awareness about CBT. Accordingly, local community leaders explain clearly the process of CBT and provide the local residents training schemes. According to our observations and interviews, the community in Thanh Ha pottery village has a very clear awareness of the benefits of tourism, and local people actively share responsibility for local tourism development, which supports the government in implementing tourism policies. Households retain the traditional ceramic production process and protect their village environment.

5.1.4. Hospitality of the host community

Tourism industry relies heavily upon the local residents’ goodwill, and therefore the tourism development should meet the local residents’ needs and desires because the positive attitude of residents is essential for visitor satisfaction and repeat visitation. Thanh Ha residents often actively interact with tourists and show their heartiness during the conversations. Also, local residents show their enthusiasm for instructing tourists in ceramic production process, engaging them in this process, and introducing the products displayed at their place. When interviewed, the majority of visitors expressed their satisfaction towards the friendliness and hospitality of the indigenous people.

Although there are many opportunities, the success of CBT depends on the level of the challenges, and these challenges need to be clearly identified in order to devise local tourism development strategies.

6. Challenges of CBT development in Thanh Ha pottery village

6.1. A lack of human resources

Community’s skills and knowledge are important sources for both tourism development and community development (Aref et al., 2009; Robinson & Picard, 2006). However, Thanh Ha pottery village shows a shortage of highly-skilled pottery artisans. According to the survey, only 4 households out of 36 households producing pottery in the village make traditional pottery, and skilled artisans are very old. Although there is an annual vocational training course organized by the government for young people, the percentage of people participating in vocational activities is still considerably low, compared to the village’s population. Even so the technique of making pottery is maintained ceramic products changed a lot. Young people only learn basic pottery making techniques such as making animal shaping, simple ceramic products, and they have yet to make products requiring high skills. For this reason, traditional pottery techniques in Thanh Ha Pottery Village are more likely to be degraded, risking the survival of the craft village in the future.

6.2. A lack of producing area and materials

Tourism development has increased income as well as created jobs for local people and contributed the recovery of traditional village products and traditional values. However, tourism growth in Thanh Ha pottery village has still been facing certain difficulties. Firstly, the total area of the pottery village is quite small. Therefore, the average area of each private facility is only 100 m² in which the largest workshop is 225 m² and the smallest is 10 m² Such narrow space results in several difficulties in the production and business. Each household can only produce a small number of ceramic products annually, and many tourists come to the place at the same time find it uncomfortable to experience the pottery making process. Secondly, the major raw materials of the ceramic products are clay and burning coal, which is a precursor to a growing rate of environmental pollution resulting from dust, coal gas, especially being released in this small space. Additionally, in the past, clay was locally sourced, but over time, the land has been gradually depleted, so people have to buy clay from surrounding areas at a high price. In the future, if the problems regarding sources of raw materials are not well addressed, the development of craft village may become tougher.

6.3. The competition of other industry products in market

Handicraft villages encounter a range of other critical constraints on their development (Dewi et al., 2018). The first obstacle is the severe competition between traditional handicraft products and new industrial products. The new industrial products, i.e. plastic, metal products are available in a wide range of colors and forms, made of cheap and readily available materials and mass-produced, thereby being cheaper, whereas traditional handicraft products are limited in their range, made from traditional materials, thus being more expensive (Giang, 2015). Furthermore, Oosterom (2011) suggested that Vietnamese handicraft producers are at a competitive disadvantage in the design aspect. Accordingly, the producer may not know about the competition within the industry from other products, how to upgrade his designs, quality and finishing technique, and how to constantly stay on top of current design and consumer trends. Thanh Ha pottery village is no exception. Specifically, in addition to plastic and metal industrial products, ceramic products of Thanh Ha village also compete with pottery products from other craft villages in Central Vietnam and in whole country in term of quality and design, such as pottery products from Phuoc Tich ancient village, Thua Thien Hue province, Bat Trang pottery in Hanoi. This puts enormous pressure on producers in Thanh Ha pottery village who are required not only to create competitive products on the market but also to attract tourists.

6.4. A lack of CBT strategic management at community level

Local communities are sometimes a barrier to CBT development. According to Mathieson and Wall (1982), the main factors that make CBT successful are the availability and quality of social amenities, and attitudes towards tourists. Although the people of Thanh Ha pottery village are appreciated for their friendliness and hospitality, they still lack some of the necessary skills to develop CBT. Specifically, it appears that they are ill-equipped to undertake the marketing campaigns, and to be involved in operations, monitoring, and evaluation of the local tourism project. Additionally, Thanh Hà pottery village also shows its deficiency in management capacity, making it difficult to operate the CBT. One of the important factors of CBT is the participation in managing tourism projects This problem is detrimental to the development of CBT if people are empowered and participate in the management of future tourism strategies.

7. Conclusion and recommendations

The findings of this study identify some opportunities that should be maintained and taken advantage of in the future CBT development process of the study area such as the diversity of tourism resources, support from local authorities, friendliness and awareness of the importance of CBT development by the local residents. In addition to this, some challenges impeding the development and operation of CBT in the study area are also investigated in order to seek suitable solutions. Challenges focus on the following issues: Lack of tourism human resources, raw materials and space for pottery, the low level of the locals in CBT strategic management as well as the strong competition from industrial products.Based on the findings of the research, the following recommendations shall provided CBT opportunities and solve or at least minimize challenges of CBT development in the area.

- The local tourism potentials should be maximized to attract tourists. In particular, local resources such as village festivals, village landscapes, traditional ceramic production processes should be focused to compete with other tourist destinations.

• It is necessary to get the assistance of professional and academic bodies from the relevant authorities to assist the community in raising awareness of CBT and promoting the craft village tourism both nationally and internationally. In addition, adequate linguistic and communication training schemes, tour guide courses and service delivery courses should be given free of charge to the CBT participants of the area in order to enhance the local skills.

• The issues about facilities and services of Thanh Ha village should to be carefully considered. Facilities and services of craft villages should be properly invested. Besides expanding the production space for craft villages, the authority and local people should improve the quality of public sanitation for tourists and the quality of services. Additionally, a proper gas treatment system should be investigated to address the problems of air pollution resulting from the burning material process.

• In order to compete with other tourist destinations and create economic sustainability, Thanh Ha pottery village should diversify their local ceramic products. Accordingly, besides decorative products the craft village should look for identify products for different target market. Moreover, it is recommended that Thanh Ha pottery village collaborate with other craft villages in Hoi An to increase their sales and simultaneously establish a unique feature for Hoi An tourism. For example, the pottery villages can cooperate with Tra Que vegetable village or local restaurants in providing cutlery sets made from ceramics instead of from other industrial products

• The local government should implement vocational training classes to increase skills of the younger generation, quality of products and competitiveness. In addition, the local government should support the village in terms of the supply of raw materials for future ceramic production. These are two of the issues that should be put on the top priority to maintain the village’s production capacity.

Acknowledgements

This research is funded by The Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training under project number B2019-DNA-12

Additional information

Funding

The authors received no direct funding for this research.

Notes on contributors

Long Pham Hong

Pham Hong Long is an Associate Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Tourism Studies, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University in Hanoi. His major teaching and research areas are ecotourism, community-based tourism, sustainable tourism development, responsible tourism, environment and tourism resources, tourism laws and policies, state management for tourism, and tourism in Southeast Asia Countries.

Ngo Thi Huong is a lecturer of University of Science and Education, The University of Danang. Her major teaching and research areas are community-based tourism, sustainable tourism development, responsible tourism, and tourism resources.

Pham Thi Lam is a lecturer of University of Science and Education, The University of Danang. Her major teaching and research areas are community-based tourism, sustainable tourism development, and ecotourism.