21640 activity summary tourism phase II

Preface This report summarizes activities carried out within the Sustainable Tourism Development Component during Phase II of the ‘Nature Conservation and Sustainable Management of Natur

Preface

This report summarizes activities carried out within the Sustainable Tourism Development Component during Phase II of the ‘Nature Conservation and Sustainable Management of Natural Resources in the Phong Nha – Ke Bang National Park Region’ Project (in short PNKB Project) which lasted from 10/2010 to 09/2013 The Project’s overall aim is to reduce the pressures on the use of natural resources in the PNKB NP, to improve the livelihood of the local people and to explicitly link nature conservation and socio-economic development

This summary has been prepared in order to review past activities and lessons learnt and in view of the phasing out of the tourism component of the Phong Nha – Ke Bang Region Project before the start of the final Project Phase III (10/2013 - 9/2015) This report presents the major thematic areas the Project has been involved in with reference to tourism

in the region, including major outcomes and major weaknesses/ difficulties as well as lessons learnt and next steps (if applicable)

Tourism has been massively growing in the past decade and it has increasingly been acknowledged by the local government as an economic driver for future development The well-being of human-kind is inextricably linked to the integrity of nature and there is hope that decision-makers are or become genuinely interested in sustainable development which sets forth responsible practices in tourism that consider both ecological and socio-economic aspects for development The PNKB region is still in its early stages of development and the future activities need to carefully consider the sensitivity of the natural environment and the cultural heritage of the local people in order to not compromise the World Heritage Site status

We would like to thank all private and public tourism stakeholders as well as non-profit organisations in the region as well as in Vietnam as well as all the individuals with whom

we had the pleasure working with over this long period of time as well as our colleagues for their continuous support and much needed input

Preface i

Content ii

1 Introduction – Why Sustainable Tourism Development? 1

2 Thematic Areas 2

2.1 Sustainable Tourism Development Plan and Task Force Group 2

2.2 Advisory to the DoCST 5

2.3 Advisory to the National Park/ Phong Nha Tourism Centre 6

2.3.1 Cave Management 6

2.3.2 Environmental Safeguarding and Awareness Raising 8

2.3.2.1 Innovation of Tourism Boats 8

2.3.2.2 Awareness Raising in the Local Community 8

2.3.3 Promotion/ Marketing and Miscellaneous 10

2.4 CbT Development Review 12

2.5 Hospitality and Service Improvement Phong Nha 15

2.6 Other Activities 17

2.6.1 Value Chain Enhancement Workshop 17

2.6.2 Souvenir Vendors in Phong Nha – Connecting Local Producers with

Local Vendors 18

2.6.3 Internal Activities 20

2.7 Ongoing Activities/ Phasing Out Activities 21

3 Final Remarks 22

3.1 Future Needs 22

3.2 Why Phasing Out Sustainable Tourism Development? 24

Bibliography 26

1 Introduction – Why Sustainable Tourism Development?

Recreational and touristic activities are increasingly used as a means for the creation of PAs

or as an additional income source for their maintenance Tourism has become a preferred sector, considering its appeal to attract funding and its potential to replace or avert loss which comes along with disappearing subsistence farming Although tourism can generate income which benefits PA conservation, there are many cases in which uncoordinated management and intransparent planning hinder sustainable development, thereby reducing local benefit sharing and, ultimately, nature conservation To encompass PA development and management requires careful consideration and understanding of the stakeholder surroundings, including their roles, responsibilities and interests as well as understanding of the wider policy, historical, economic and political environment that the respective PA is set in

In 2007, the GoV released Decree 10/2007/QD-BNN which provides the legal background for the management of eco-touristic activities taking place in National Parks and Nature Reserves While the term eco-tourism is widely used, there is yet little understanding/ many different understandings about its practical implementation at the destination level

The Phong Nha – Ke Bang National Park (PNKB NP) region has attracted a fast growing number of visitors in the past decade This is largely owing to the UNESCO Natural World Heritage listing since 2003 and to the attention the Park has received nationally and internationally for the opening up of an increasing number of caves to the public in 2012/2013, amongst these, Hang Son Doong, the largest cave in the world discovered to date Although there are no reliable figures available, it is estimated that, compared to other NPs in Vietnam, park-related tourism revenues are rather exceptional However, the influx

of the around 450.000 visitors to the NP is mainly confined to Phong Nha and Paradise Cave at the eastern Park boundary and to the touristic peak season in the summer Other potentials exist, but have yet to be developed and promoted Both the Park and the surrounding buffer zone region, overall, still feature only poor touristic facilities Most visitors hardly spend more than a day in the province and only very few hours in the NP Touristic development in the buffer zone has so far been restricted due to capacity and infrastructural constraints as well as due to lengthy processes for access permissions in selected buffer zone areas for international visitors

Besides the hiring of boats from two villages in Son Trach commune, there is almost no inter-linkage with tourism and the buffer communes apart from a negative demand for wildlife food in tourist restaurants Environmental and conservation awareness among tourists is low

The PNKB Region Project aimed at addressing some of the problematic issues which (have) come along with fast tourism development In the following, activities which have been implemented in Phase II or which are still in the stages of their implementation are outlined

The main purpose of the STDP is to serve as a major guidance for future development and planning for local, provincial and national authorities and for potential tourism developers and investors Furthermore, the STDP is set to support the fulfilment of the UNESCO WHS requirements and to have instruments in place for the management of the WHS The STDP addresses the tourism management and planning of the PNKB NP WHS

There are several activities that have been developed in compliance with the STDP, mainly tours, which were based on surveys on potentials from the Master Plan, more practical and quieter boats, and community-based tourism products The ADB Mekong Tourism Project has furthermore been continuously implementing activities from the STDP

The implementation of the STDP was initially steered by an Implementation Task Force The objective of the Task Force Group was to promote the successful implementation of the STDP for the PNKB NP region through ensuring effective coordination of the tasks and activities of the related stakeholders The Group was formed in April 2012 and included 13 members who coordinate the organization of activities and meetings related to the STDP implementation The Group has met twice in 2012 (from an envisaged four times in 2012)1 Outcomes of the meetings include a final report on implementation progress of the development activities in the STDP, including lessons learnt, approved operational regulations, and a member-approved working plan up to December 2013, including ToR’s and a detailed action plan for Group members

Major Weaknesses/ Difficulties

The function of the STDP to attract investments and funding has so far little materialized, mainly due to the fact that provincial government has not paid great attention to this plan and due to a lack of donor interest and clarity on how this plan could be used The former has also been mentioned as one of the major reasons for the little progress made by the Task Force Group Moreover, although the STDP was officially approved in late 2010, it has not been known by many agencies or private stakeholders (rf Project Progress Review

1 This is partly because the group was established 4 months behind schedule

Report) A few stakeholders thought the plan to be practical, but the implementation of activities has overall been slow, also by the Project

The Task Force Group has been working at a very modest level Albeit sufficient information available, it lacks operational budget and technical knowledge on how to monitor the STDP

Lesson’s Learnt

 Stakeholders might need better guidance when breaking down the Master Plan at the activity level (detailed steps for their implementation) in order to be also applied and considered in practice

 During the preparation of a plan like this, there should be more active involvement

of key stakeholders from the beginning; a grassroot approach could be followed and time constraints/ pressures for report formulation should be avoided

 The STDP lacks certain steps and criteria to be addressed also by private sector actors

 The Task Force Group needs a committed leading person which has the capability

to call all actors in and to show the practicality and usefulness of both the STDP and the Task Force Group However, such commitment and motivation is often associated with additional coverage for human resources costs

Next Steps

The STDP is providing a clear and comprehensive overview and plans which refer to tourism development in the region should further use this as a starting point for discussion The mechanism and the action plans for various activities/ terms are available but not functional Provincial-level and stakeholders active in tourism development in the region should consider:

 There has no funding been made available for the operation of the Task Force Group and it seems likely that the Province will not allocate any official budgets in the future The Task Force Group has, at this point, ceased to exist

 An activity revision of the STDP has taken place, but it has not been submitted by the Task Force Group yet The Plan needs continuous revision by stakeholders (e.g

on the feasibility of activities, on schedule of activities)

 The Task Force Group can be a good instrument for supervising and implementing proposed activities, if empowered in coordinating and monitoring these activities

Documentation

05 2012 Tourism Development Overview 2012 and Task

Force meeting minutes

Truong Si Hong Chau

Vietnamese and English

Vietnamese

implementation

03 2011 Proposal (plus TOR) for establishment of Provincial

Supervision Group and Task Force Support Group for the STDP implementation

Truong Si Hong Chau

Vietnamese and English

12 2011 Strategic Paper for Sustainable Tourism Development

in the PNKB NP region

Thomas Finkel Vietnamese

and English 11.2011 Quang Binh Tourism Stakeholder Analysis Truong Si Hong

Chau

Vietnamese and English

03 2011 Process Documentation “Elaboration of the

Sustainable Tourism Development Plan from 2010 to

2020 Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park Region”

Truong Si Hong Chau

English

11 2010 Sustainable Tourism Development Plan (STDP) from

2010 to 2020 for Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park Region

Tourism Resource Consultants (TRC)

Vietnamese and English

11.2010 Decision No 2822/QD-UBND of Quang Binh PPC,

dated 01st 11 2010 approving the Sustainable Tourism Development Plan (STDP) for the PNKB National Park Region

PPC Quang Binh Vietnamese

and English

2.2 Advisory to the DoCST

Besides, a 3 years training programme for public stakeholders on tourism laws and state administration was developed as well as a Capacity Building Training Programme for the public and private sector was drafted (for the local hotel sector, for the Park, for Paradise Cave, for the DoCST and for the TPIC)

Major Weaknesses/ Difficulties

 The training programme could not be implemented due to a lack of funding

 Additionally, the recruitment of a CIM expert failed for the year 2012 due to late application and due to a limited, fixed number of CIM experts for Vietnam An expert would be to advice and support the DoCST and the TPIC with regards to public relations, to a WHS network for the province and to capacity building

measures on nature-based tourism promotion

 Approval processes and payment mechanisms are slow

 Stakeholder interest is low

Lessons Learnt

 Although formal roles and responsibilities of the DoCST within tourism development in the region are recognised, support in institutional strenghtening remains difficult, other local government institutions, namely the PPC, hold final decision-making powers

 Importance of awareness raising for CIM expert to increase initiative of the DoCST and the TPIC in the recruitment process

 Funding for the capacity building programme should have been secured

Next Steps

 If the DoCST and the TPIC show initiative, then a follow-up for next round for CIM applications can be initiated

Documentation

2011 Training Needs Assessment Report Truong Si Hong Chau Vietnamese

2.3 Advisory to the National Park/ Phong Nha Tourism Centre

2.3.1 Cave Management

The caves in the PNKB NP have become the most important tourism attraction Currently, there are 8 caves open to the public: 3 serving mass touristic activities (Dong Thien Duong, Dong Phong Nha and Dong Tien Son) while there are 5 caves which are visited by only a limited number of visitors (Hang Toi, Hang Thuy Cung and Hang Sinh Ton, Hang En and Hang Son Doong)

The caves opened for tourism in:

Year Cave

1994 Dong Phong Nha

2000 Dong Tien Son

2010 Dong Thien Duong

to tourists For already open caves, the GIZ guidelines are, however, still considered

as the most important document to give recommendations for the Park Management Board

 Liasing with ADB, the KfW and the Park for cave improvement The cave management proposal for Phong Nha Cave is based on the study tour report to the Gunung Mulu National Park A study tour took place during Phase I

 Stakeholders mentioned that boat drivers, photographers and tourist guides were trained on cave conservation and have changed their behavior2, guards were assigned to protect the caves, lights were reduced or changed in color and infrastructure improved

2

Mentioned changes were: not leaving garbage, not urinating in the caves and not walking on and breaking stalactites anymore

 The ADB Mekong Tourism Project will apply the GIZ guidelines in the near future (e.g a boardwalk and new lights are currently installed in Tien Son Cave); the Tourism Centre has installed, upon recommendation of the guidelines, LED lights

in Phong Nha Cave in July 2013

Major Weaknesses/ Difficulties

 Difficulties for technical implementations and difficulties for tour guides to use guidelines

 Lack of funding and lengthy funding procedures within the PNKB Region Project

 ADB applied the guidelines well, but process and progress slow, behind schedule for one year due to funding procedures

 Guidelines were initially not distributed to private sector representatives and there are only considered as one out of several guidelines available to goverment agencies3

Lessons Learnt

 Triggering of interest from donors and public stakeholders in implementing guidelines (on soft skills and infrastructural planning) can be improved

Next Steps

 Guidelines could be applied/ adjusted to other caves in the region

 The Park and the DoCST should further seek to strengthen their collaboration in

cave development e.g step-by-step through information exchange

Documentation

2010 A conceptual re-development plan for the show caves

of Phong Nha – Ke Bang National Park, Quang Binh Province, Viet Nam

Brian Clark English and

Vietnamese

Vietnamese 2010-2011 Three party minutes on cave re-development Truong Si Hong

Chau

English and Vietnamese 2010-2011

07 2011 Tourism TNA Report and capacity building

programme for PNKB NP region

Truong Si Hong Chau

Vietnamese

2011 Training manual for park guides

(Park history and values)

Truong Si Hong Chau

2.3.2 Environmental Safeguarding and Awareness Raising

2.3.2.1 Innovation of Tourism Boats

Major Outcomes

The GIZ supported the research and development of a pilot boat to reduce noise levels and fuel consumption and which is to eventually replace the current boats in use for the transportation to Phong Nha/ Tien Son Cave Current boat owners will be obliged to follow the design and construction of the pilot boat once parts of their existing boats need to be fixed or replaced The innovation of current boats will ensure that the PNKB boat transport unit obtains a trim line-up of quality boats, provides a quality transport service and that local boat owners are capable of reparing or replacing parts of their exisiting boats and/ or are capable of building new boats Contracting and a field survey for boat specifications and features have been taken place, the boat design and its construction budget have been officially approved A pilot boat was completed in June 2013

Major Weaknesses/ Difficulties/ Lessons Learnt/ Next Steps

 Duplication/ upscaling difficult, because many of the boat owners may not have the financial resources available to afford the parts which need to be replaced

 Boat owners should be given the chance to replace parts stepy-by-step within a wider given timeframe

 Replacement and monitoring guidelines are needed

 Awareness raising among boat owners for the necessity of replacement of parts when changes is needed

 Impact assessment of the new boat design is needed

 Opportunities for accessing loans for replacement parts should be created for boat owners

2.3.2.2 Awareness Raising in the Local Community

Major Outcomes

Awareness raising for the safeguarding of water resources is an urgent issue Water is not

only needed to secure the people’s living in and at the Park, but - given the extensive under- and overground rivers and their signficance for tourism operations - also essentially contributing to the tourism experience in the PNKB region

Until the end of 2012, volunteer groups of local residents have been formed and equipped with material, weekly radio broadcasting has taken place and a pilot removal of 10 earth-hole toilets from the banks of the Son river have been carried out

Two ‘Clean-Up Days’ have been organised together with the Youth Union of Son Trach and with funding from the PMU/GIZ which have taken place in August 2012 and in April

2013 (upon initiative of the Commune)

Documentation

09.2012 Results of the Implementation the voluntary Friday

for Green-Clean-Beautiful Environment

GIZ Dong Hoi Vietnamese

and English 10.2011 Lessons learnt from study tour to Ha Long Bay and

Cuc Phuong National Park

GIZ Dong Hoi Vietnamese

and English

2.3.3 Promotion/Marketing and Miscellaneous

Major Outcomes

 Supporting the Phong Nha Tourism Centre in brochure development and translation material (translations together with Deborah Limbert), including pricing boards, various regulations and website content support (www.phongnhatourism.com.vn)

 4 cave panels for interpretation and renewal of these

 Karst and Cave Brochure

 Visitor guidebook (2000 VN and 3000 EN copies), printing funded by the ADB Greater Mekong Sub-region Sustainable Tourism Development Project in Dong Hoi

 Application for an international intern with a tourism studies background

 Logo design

Major Weaknesses/ Difficulties

 Cave panels were initially not used in a way they were meant to be used However,

in August 2013, the Park approached the Project again, asking for an update of the panels With funds from the KfW, 2 interpretation posts will be established, one at the Tourism Centre boat station and one at the cave entrance boat station and Tien Son/ Phong Nha Cave

 Distribution of the karst & cave brochure initially difficult It was discovered that around 7 cartons had been stored by the Tourism Centre in Phong Nha instead of having been given out to visitors

 At times, translation advice was only partially being adhered to

 Ways for future updating and printing of the visitor guidebook have yet to be found

 An suitable candidate for an internship was chosen, but could not come due to financial contraints

Lessons Learnt

 Attention should always be paid to the actual use of the brochures in the forefront

 Stakeholders can be helped with marketing material only upon own initiative and only upon the inclusion of (at least a little of) conservation-oriented messages

 Difficulties in determining decision-making powers between Park and Tourism Centre in tourism promotion

Next Steps

 Intern position further promoted in 3 universities in Europe

 Input for cave panel revision

 Updating of the visitor guidebook and ready-to-print files for a second edition

Documentation

8.2013 Tourism Centre Phong Nha – Leaflet promoting the

sites/tourism routes offered by the Tourism Centre

PNKB Tourism Centre/ Anna Huebner

English and Vietnamese

5.2013 Visitor Guidebook to the Phong Nha – Ke Bang

National Park Region

Anna Huebner, Truong Sy Hong Chau

English and Vietnamese

12.2012 Supplementary Document for the Proposal of a

Public-Private Dialogue Meeting: Sustainable Tourism Development and Stakeholder Cooperaion in the PNKB NP Region

Truong Si Hong Chau, Anna Huebner

English

5.2012 Baseline Report and Initial Intervention

Recommendations Tourism Development in the Phong Nha - Ke Bang Region

Anna Huebner English and

Vietnamese

Vietnamese