Community-based Tourism in the Northwest of Vietnam: Opportunities and Challenges

Abstract

The northwest of Vietnam is known for its unique natural and abundant humanistic tourism resources, which is rich in ethnic-cultural identity and thus is suitable for community-based tourism development. Mai Chau district in Hoa Binh province and Moc Chau district in Son La province are the two localities with the earliest development of community-based tourism activities in the region. In recent years, homestay tourism and experiencing a village’s cultural space have been well-developed models in both districts, thanks to which people have more sources of income and improved living standards. However, community-based tourism faces challenges, such as the lack of diversity in types of tourism, undeveloped infrastructure, especially traffic, and the arbitrary thriving of tourism, just within the Thai community. Based on analysing the current situation of community-based tourism in these two areas, the article contributes to pointing out the strengths, opportunities, weaknesses, and challenges posed in the development of community-based tourism in Mai Chau and Moc Chau in particular as well as the Northwest region in general.