Tourism development in Sonla province = Phát triển du lịch Sơn La

Tourism development in Sonla province = Phát triển du lịch Sơn La. Luận văn ThS. Khu vực học

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY-HANOI INSTITUTE OF VIETNAMESE STUDIES AND DEVELOPMENT SCIENCES

- -

NGUYEN THI HANH

TOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN SONLA PROVINCE

MASTER THESIS ON VIETNAMESE STUDIES

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale statment 1

2 Research objectives 2

3 Research tasks 2

4 Study objects 3

5 Scope of research 3

6 History of research problem 3

7 Research Methods 5

8 The structure of the thesis 6

Chapter 1: BACKGROUND ON THE CONDITIONS FOR TOURISM DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1 BACKGROUND ON THE CONDITIONS FOR TOURISM DEVELOPMENT 7

1.1 Some basic concepts 7

1.1.1 Tourism 7

1.1.2 Tourist 7

1.1.3 Tourism resources 7

1.1.4 Destination 7

1.1.5 Tourism accommodation establishments 8

1.2 The conditions for tourism development 8

1.2.1 Natural conditions and natural resources 8

1.2.1.1 Geographical location 8

1.2.1.2 Topography 9

1.2.1.3 Climate 9

1.2.1.4 Hydrology 10

1.2.1.5 Plant and animal 10

1.2.2 Socio-economic conditions and human tourism resources 11

1.2.2.1 The historical – cultural monuments 11

1.2.2.2 Festivals 12

1.2.2.3 The tourism objects associated with ethnography 13

1.2.2.4 Occupation and the traditional craft villages 13

1.2.2.5 The objects of culture, sports and other cognitive activities 13

1.2.3 Infrastructure for tourism 14

1.2.3.1 Transportation system 14

1.2.3.2 Communication system 14

1.2.3.3 Electrical system 15

1.2.3.4 Water drainage and supply system 15

1.2.4 Labor 15

1.3 Current situation of Vietnam tourism 16

Chapter summary 22

CHAPTER 2: REAL STATUS OF TOURISM ACTIVITY IN SONLA 23 2.1 Son La tourism resources 23

2.1.1 Natural tourism resources 23

2.1.1.1 Topography 23

2.1.1.2 Climate 24

2.1.1.3 Hydrology 26

2.1.1.4 Flora and fauna 27

2.1.2 Human tourism resources 28

2.1.2.1 Monuments 29

2.1.2.2 Contemporary works 31

2.1.2.3 The other ontological resources 33

2.1.2.4 Festival 35

2.1.2.5 Custom 38

2.1.2.6 Other intangible tourism resources 39

2.2 Material and technical facilities of tourism 42

2.2.1 Accommodation establishments 42

2.2.2 Catering establishments 44

2.3 Labour 45

2.4 The tourism products 47

2.4.1 Sightseeing tourism 48

2.4.2 Festival tourism 49

2.4.3 Ecotourism 50

2.4.4 Home-stay Tourism 54

2.4.5 Resting tourism 55

2.4.6 Cultural tourism 55

2.5 Results from the tourism activities 55

2.5.1 Tourists 55

2.5.1.1 International tourists: 56

2.5.1.2 Domestic tourists: 58

2.5.2 Revenue 58

2.5.2.1 The room occupancy Rate 59

2.5.2.2 Profit 60

Chapter summary 61

CHAPTER 3: SOME SOLUTIONS FOR SUSTAINABLE TOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN SONLA PROVINCE 63

3.1 The basis to build solutions 63

3.1.1 Development orientations of Vietnam tourism sector 63

3.1.2 Orientation for socio-economic development of Son La province 63

3.2 Some measures to develop tourism in the provinces effectively and stably 64

3.2.1 Solution on policies 64

3.2.2 Solutions to tourism space development 65

3.2.3 Solutions to develop tourism products 65

3.2.4 Solutions to training, human resource development and improving the community capacity 65

3.2.5 Solution to protect the environment and ensure sustainable tourism development 66

3.2.6 Solutions to tourism promotion and development 66

Chapter summary 67

CONCLUSION 68

REFERENCES 71

APPENDIX 74

INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale statment

Sonla is third lagest pronvince in Vietnam (ranking after Nghean and Daklak provinces) Over 60% of the province area is covered forest Land for agriculture is very limited, in average, it is about 0.2ha/capita The majority of residents (993 thousand /1084 thousands) live in the rural areas, so the people here still faced many difficulties The province's GDP was only about VND 4600 billion, GDP per capita equvalent to 1/6 everage GDP per capita of the country (about USD212 / USD 1,200 of the country - Data 2009)

To serve the national hydro power plant, thousands residents living in the planed area have been moved to new place Although the authorities actively support, but the lives of many people disturbed The shifting lines were difficult because unfamiliar with the new job, due to weather, farming conditions, etc

Son La has a favorable geographical position, fresh air, abundant natural resources and tourist attractions So this is the ideal destination for many tourists Son La has many attractions, including the typical tourist spots like Moc Chau Plateau, the plateau Na, cave bats, hang thick, hydro Son La, Son La ancient prison The sights are great advantages to Son La to promote investment in developing tourism activities

Meanwhile, in Son La convergence of many cultures, unique traditions of 12 ethnic groups, which are typical habits of ethnic Thai and H‟mong peoples With that potential, Son

La will be very favorable for the development of cultural tourism, tourism homestay

With convenient locations and potential tourism resources in abundance, Son La tourism in recent years has seen a remarkable development, contribute to the development of local economy and to the cause of tourism development in the country However, the tourism potential of the Son La has not effectively exploited, the tourism product is poor, investment

in tourism in the area is limited, the image of the Son La tourism have not created a clarity in the relationship with Hanoi, the tourist center and with the other neighbouring provincesand travel nationwide as well

Number of tourists coming to Vietnam in general and Son La in particular is increasing Thus promoting tourism development in Son La is consistent with the trend of the times, in accordance with the development strategy of Vietnam's tourism, especially strategic

socio-economic development of the province, in which tourism and services was identified as

an important economic sector

Tourism development has special meaning for a local mountainous areas of Son La - where the poverty rate remains high The shifting economic structure from agriculture to service sector will enable local people to increase their incomes and to reduce their poverty

So study " Tourism development in Sonla province" has a practical significance meets

objectives of Vietnamese studies

To achieve the research objectives set out, the thesis focuses on the following tasks:

- Collecting secondary data and overviewing theoretical concepts on sustanable tourism development and overviewing the present situation of tourism in Son La provincebyfield observations, interviews and questionare

- Analysising and evaluating the situations and concret conditions for tourism development in SonLa

- Proposing the orientations and solutions for Son La tourism development

4 Study objects

The conditions for tourism development, tourism resources and tourism activities in Son

La

5 Scope of research

- Content: Topics focused on Son La tourism activities

- Spatial scale: The whole territory of Son La province, of the tourism resources, the tourist spots, the toursin Sonlain relationship with the neighboring provinces and the North West tourism sub-regiona

- Time: Subject focuses on investigation, data collection, analysis and research mainly

in the period 2006 - 2011, proposing the solutions and directions tourism development in the phase of from 2015 to 2020

6 History of research problem

6.1 In the world

The scientific projects research on aspects of tourism such as tourism resources, tourism planning and territorial organization had just appeared in the late nineteenth century and flourished along with the trend of planning, socio-economic development planning and tourism development from the thirty years of the twentieth century

From 1980 onwards, China and other developing countries have considered tourism as

a key economic sector, so many theoretical and practical research works relating to tourism

planning and tourism resources are carried out by the scientists such as: "Development and

management of local tourism," by Ngo Tat Ho, 2000; "System of planning criteria" by Ngo

Vi Dan, 1979

6.2 In Vietnam

Currently, there are tourism geographical research works in Vietnam on issues from theoretical and practical bases of tourism development from provincial, regional scale to national one A number of scientific themes is involved such as: Tran Duc Thanh, Tourism Geography, Vietnam National University Publisher, Hanoi, 1995; Nguyen Minh Tue, Vu Tuan Canh, Le Thong, Pham Xuan Hau, Nguyen Kim Hong, Tourism Geography , Ho Chi Minh City Publisher; People's Committee of Son La Province, Department of Son La Trade and Tourism, general report on master planning for tourism development in Son La Province

in the period of 2007 - 2015 and vision to 2020, Son La 2007; Le Trong Binh, tourism current State and territorial organization orientation in Vietnam Scientific Yearbook: Vietnam socio-economic territorial organization – Art to ensuring the successful development in the context

of international integration” Ministry of Planning and Investment, Development Strategy Institute, Hanoi 02-2007 Vu Tuan Canh (Editor), Vietnam tourism environment and the problems given for the sake of sustainable environmental development Synthesis Report; Vu Tuan Canh: Vietnam Tourism at the threshold of twenty-first century, Journal of Tourism and Development No 01-1995, Hanoi; Handbook on sustainable tourism development, Vietnam Tourism Bureau, the travel newsletter No 1, 11-2005;

In addition, there are many other valuable research works like MA thesis Dang Duy

Loi, 1995, "Assessing and exploiting the natural conditions in Ba Vi District, Ha Tay

province for tourism purpose." MA thesis Tran Duc Thanh, 1995, "Scientific Basis for the construction of maps for the purpose of provincial tourism in Vietnam - Ninh Binh province, for instance", "Tourism Geography" chaired by Nguyen Minh Tue, 1994; General

Departmental theme "potentiality of tourism resources in Vietnam" implemented by Nguyen

Minh Tue, 1996

In recent years, along with the development of the tourism industry throughout the country, there have been articles and research works on Son La tourism Typically, Do Thi

Mui author has a PhD topic "territorial organization of Son La tourism” that refers quite

sufficient for the tourism territory This topic has showed the trend of tourism development in the future and direction of sustainable tourism development through the rationally territorial organization The author has analyzed and clarified the main resources for the tourism

territorial organization in Son La In that basis, the theme " Tourism development in Sonla

province " is the first synthetic and systematic research work relevant to potentiality, current

situation and solutions for tourism development in Son La province These findings of the research will contribute to the overall and detailed picture on tourism activities in the province

of Son La, as well as comparative advantages for tourism development with the provinces in the sub-region of the Northwest tourism in particular and the northern tourism regions in general It; thereby, shall propose appropriate measures to enhance the effective exploitation

of regionally rich and diversified tourism potentiality

7 Research Methods

In order to complete this theme, the author has used the methodologies:

- Investigation, field survey

- Sociological Investigation

- Analysis and evaluation

8 The structure of the thesis

A part from the introduction, conclusion, references and appendices, the content of the thesis consists of 3 chapters:

Chapter 1: BACKGROUND ON THE CONDITIONS FOR TOURISM DEVELOPMENT

Chapter 2: REAL STATUS OF TOURISM ACTIVITY IN SONLA

Chapter 3: SOME SOLUTIONS FOR SUSTAINABLE TOURISM DEVELOPMENT

IN SONLA PROVINCE

CHAPTER 1 BACKGROUND ON THE CONDITIONS FOR TOURISM DEVELOPMENT

1.1 Some basic concepts

In fact of research on tourism, there are many terms understood in different ways However, this thesis is not a research debating on those terms The basic terms used in this theme are based on the concepts in the Tourism Law in 2005 Those concepts shall be as follows:

1.1.4 Destination

"Destination is the place where has the attractive tourism resources, serving the needs

of visiting by tourists." [Article 4, Vietnam tourism law]

1.1.5 Tourism accommodation establishments

"Tourist accommodation establishment is the place where hires room, bed and provides other services for guests, especially the hotel is primary tourism accommodation establishment." [Article 4, Vietnam tourism law]

1.2 The conditions for tourism development

In order to develop tourism, it should possess sufficient conditions, including natural conditions and natural resources, socio-economic conditions and human tourism resources,

infrastructure for tourism and labor resources

1.2.1 Natural conditions and natural resources

The natural components are necessary condition for tourism activities On the other hand, in the specific cases, some properties of those components attract tourist and they, thus, are directly exploited for the purpose of tourism business to become the natural tourism resources Those components include topography, climate, hydrology, plants and animals, etc

1.2.1.1 Geographical location

1.2.1.2 Topography

1.2.1.3 Climate

1.2.1.4 Hydrology

1.2.1.5 Plant and animal

1.2.2 Socio-economic conditions and human tourism resources

Human tourism resources are objects, phenomenones created by humans during the survival process and development; have cultural and spiritual values, and serve tourism demand Human tourism resources include: the historical - cultural monuments, festivals and folklores; the tourism objects associated with ethnography; craft and traditional handicraft villages and the other human resources

1.2.2.1 The historical – cultural monuments

1.2.2.2 Festivals

1.2.2.3 The tourism objects associated with ethnography

1.2.2.4 Occupation and the traditional craft villages

1.2.2.5 The objects of culture, sports and other cognitive activities

1.2.3 Infrastructure for tourism

Infrastructure is not managed by the tourism industry, but they are built to generally serve the national economy The development and distribution of infrastructure (transportation, communication, electricity, water drainage and supply system, etc.) and performance of these sectors have a profound effect on the tourism activities

1.2.3.1 Transportation system:

The types of traffic for tourism may involve: road, rail, waterway, seaway, airway and vehicles manufactured and used for tourism demands like caravan, boat, yacht, special aircraft and cable

1.2.3.2 Communication system:

Communication is an important part of the infrastructure of tourism activities It is a necessary condition to ensure the exchange of domestic and international tourists Communication needs are the needs of the exchange of social information; satisfied by many different types of information: satellite communication, internet, telephone, telegraph and post, etc

1.2.3.3 Electrical system:

It is a necessary condition to ensure the essential needs of travelers at tourism sites The power plants, grid structure, the capability of ensuring the local power for operation of the points, areas, groups, tourism centers, the balance between supply capacity and demand for electricity in the whole region, etc have great significance because their products directly serve the traveler‟s rest and entertainment

1.2.3.4 Water drainage and supply system:

It includes water plants for the daily needs and tourism services Water supply should

be noted in the following aspects: availability of water supply, water quality and water supply system to meet the needs of tourism development As tourists usually have a high demand for clean water in their trip, while many destinations are very far from large urban areas, so it requires to have a clean water supply system with pipe network development to meet enough the needs of tourists

As a consequence, the complete infrastructure is a prerequisite and lever of economic activities, including tourism activities

1.2.4 Labor

Labor is an important factor with the effect of promoting the tourism development The increase of population, population density, life expectancy, urban development and urbanization lifestyle, etc, on the one hand, increases the labor force in manufacturing and services, leading to increased demand for rest and tourism; on the other hand, population growth contributes to labor supply in the tourism service industry, ensuring human resources for tourism development

1.3 Current situation of Vietnam tourism

Vietnam is a country with the special advantages of geography, economics and politics Located in the heart of Southeast Asia, Vietnam territory has both tied to the continent and expanded the ocean; is located at a favorably international exchange on seaway, waterway, railway, road and airway This is a very important premise in the international tourism expansion and development

Our country has a stably political regime, with abundant human resources, the smart, hard-working and hospitable Vietnamese that are important elements to ensure tourism development

Vietnam tourism resources enable to develop all three types: Tourism of mountain, plain and sea

Overally, Vietnam tourism resources have been not only relatively uniformly distributed throughout the country, but also concentrated in each cluster near major urban centers, important transport axes, convenient for organizing exploitation, forming tourism routes to complement each other between the regions, with the value used for tourism purposes and a great attraction for tourists

After peace was restored in the north, due to the reception of domestic and international delegates, the Government had issued Decree No 26/CP dated 09/07/1960 on

"Establishment of Vietnam Tourism Company ", directly under the Ministry of Foreign Trade,

with the basic task as to serving the delegations of the Party and Government On 16/03/1963, Minister of Foreign Trade had decided to entrust Vietnam Tourism Company with tourism business to earn foreign currency for the country This decision had officially marked the birth

of Vietnam tourism industry Although it was still young compared to many other economic sectors, Vietnam tourism had gained a proud development, especially since the country entered the economic innovation Achievements of Vietnam tourism sector has been shown in detail in the following aspects:

- Tourists and tourism revenue: The number of guests including international and

domestic ones had increased As a result, revenue from the tourism industry had also grown rapidly

- Diversification of tourism products: In addition to the specifically traditional forms

of tourism such as sightseeing, entertainment, resort, medicinal tourism, historical cultural

tourism, marine tourism, mountainous tourism, etc, a number of new tourism forms are formed such as adventure, mountaineering, ecological tourism, travel through Vietnam, Indochina, commercial and duty tourism, etc in which have focused on exploiting the human values of ethnically cultural richness to make up the unique and attractive tourism products

- Investment in infrastructure, material and technical facilities for tourism: Along

with rapid growth in the number of international and domestic visitors, tourism infrastructure, and material and technical facilities have been continuously improved and expanded Thanks

to the rapid and strong development of the system of airports, seaports, road traffic, it has

created favorable conditions for international visitors to travel in Vietnam

- Tourism human resources: Together with the rapid increase in tourists, the hotel room and bed, and other tourism services, labor in tourism industry has developed rapidly in both quantity and quality They are largely young However, the professional qualifications of employees in the sector are still limited and should be more trained Network system of tourism training is being expanded to meet the needs of human resource development for tourism

- Socio-economic benefits: Tourism developed has contributed to promoting the

socio-economic development, increased the share of services in total national income; restored many craft villages, many traditional festivals, etc

Clearly, tourism is gradually becoming a driving force for developing the areas or territories throughout the country

Chapter summary

In summary, natural resources and environment are fundamental factors to create tourism products Tourism resources directly affect the territorial organization of the tourism industry, the specialized formation of tourism areas and economic effect of tourism activities The combination of the tourism resources in the territory will be great significance in combining different types of tourism, routes, and destinations to create unique tourism products Tourism activity scale of a region, a country is determined on the basis of tourism resource mass Tourism resources also play a decisive role to the seasonality in the tourism business, rhythm of flow of tourists Therefore, tourism resources can be assessed as one of very important factors to decide the tourism area and tourism development of a country

Besides, infrastructure, technical and material facilities, labor, the political and economic factors have contributed to tourism development If one of these factors is lack, tourism activities can not achieve high efficiency

Vietnam tourism activities in recent years have gained great achievements The number of tourists and revenue is growing over the years

Thus, in order to more develop Vietnam tourism sector, the State should have incentive policies to attract investors and focus on building unique tourism products; labor with the service quality in tourism industry will attract more domestic and foreign tourists

CHAPTER 2 REAL STATUS OF TOURISM ACTIVITY IN SONLA

2.1 Son La tourism resources

2.1.1 Natural tourism resources

2.1.1.1 Topography

Son La terrain is characterized by the average mountain chains inserted into river valleys and the plateau surfaces All mountain ranges, plateaus and river valleys are in the northwest – southeast direction The terrain is generally steep and fragmented Therefore, Son

La is one of the advantageous areas to develop sports- adventure tourism (mountaineering, cave exploration, etc.) In addition, Son La has Moc Chau Plateau (1,050m) and Na San plateau (800m) with different ecological conditions that have created unique terrain to Son La province

2.1.1.2 Climate: Khí hậu Sơn La vừa mang tính chất nhiệt đới ẩm gió mùa,

vừa chịu ảnh hưởng của gió Lào khô nóng, với hai mùa rõ rệt: mùa mưa bắt đầu từ tháng 5 đến hết tháng 10 và mùa khô từ tháng 11 đến tháng 4 năm sau Hàng năm, trên lãnh thổ của tỉnh nhận được lượng bức xạ dồi dào, khoảng 130 – 135kcal/cm2 Về chế độ nhiệt, trên phạm

vi toàn tỉnh nhiệt độ trung bình năm là 210C Về chế độ mưa, lượng mưa trung bình năm của tỉnh Sơn La là 1200 - 1600mm, có sự phân hóa rõ rệt theo thời gian Độ ẩm không khí trung bình năm là 81%

Sự phân hóa mùa của khí hậu cũng tạo nên tính mùa trong hoạt động du lịch Thời gian thích hợp nhất cho các hoạt động du lịch là vào mùa khô Lúc này thời tiết đẹp và du

khách có thể tận dụng được hầu hết thời gian trong ngày để thăm quan mọi thắng cảnh và tham gia vào các hoạt động giải trí mà mình ưa thích

Climate in Son La has both the nature of a tropical monsoon and have been affected

by hot and dry westerly wind, with two distinct seasons: the rainy season starting from May

to October and dry season from November to April of the following years

Every year, there is an ample amount of radiation, about 130 - 135kcal/cm2 received

in the territory of the province With regard to the thermal regime, annually average temperature is 210C in the whole province; As regards precipitation, annually average rainfall

in Son La province is 1200 - 1600mm, with clear differentiation over time The average humidity is 81% /year

The seasonal differentiation also creates seasonality in tourism activities The most appropriate time for tourism activities is in the dry season Now, the weather is fine and tourists can take advantage of most daytime to go sightseeing and participate in favorite recreational activities

2.1.1.3 Hydrology

River systems in Son La are rather dense, outstandingly Da River and Ma River Along these rivers, they are the rapids and waterfalls with small height, but we can exploit these characteristics to develop sport-adventure tourism to overcome the rapids and waterfalls

Mineral water, especially hot mineral water, is considered as the valuable tourism resources that are being exploited to create attractive tourism products to tourists Hot mineral water in Son La is concentrated at the areas such as Mong Village, Hua La Commune (Son La city), Ngoc Chien Commune (Muong La), Chieng Sai Commune, Chieng Yen (Moc Chau), Chieng Dong (Yen Chau)

2.1.1.4 Flora and fauna

The flora in Son La has 161 groups, 645 genera and about 1,187 species, including angiosperms and gymnosperms, tropical, subtropical and temperate plants Son La has 101 mammal species, in 25 families, of the 8 sets; bird with 347 species, in 47 families, of 17 sets; reptile with 64 species, in 15 families of two sets; amphibians with 28 species, in 5 families,

of one set (Source: Department of Agriculture of Son La province in 2009)

In summary, abundant tourism natural resources in Son La will create premises to boost tourism activities in the province, attract visitors from all parts of the country

2.1.2 Human tourism resources

Human tourism resources in Son La can be divided into the following groups: The historical works; contemporary works; the traditionally cultural values; festivals, musical dance, crafts, food and customs

2.1.2.1 Monuments

- Son La Prison:

- Le Thai Tong King temple:

- Co Noi Victory Monument:

- Muong Chanh revolutionary base area:

2.1.2.2 Contemporary works: Son La Hydropower

2.1.2.3 The other ontological resources

- Architecture:

- Traditional Crafts

+ Brocade weaving of Thai people:

+ Pottery of Thai people in Muong Chanh commune:

+ Flax planting and fabric weaving ooccupation of the Hmong:

+ Ironwork of the Hmong

2.1.2.4 Festival

- The Ban Flower Festival:

- The Nem Con festival:

- Muong Worship Ceremony:

- The new rice feast festival:

- The Kin Pang Then Festival:

2.1.2.5 Custom

Son La has many unique customs of 12 ethnic groups In particular, the chignon custom of the Black Thais and wife dragging custom of the Mongs are the most unique

2.1.2.6 Other intangible tourism resources

In addition to the types of tangible culture, Son La has the rich potentialities of the intangible culture such as love market, Xoe dance, bamboo pole dance, Xong chu xon xao poetry

In short, tourism resources in Son La are extremely rich and diverse involving natural tourism resources and human tourism resources, which are favorable conditions for development of Son La tourism types However, these resources have not been efficiently and invested and exploited, so most of these resources do not have a great attraction for tourists Thus, Son La should pay more attention to activities to promote the image of local tourism on the mass media for many tourists inside and outside the country known provincial tourism potentiality At the same time, the province should also have policies to attract the investors, pushing Son La to remarkably develop in the field of tourism and bring revenue to the province

2.2 Material and technical facilities of tourism

2.2.1 Accommodation establishments

Inrecent years, the system of accommodation establishments in Son La province has

had the growth in quantityand quality Totally, accommodation establishment system in the province is in the small and mediumscale Only meets the accommodationneedsof tourists

at least and does not necessarily sufficient conditions and services, especially to meet the needs of the foreign tourists The weaknesses of the material and technical facilities in general and tourism accommodation facilities in particular have a great influence on the status of local tourism development These eventfully cultural activities are capable of attracting tourists and are a great form of extremely effective advertising for a destination However, the localities also need adequate and caring preparations for the facilities and the types of tourism to meet the maximum demands of tourists, so tourism business is effective Shortage of the accommodation facilities results in the majority of tourists to Son La with a daytime trip visit

or short stay Consequently, they only visit some certain places, their spending is not high, and the tourism exploitation has not brought the desired economic effect

2.2.2 Catering establishments

According to statistics, in the province of Son La, in 2011 it has had over 7,000 bases and enterprises trading in the sectors of tourism, hotels and restaurants, attracting 13,390 workers with an average of 1.9 employees/facility All business establishments and human resources mentioned above are directly under local management, so it does not attract the foreign investment

2.3 Labour

In recent years, along with the increasing number of visitors, the development of the material and technical infrastructure systems, etc, labor force in the Son La tourism industry has developed rapidly in both quantity and quality

Although the number of tourism workers in Son La province has increased over the years, the quality of the labor resources are slowly improved

Recently, Son La province has certain efforts in improving the quality of staff management and workforce to enhance operational efficiency of the managers and workers to improve the quality of the tourism products

Assessment of the status of tourism human resources now has shown that tourism labor in Son La is short, weak relevant to capacity and not professional; the work force quality does not meet the requirements and development objectives of the local tourism To overcome this situation, the areas need to supplement and improve the quality of labor resources, to make each attractive and professional tourism product and create the impression for visitors

2.4 The tourism products

Son La tourism products include sightseeing, ecology, festival, home stay and resting

2.5.1.1 International tourists

Beginning to attract international tourists since the late 90s of the twentieth century, Statistics has shown that the number of international visitors to Son La through the years rapidly increased, but the average number of staying days is not high, over the years, it tends

to be reduced The number of low staying days means low spending of international tourists

to the area, so tourism business has not been really effective, which is also shown in the infrastructure, material and technical facilities, the quality of tourism services in the area not meeting the relatively high requirements of the international tourists

2.5.1.2 Domestic tourists:

Domestic tourists have accounted for the majority of market share of tourists to Son

La The number of domestic tourists plays a very important role in raising the total number of tourists to Son La province on a par with many provinces with developed tourism industry The average number of stay of domestic tourists to Son La is generally low In the period of

2006 - 2011, this indicator has barely budged and only achieved about 1.2 days

The majority of domestic tourists to Son La have low spending limits, using the

popular services, so the ability to contribute to the total turnover of the industry is limited However, if there are the attractive tourism products, in accordance with the needs and

diverse the supporting services will overcome the above limitations For own potentiality, if there is proper development plan for high sustainability, Son La tourism will attract more tourists and make business activities be more effective.

2.5.2 Revenue

Revenue from tourism is the values brought by the tourism activities through accommodation, meals, transportation and other services (recreation, post office, insurance, travel consultancy, advertising, shopping, etc.) Thus, tourism revenue depends on the length

of stay, number of tourists, and the diversity of tourism products used

Recently, along with the development of tourism, the province's tourism revenue has also increased significantly

With the number of tourists accounting for only 1,1% of total tourists in the country, business performance achieved by Son La province is relatively good Son La has really had very strong potentiality to bring tourism to further develop With the turnover as above, tourism industry has contributed 3,2% to GDP of the provincial service area, although the number is low, it has gradually asserted the role of investment in developing the fledgling tourism industry

Structure of revenues of the Son La tourism is uneven among services: Accommodation, transport of tourists, travel, food services, sales of goods and other supporting services Revenue structure of international and domestic tourists differs markedly

2.5.2.1 The room occupancy Rate

According to survey results in the accommodation establishments, in 2011, the yearly average room using rate of the system of accommodation establishments in Son La has gained 80% However, this survey was only conducted in some large accommodation establishments, with year-round stay, and collected data in some areas with very difficult infrastructure conditions was inadequate In fact, according to the basic data (number of visitors, the average number of stay, number of rooms, number of beds .) by the Department of Culture, Sport and Tourism, this capacity has reached 62,3%, if calculated according to the room (each room with one tourist), even if the bed (all beds stayed by the tourists), it has been only 35,2%

Thus, the yearly average room using rate in the system of accommodation establishments in Son La is not really high In the future, the province should have some certain development strategies to attract more and more and the number of higher stay

2.5.2.2 Profit

Tourism revenue of Son La Province in the period of 2006 - 2011 has increased rapidly over the years Revenues from Son La tourism services involve accommodation, transport of passengers, travel, food services, sales of goods and other supporting services However, profit from this sector is still low compared to many other localities throughout the country Thus, in the next time, Son La should have specific strategies to gain the higher profit from the tourism activities

Chapter summary

Son La is a mountainous province with difficultly economic conditions compared to many provinces, average income per capita is low ( the provincial GDP was only about VND 4,600 billion, Average GDP per capita was just over one sixth of average GDP per capita of the country (about USD 212 / USD 1,200 of the country – Data in 2009) However, this place has many great potentialities in tourism resources to develop the types of tourism representing

a type of ecotourism, cultural tourism and resort tourism In recent years, Son La has developed certain strategies to attract tourists and investors However, revenue from tourism activities in the province is low, namely:

The average number of stay of domestic tourists to Son La is generally low In the period of 2006 - 2011, this indicator has barely budged and been only about 1,2 days As the

number of stay of tourists to Son La is low, so it leads to low spending showing that tourism business travel is not really effective Since that, we see that, infrastructure, and material and technical facilities, the quality of the tourism products in the area are limited and can not meet the maximum requirements of tourists As a consequence, prolonged period of accommodation, at the same time, creating quality of suitable tourism products, in accordance with the interests of tourists are the problem that Son La tourism industry needs to pay more attention

In fact, the tourism potentiality of the Son La in particular and the North West tourism sub-regions in general is very unique and distinct compared to other tourism areas in the country However, this uniqueness has not been effectively exploited by Son La tourism

industry; almost all the tourism destinations that tourists want to visit are in the state “ hidden

beauty”, with monotonous and poor tourism services In orienting tourism development in the

following years, Son La needs to set out the measures to overcome the difficulties and existing weaknesses to attract more tourists

CHAPTER 3 SOME SOLUTIONS FOR SUSTAINABLE TOURISM DEVELOPMENT

IN SONLA PROVINCE

3.1 Basics for solutions’ proposition

3.1.1 Development orientations of Vietnam tourism sector

Vietnam is a country with many great potentialities in natural tourism resources and human tourism resources Therefore, a suitable development orientation is very important to exploit them effectively As a result, Vietnam Tourism sector has introduced the orientations

as follows: it should take effect on economics, culture, society and environment as an overall goal of development; secondly, quality and trade name are the determinants; thirdly, the enterprise is the leverage for development and fourthly, it should be decentralized in management and deconcentrated in the space as the motto

In the next period, the orientation of Vietnam Tourism development has focused on tourism development towards quality, trade name, professionalism, modernity; mining