Community-based Tourism Governance towards Sustainable Development in the Northern Mountainous Region of Vietnam: A Case Study of Hoa Binh Province

Abstract

Community-based Tourism (CBT) stands as a pivotal approach for sustainable tourism and poverty alleviation in marginalized Northern Vietnamese rural communities. In Hoa Binh province, a region rich in ethnic diversity engaged in CBT, a research gap exists concerning CBT governance. This study addresses this gap by exploring how CBT governance is organized in five villages of Mai Chau and Da Bac district, Hoa Binh province, by identifying relevant actors, institutions, and resources, and how it addresses the challenge of sustainable (tourism) development. To this end, a combination of semi-structured interviews, focus groups, and observation were used. The results showed the complexity of CBT governance in Hoa Binh, and the many different manifestations of CBT in the different villages. The paper also analyzed factors that explain these differences, such as the historical or ethnic composition of the local community, biophysical conditions, community rules, and attributes of external factors. It also presents the complexity of the relationship between the development of CBT and sustainable development challenges.