Sustainable Tourism Development - the Gap between Reality and Vision analysed by the Example of Sam Son (Vietnam)

Tourism is booming on global level since many decades and developing countries often capture tourism as a lever to push up their economy. Many regions in Vietnam invest lots of money in this development hoping to change the traditional economic structure. Located in the North Central Vietnam, about 170 km from Ha Noi capital to the south at the coastline, Sam Son is known as an ideal location for holiday makers. Currently the number of tourist has been counted to millions. Realizing its potential, the local authorities decided to enlarge and improve tourism to become the biggest tourism center in the North Central part of Vietnam. As many mass tourism destinations, Sam Son is facing several hidden drawbacks, which are generated by a (too) fast growth. Thats why unexpected problems may occur very soon. One path to mitigate weaknesses and to strengthen the positive impacts of tourism is to develop tourism in a more sustainable manner. As the very first step Sam Son needs to delineate a proper strategy and to establish a powerful "Destination Management System". Although several studies have been conducted already, the destination lacks reliable empirical data. This research intends to fill the gap by supplying concrete information with specific focus on “making tourism more sustainable”. In the study methodological triangulation has been applied to collect data and information. Besides literature review and secondary data analysis, two surveys - statistically well secured - have been conducted: A household survey with more than one thousand questionnaires to record the situation and opinion of local people and a visitor survey with 1139 face-to-face interviews to collect structural data about current guests in Sam Son as well as to explore their behaviour. Moreover expert and stakeholder interviews were included to supplement the information basis. As the research acquired the information directly from local people and from tourists by face-to-face interviews several weaknesses could be unveiled which official statistical data cannot show. There are three facets out of balance in terms of economic benefit: Compared with the political awareness and the financial support the tourism sector does not ensure the livelihood of an adequate number of people; the economic benefits from tourism are very unequally distributed and also the spatial dimension indicates a strong imbalance - only people living directly in the core area of tourism participate in tourism sector, the positive impact of tourism does not reach till the outskirts. In addition social and environmental problems are recognized by a majority of local people as consequences of tourism in the region. Regarding the touristic demand side a very low level of satisfaction has been detected: A small variety and low quality of touristic offers are the main reasons of dissatisfaction. The most exiting finding is that tourists treasure environment in the destination, whereas this aspect is underestimated in the locals view. In addition, tourists are really willing to pay for an improvement of environmental and touristic quality! Even if the amount of voluntary payments is very low, the total sum can enable the local government to develop the destination in a very proper way. Although this is a case study the results deliver valuable information and furthermore a concrete delineated roadmap for all destinations, which are in the same situation as Sam Son today. It is an example how to analyze and evaluate the present condition and how to continue in a proper way towards a more sustainable tourism development.Der Tourismus boomt seit mehreren Jahrzehnten auf globaler Ebene und viele Entwicklungsländer versuchen mit dieser Branche ihre Wirtschaft anzukurbeln. Auch etliche Regionen in Vietnam investieren viel Geld in den Tourismus, in der Hoffnung, damit ihre traditionelle Wirtschaftsstruktur zu verbessern. Für vietnamesische Urlauber ist Sam Son, etwa 170 km südlich von Ha Noi an der Küste gelegen, ein bekanntes Urlaubsziel. Derzeit verzeichnet diese Destination bereits über eine Millionen Gäste pro Jahr. Die politischen Entscheidungsträger haben beschlossen, den Tourismus weiter auszubauen und das Gebiet zu vergrößern, um dadurch zum größten Tourismuszentrum in der Region zu werden. So wie viele Massentourismus-Destination sieht sich Sam Son ebenfalls mit einer ganzen Reihe von ernsten Problemen konfrontiert, die sich aus einem (zu) schnellen Wachstum ergeben. Eine Möglichkeit, die derzeitigen Schwächen zu mildern und gleichzeitig mehr Vorteile aus dem Tourismus zu ziehen, liegt in einer Entwicklung, die sich strategisch stärker am Prinzip der Nachhaltigkeit orientiert. Zunächst muss Sam Son eine angemessene Strategie entwickeln und ein schlagkräftiges Destinations-Management-System einrichten. Obwohl schon einige Studien vorliegen, mangelt es immer noch an einer zuverlässigen empirischen Datengrundlage. Die vorliegende Forschungsarbeit möchte durch die Bereitstellung konkreter empirischer Informationen diese Lücke schließen und darüber hinaus den Fokus auf eine Strategie richten, die weitere touristische Entwicklung nachhaltiger zu gestalten. Für die Daten- und Informationssammlung ist hier die "Methodische Triangulation" eingesetzt worden. Neben einem intensiven Literaturstudium und der sekundärstatischen Auswertung vorhandener Daten sind zwei eigene Erhebungen - mit hoher statistischer Signifikanz - durchgeführt worden: Eine Haushaltsbefragung mit über 1000 Fragebögen, um die Meinung der lokalen Bevölkerung zu erfassen, und eine Gästebefragung mit 1139 Face-to-face-Interviews, um sowohl strukturelle Daten über die gegenwärtigen Touristen als auch deren Verhalten aufzunehmen. Zur Ergänzung der Informationsgrundlage sind zahlreiche Experteninternviews geführt worden. Durch die unmitttelbare Einbeziehung der lokalen Bevölkerung und der Gäste konnten etliche Schwächen aufgedeckt werden, die mit den Daten der Amtlichen Statistik nicht zu erkennen sind. Es gibt drei Bereiche, die sich nicht im notwendigen Gleichgewicht befinden: (i) Gemessen an der politischen Aufmerksamkeit und der finanziellen Förderung sichert der Tourismus zu wenigen Haushalten den notwendigen Lebensunterhalt; (ii) die positiven ökonomischen Effekte des Tourismus sind nicht gleichmäßig verteilt und auch (iii) ihre räumliche Verteilung ist sehr unausgewogen - es profitieren nur jene Leute, die direkt im Kernbereich des aktuellen Tourismusgeschehens wohnen, die Bewohner der Randbezirke und Vororte partizipieren nur wenig. Außerdem werden soziale und ökologische Probleme von der Mehrheit der Bevölkerung dem Tourismus angelastet. Auf der touristischen Nachfrageseite ist ein nur niedriges Zufriedenheitsniveau festzustellen: Die zu geringe Angebotsbreite und niedrige Servicequalität sind hierfür die Hauptgründe. Ein überaus spannendes Ergebniss ist die Feststellung, dass die Touristen die Umwelt in der Destination wert schätzen, wohingegen dieser Aspekt in der lokalen Bevölkerung stark vernachlässigt wird. Und vor allen Dingen: Die Touristen sind tatsächlich bereit für verbesserte Umweltbedingungen zu bezahlen! Auch, wenn der Betrag, den sie freiwillig bereit sind zu entrichten, auf den ersten Blick sehr niedrig erscheinen mag, der mögliche Gesamtbetrag würde es den Verantwortlichen ermöglichen, die Destination angemessen weiter zu entwicklen. Obwohl dieses eine Fallstudie ist, liefert sie doch sehr wertvolle Informationen und darüber hinaus auch eine hilfreiche "Roadmap" für alle Destination, die sich in der gleichen Situation wie Sam Son befinden. Es ist ein gutes Beispiel, wie man die aktuelle Situation zunächst erfasst und analysiert und wie eine Destination anschließend den Weg in Richtung einer nachhaltigen Weiterentwicklung einschlagen kann

An inquiry into the determinants of Vietnamese product export

Export led growth is the model of economic development that Vietnam has been following. While there are a great number of studies on the determinants of aggregate export of Vietnam, there are few that analyze the impacts of different factors on the export of different product groups. This paper aims at filling this gap in research on international trade of Vietnam. The results show that the fast GDP growth of Vietnam, the large population of importing countries, the wide economic gap between Vietnam and the importing countries, the depreciation of domestic currency, the free trade agreements that Vietnam signed and the shared border with the importing countries contribute to the increase of Vietnam’s export of all product groups. In contrast, the GDP of importing countries and population of Vietnam have no clear impacts on the export of any product groups.

IDENTIFICATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF A PURPLE NONSULFUR BACTERIUM ISOLATED FROM COASTAL AREA OF HAI PHONG FOR USING IN PRODUCTION OF UNSATURATED FATTY ACID (OMEGA 6, 7, 9)

Purple nonsulfur bacteria are a group that has so much biotechnological applications, particularly in producing of functional food rich with unsaturated fatty acids. A purple nonsulfur bacterium (named HPB.6) was chosen based on its strong growth, high lipid and synthesis of unsaturated fatty acid (omega 6,7,9). Studying on basic biological characteristics showed that the cells of HPB.6 were observed as ovoid-rod shape, none motility, Gram negative staining. The diameter of single bacterium was about 0.8-1.0 µm. The cells divide by binary fission and had bacteriochlorophyll a (Bchl a). This bacterium grew well on medium with carbon and nitrogen sources such as acetate, succinate, pyruvate, butyrate, glutamate, arginine, leucine, tyrosine, alanine, methionine, threonine, glutamine, yeast extract and NH4Cl. This selected strain grew well on medium with salt concentrations from 1.5 - 6.0% (optimum 3%), pH from 5.0 to 8.0 (optimum at pH 6.5) and could withstand Na2S at 4.0 - 5.2 mM. Based on morphological, physiological properties and 16S rRNA analysis received demonstrated that HPB.6 strain belongs to the species Rhodovulum sulfidophilum

The Factors Affecting the Level of Information Disclosure on Financial Statements in the Industrial Enterprises Listed on Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange

This research analyzes the factors affecting the level of information disclosure on financial statements in the industrial enterprises listed on Ho Chi Minh stock exchange. Using financial statements of 87 industrial enterprises of the fiscal year 2017, the research shows that there are 6 factors affecting and having a positive relations with the level of information disclosure. These include: the scale of business, Duration of operation, Audit firm reputation, Solvency, Financial leverage and Return on Equity (ROE). The result points to signals that help the State Securities Commission to control better of information disclosure of firms. In addition, the study recommends measures for shareholders, especially those in large companies to strengthen the supervision, control managers in the disclosure of business information

A SURVEY OF THE ERRORS OF STUDENTS IN GRADES 10 AND 12 WHEN USING VIETA’S FORMULAS TO SOLVE THE ASSOCIATED MATHEMATICAL PROBLEMS

Vieta’s formulas have many applications in the general mathematics program in Vietnam. Indeed, they appear in many forms of mathematical problems, ranging from 9th, 10th and 12th grades. The complexity of the mathematical problems makes students commit many errors when using the Vieta’s formulas to solve them. The sample consisted of 246 students in grades 10 and 12, in which they addressed four questionnaires related to Vieta’s formulas. The results were quite unexpected because the errors of tenth graders also existed for 12th grade students for many different reasons.  Article visualizations

Vers un modèle de vérification de la couche logique d'entreprise dans une architecture à 3 couches: modèle CPN-ECA

International audienceThis paper proposes a model for building a flexible system, which accepts and verifies the change on business logic, including both business processes and business rules, while the system has to cover the properties as reliability and reuse. In this model, the business process will be designed with Colour Petri Net and translated into a set of Event-Condition-Action rules, this set will be combined with business rules for checking the respect of a business process to the business rules in design and modifying the process. Hierarchical Colour Petri Net is also used to guarantee the reliability and to reuse properties of the system.Ce document propose un modèle pour la création d'un système flexible, qui accepte et vérifie les modifications apportées à la logique métier, y compris les processus et les règles métier, tandis que le système doit couvrir les propriétés en termes de fiabilité et de réutilisation. Dans ce modèle, le processus de gestion sera conçu avec un réseau Pétri coloré et traduit en un ensemble de règles Event-Condition-Action (ECA). Cet ensemble sera combiné à des règles de gestion permettant de vérifier le respect du processus de gestion par modifier le processus. Un réseau Pétri coloré hiérarchisé est également utilisé pour garantir la fiabilité et pour réutiliser les propriétés du systèm

Fetus Trafficking in Viet Nam – The New Criminal Method of Human Trafficking

When it comes to basic rights of the fetus, including the right to life, theoretical studies around the world on human rights of the fetus still have not reached an agreement on approaches and explanation. Criminal law at the international and national levels still leaves the possibility of protecting the unborn child. Viet Nam’s criminal law is no exception to this trend. In addition, Viet Nam is currently facing human trafficking with new methods and tricks. Children are bought and paid for while still in the womb, then born abroad and given to traffickers. Children are only protected by criminal law for human trafficking if they are born, alive, and detected by the authorities. While the act of trafficking in fetuses is often easily detected by the authorities right from the stage of purchasing and paying, it is not feasible to prosecute this act for human trafficking under the criminal law of Viet Nam. This reduces the criminal law’s ability to suppress crime, at the same time, leaves many fetuses unprotected. Should criminal law be left outside the legal mechanism to protect children while in the fetal stage? This article suggests considering fetus trafficking as a form of human trafficking and to criminalize fetus trafficking. Criminal law should recognize fetus trafficking as a sign of crime or an early stage in the criminal process of human trafficking, because children need special care and protection, including appropriate legal protection before and after birth, due to their physical and mental immaturity

An Application of Vector Autoregressive Model for Analyzing the Impact of Weather And Nearby Traffic Flow On The Traffic Volume

This paper aims to predict the traffic flow at one road segment based on nearby traffic volume and weather conditions. Our team also discover the impact of weather conditions and nearby traffic volume on the traffic flow at a target point. The analysis results will help solve the problem of traffic flow prediction and develop an optimal transport network with efficient traffic movement and minimal traffic congestion. Hourly historical weather and traffic flow data are selected to solve this problem. This paper uses model VAR(36) with time trend and constant to train the dataset and forecast. With an RMSE of 565.0768111 on average, the model is considered appropriate although some statistical tests implies that the residuals are unstable and non-normal. Also, this paper points out some variables that are not useful in forecasting, which helps simplify the data-collecting process when building the forecasting system.Comment: International Conference on Computing and Communication Technologies (RIVF2022