Eco-Tourism Destination Report An Evaluation of the Stakeholders and Sustainable Development of Hue

According to World Tourism Organisation UNWTO 2019, thenumber of international tourists would increase through the years, hence, it is crucial to educate the need of sustainable tourism

Eco-Tourism Destination Report

An Evaluation of the Stakeholders and Sustainable Development

of HueRMIT International University Vietnam

Prepared by Team 6

Le Dao Thuy Duong - s3777301Phan Dieu Linh - s3757861

Le Phuc Khang - s3753194Tran Trung Kien - s3790309

La Nhu Quynh - s3817836Nguyen Thuy Ngan - s3817830

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

Course Name Eco-tourism and Sustainable Hospitality Management

Assignment Title Stakeholders and Sustainable Tourism Destination Report

Word Count 3495 (excluding titles, statement of authorship, table of

contents, references, appendices and summary of teamwork)

STUDENT(S)

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LE PHUC KHANG

LE DAO THUY DUONG

PHAN DIEU LINH

TRAN TRUNG KIEN

LA NHU QUYNH

NGUYEN THUY NGAN

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Table of Content

Key Elements of Triple Bottom Line Performance Evaluations 7

I Introduction

The tourism industry is changing and evolving as most people who are directlyrelated to this industry are gradually motivated to find new eco-friendly ideas andways to promote the protection of the environment (Asley, Roe and Goodwin, 2001;

Byrd, 2007; Niedziolka, 2012; Stoddard, Pollard and Evans, 2012) Hence, theimpact of tourism development has been a major debatable topic for many yearswhether its impact is positive or negative to the society and environment (Suntikul et

al 2016; Pramanik and Ingkadijaya, 2018) In 2017, the United Nations launched aprogram ‘the Year of Sustainable Tourism’ with the aim to encourage greendevelopment globally According to World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) 2019, thenumber of international tourists would increase through the years, hence, it is crucial

to educate the need of sustainable tourism to travellers and developers

There are several concepts which help preserving and developing a strong tourism,these are not limited to the two most important aspects: ‘triple bottom line’ and

‘stakeholder theory’ These two key concepts will be used to apply and analysetoward Thua Thien Hue Hue is a city which is located at the central of Vietnam, theplace lies on a plain supported by foothills of the Annamese Cordillera (ChainAnnamitique) The Huong river traverses Hue which creates the unique view for thisregion (The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica)

The purpose of this report is to apply the theories of ecotourism and sustainabledevelopment to the case of Hue city in Vietnam

II Key Elements of Stakeholder Theory

● Stakeholder Concept and Definition

Freeman (1984; as cited in Byrd, 2007) defined a stakeholder as “any group orindividual who can affect or is affected by the achievement of the organization

objectives” After that, Donaldson and Preston (1995; as cited in Byrd, 2007)improved that definition by adding “the group or individual must have a legitimateinterest in the organization”

There are 4 main groups of stakeholders: host community residents, tourism serviceproviders, government and administrations, and tourists

● Host community residents

According to Thetsane (2019), local communities play an essential role in thesustainability of the tourism industry since it is one of the crucial elements of tourismdevelopment Hue attracts tourists because of the specialties that ethnic minoritiesprovide There are 4 ethnic minorities: Bru-Van Kieu, Co Tu, Ta Oi, and Pa Co (ThuaThien Hue Portal n.d.) They bring benefits to Hue by maintaining and dedicatingtheir houses, sharing their cultures such as making wine, playing folk games.Therefore, tourism services providers have the resources to make plans andstrategies for tourists

● Government and Administrations

In every country, the government plays an essential role in the development oftourism Their missions not only recognize the problem but also plan and try to solve

it (Elliott, 1987) The government controls and improves the economy by makingpolicies and rules for tourism activities Thanks to the policies and rules, there would

be fewer tourism activities that are conducted against the law

● Tourism service providers

The tourism service providers bring more profits to the economy by offering a variety

of services and destinations for customers They satisfy tourists with their highquality of services and unique activities in each destination, which gives tourists havemore memorable experiences in their destinations

● Tourists

It is said that tourists are the factor that brings the biggest profit to the tourismindustry By using tourism services, which contain accommodations andentertainment, such as hotels, resorts, restaurants, etc., tourists contribute directly tothe local’s revenue Due to the good experiences of tourists, the government has thereason to improve the quality of tourism services in order to attract more tourists tothat destination For example, in 2018, there are 4.25 million visitors who went toHue, includes 2.2 million international visitors, contributes about 4,400 billion VND tothe economy This number is 12% higher than that in 2017 (VNAT, 2019) In the first

10 months of 2019, Hue welcomed 4.1 million visitors and brought over 4.1 trillionVND (TTXVN, 2019)

III Key Elements of Triple Bottom Line

Performance Evaluations

● The Triple Bottom Line concept and definition

The “Triple Bottom Line” model (Figure 1) was first coined in the research of JohnElkington in 1994 It initially represents an accounting framework and works as acomponent of Corporate Social Responsibility concept by evaluating the firmaccountability toward the 3 dimensions of sustainable development: Profit(Economic), People (Social) and Planet (Environmental) (Elkington 1997)

● Economic Sustainability

Economic Sustainability refers to the business performance that creates economicvalue to the society, the scale of the dimension can be measured based on thetraditional financial performance determinants (e.g profit, investment, capitalstructure, etc.) (Elkington 1997; Stoddard, Pollard and Evans 2012) Anorganization's sustainability can also be evaluated through its ability in assessingsupported resources to generate profit, without negatively affecting the localcommunity and the environment (Stoddard, Pollard and Evans 2012) To achieveeconomic sustainability, social benefits are a fundamental requirement, so improvingthe locals quality of life (QOL) (e.g jobs creation, infrastructure facilities renovation,

healthcare activities, etc.) is one of the standard activities in which any businessorganization must perceive (Rogers and Ryan 2001; Suntikul et al 2016) In thecase of eco-tourism in Vietnam, Hue is a strategic destination for sustainabledevelopment due to its ancient cultural heritage with the support of many NGOsaround the world (Asian Development Bank, 2014) By aiming to become a “green”city in the future, the government is implementing the investment calls domesticallyand internationally for 39 projects including industrial zones, commerce-services-hotels complex areas and eco-tourism destinations (Thua Thien Hue Portal 2020).Its impacts on Hue city and the citizens are considered to be positive as Niedziółka(2012) highlighted the three important benefits of tourism development were: (1)reduction of unemployment, (2) facilities uplift and (3) financial and non-financialincome to the region Another benefit from tourism that could be recognized in Hue ispoverty alleviation which is believed to have beneficial economic affection on theresidents (Asian Development Bank, 2014) However, it would raise another concern

is the unequal accumulation of resources between locals and guests resulting in theconflict in the development process (Niedziółka 2012)

● Social Sustainability

Social sustainability is the process of value creation to the society in whichsustainable development concentrates on promoting the human wellbings, showingthe comprehension to the needs of the local residents by supporting them withcapable resources (Stoddard, Pollard & Evans 2012) In the research of Rogers andRyan (2001), the authors mentioned Max-Neef (1991) framework about the need ofhuman wellbeing as he indicated that there were 9 basic elements to achieve forcreating a healthy community: (1) sustenance; (2) protection; (3) affection; (4)idleness; (5) creativity; (6) freedom; (7) understanding; (8) participation; (9) identity.Suntikul et al (2016) also emphasized the importance of locals quality of life duringthe tourism development and their perspective toward the impacts it created Linking

to the case of Hue tourism, government actions in attracting FDI is expected tocreate many opportunities for the growth of infrastructure facilities (Trang Nguyen &Duc Nguyen 2013); the result of it could initially alleviate the poverty rate in ThuaThien Hue province as well as establishing more social amenities such as schools,

hospitals, etc for the community Additionally, the Hue government could expandtheir relationship with various NGOs around the world in advertising the culturaltourism, and collaboration in organizing social activities or charitable fundraisingsuch as heritage protection programs, free healthcare service for locals, educationalprograms about cultural-environment protection, etc (Asian Development Bank,2014; Hai Nguyen & Cheung, 2014)

● Environmental Sustainability

Environmental sustainability is the term related to the long-term preservation of theenvironment, it is also considered as the responsibility of any individual or businessorganization to prevent the exhaustion of the natural resource (Gimenez, Sierra &Rodon, 2012) There are various studies coining the significance of preserving theenvironment and maintaining sustainability with a focus on achieving sustainabledevelopment With the aim to become a “green” city in the near future, the lowcarbon initiative plan is currently being implemented as it is expected to minimize theamount of carbon creating a cleaner environment for the local people as well astourists (Kumar et al., 2016) The effectiveness of this sustainability trend couldboost the tourism sector dramatically in the coming years (Thua Thien Hue Portal2019)

IV Governance Interests and TBL

● Economic Aspect

In the economic aspect, the governance presents a long-term plan including theneed for Hue to improve its unique culture According to Thua Thien Hue Portal

2019, the department of sport, culture and tourism associated with the Organization

of international cooperation (JICA) chose many craft villages, such as Thanh Toantile bridge to become a new and durable tourism attraction This action shows theambition of the government to achieve sustainable growth Furthermore, promotinginvestment in aquaculture and seafood export will create beneficial growth in the

regional economy Additionally, Hue has been speeding up the clearance process forthe construction of industrial zones that increase competitiveness for industryinvestment

On the contrary, in Dai Noi, Dong Ba market, Thien Mu pagoda, there is a situation ofhassling or overcharging, causing much trouble for tourists (Quang Tien - Duong2012) Therefore, the People's Committee of Hue City has instructed the functionalforces to accelerate the inspection and deal with bothering tourists in the area (Thuy

An 2017) As a result, Hue has significantly improved when making visitors morecomfortable and impressed; they feel no longer "annoyed" as before (Duc Quang2019)

● Environmental Aspect

Due to the development of tourism in Hue, eco-friendly solutions have been made

As seeing the potential of Hue’s tourism industry as well as the aiming to developsustainably, The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) signed aMemorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Thua Thien Hue Provincial People’sCommittee to strengthen the sustainable development of this province (ClimateBusiness Index 2020) It offers a social benefit program in Hue which consists of 200e-bikes and e-bicycles Furthermore, UNDP also developed D-Map which is a digitalmap especially made for disability (Climate Business Index 2020)

V Service Provider Interests and TBL

● Economic Aspect

Hue is a potential destination attracting 110 Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) projectswith a total registered capital of over 3.82 billion USD, and in the top 10 provinces inattracting FDI capital in recent years (NDO 2019) Particularly, Banyan Tree HoldingsLimited Singapore, which has implemented the critical project Laguna Lang Co with

an investment of $ 2 billion, which is expected to create many employmentopportunities for local people (Thai Binh 2018) Furthermore, several leadingcorporations such as Ecopark, Vingroup, BRG, PSH, Minh Vien, etc increase theIncremental Capital Output Ratio (ICOR) index in Hue from 6.5 in 2011-2015 to 5.7

in 2016-2018 (Nguyen 2020) On the other hand, Hue also has the potential todevelop craft village tourism Specifically, in 2012, craft villages in Hue helped createjobs for more than 2,500 workers and improved people's lives in rural areas (CongHau 2013) Therefore, service providers and travel agents can generate more tours

to craft villages, attract more visitors to visit and experience, and provide more jobopportunities for the locals

● Social Aspect

In terms of society, Hue has many monuments, temples, palaces, of which UNESCOrecognizes seven, and many intangible relics and landscapes are preserved(VOVWORLD 2020) According to the Hue Monuments Conservation Center, serviceproviders coordinate with them to introduce culture, attracting visitors to visit theheritage Therefore, there are many types of tourism created by travel agencies bythat goal A typical example is a dragon boat tour on the Huong River, where visitorscan enjoy dinner and stop at iconic places in Hue Citadel along with listening to folkmusic (Wong n.d) Additionally, Hue also has the Hue Festival, which is periodicallyheld every two years in even years, and Hue Traditional Craft Festival is held everytwo years in odd years (Phan Tien 2019) Based on these advantages, travelagencies can organize tours to explore the heritage of Hue

● Environmental Aspect

In terms of environment, this is also an essential factor to be noticed by serviceproviders Typically, Banyan Tree is at the forefront of sustainable businessdevelopment in Vietnam, emphasizing environmental protection, including organizingwaste collection activities, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, etc (Laguna CSR2019) Also, there is a travel agency Huetourist, which collects tours towards greentourism, including the one day tour on "Thuy Bieu - Tam Giang" helping visitorsexperience the natural ecosystem in Hue (thuathienhue n.d)

VI Visitors Interests and TBL

● Economic Aspect

According to Vnexpress, the total number of visitors to Hue imperial citadel in 2019reached 4.81 million, international visitors were estimated at 2,186,747 arrivals Foraccommodation tourists was about 2,247,885 arrivals, revenue from tourism isestimated at 4,945 billion VND, up to 10.54 percent (Hanam.gov 2020) Thanks tounique custom and historical destinations, Hue has advantages in exploiting tourismand aquaculture potentials However, until 2019, the number standard room of 3-5stars is only about 27 foundations with 3,227 rooms It proved that the growth in thenumber of accommodation rooms was not consistent with the growth of visitors toHue (Duc Quang 2020) However, the "burning" creates a premise for Hue toincrease accommodation service prices If this problem does not have any solutions,

it could have a bad impact on sustainable tourism

● Social Aspect

In the social aspect, there are opportunities for tourists to discover local customs andhabits, such as, the life of ancient Nguyen Kings and the traditional cuisine of Huelike bun Bo Hue, mussel rice, bread flour, etc which simply cannot have the originaltaste elsewhere According to the Vietnam Guide, most of the Hue’s traditionaldishes were once exclusively served to past emperors and royal families of the