The Impact of Tourism Development on the Life of Residents in Quang Ninh Province, Vietnam45255

The Impact of Tourism Development on the Life of Residents in Quang Ninh Province, Vietnam Tran Hoa(1)*, Nguyen Van(1) (1) (*) VNU University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Hanoi, Vietnam Correspondence: hoatm225@yahoo.com Abstract: Tourism is both an economic sector and a social phenomenon; hence, tourism development in any locality will change the socio-economic life of the community With abundant tourism resources well-known in both Vietnam and the world, along with tourism-focused development policies, Quang Ninh is one of the provinces with the fastest and most potent tourism development in Vietnam People enjoy many benefits from tourism development However, they also face unexpected challenges and changes in life due to this process To research the changes that have been taking place in this province during the development of tourism, we have conducted surveys and sociological investigations of the people living in three well-known tourist centers of the province including Yen Tu, Ha Long and Mong Cai The results show that tourism is an essential factor that changes the economic and social life of people at tourist destinations The findings of this research will help policymakers approach a more scientific basis for making policies to limit the negative impacts of tourism development on people's lives, targeting the sustainable development of the locality Keywords: Travel destinations; residents; socio-economic impacts; Quang Ninh; Vietnam Introduction The importance of tourism towards anthropology in which the interaction between tourists and local people is the main focus and the researching object of tourism anthropology Owing to the interaction, the communities at tourist destinations face different changes, which also depend on the characteristics of the local society or cultural characteristics of tourists, the needs of tourists and so on Thus, as the diversity of and differences between the tourists are more significant, so the society and residential community may face different changes Jenkins, Advisor to the World Tourism Organization, wrote the report named “The social impact of tourism” in 1997 Jenkins remarked that along with the development of tourism, socio-economic change was inevitable, especially in the areas where the number of tourists increased rapidly and made up a large proportion in comparison to the local population Tourism is considered a local social change agent because the scope of tourists' activities, cultural interventions, and trade development opportunities brought about by tourism are influential in the local community Tourism can lead to both positive and negative impacts on the local community For the people living in areas focusing on tourism development, tourism activities facilitate the improvement of living standards through job opportunities and commercial activities, help women to participate in the workforce, and create access to advanced services associated with tourism development People also have pride in presenting a culture imbued with local identity On the other hand, tourism may also create harmful or misleading destination images due to the purpose of advertising to 66 attract tourists This causes the exploitation and decline in cultural values and the burden on resources when tourism grows (Jenkins et al 1997) In “The social impacts of Tourism: A case study of Bath, UK”, Haley et al (2004) studied the social impact of tourism in Bath, a famous tourist center since the 17th century in the UK The authors used the quantitative method of randomly sent questionnaires to Bath residents to assess the response of a large number of people on several questions and gathering data for comparisons and statistics Based on the aggregated data tables, the authors made judgments about the impacts of tourism on the Bath community, and those impacts have taken place over an extended period In “The social impacts of tourism in Brazil”, Terrero (2014) presented the negative impacts of tourism on Brazilian society In particular, it highlights three major social problems behind which tourism is a motivating factor The first is child labor The second is the sex industry Many girls are used to serving tourists; they have lived in brothels and served tourists since they were young The third is human trafficking - women and girls are brought from one country to another to serve in the sex industry These are the downsides of the tourism industry in Brazil, in particular, and the problems of many tourist destinations in the world The above studies and many other research projects have shown that tourism development will undoubtedly bring about changes in the socio-economic life of the community at the tourist destination Quang Ninh Province, with its great historical and scenic system, represented by Ha Long Bay - a famous domestic and foreign world heritage site, has obtained many achievements in tourism development in the past decades In the current period, facing the challenges of "brown" economic development and recognizing new development opportunities that tourism can bring to the locality, Quang Ninh province has oriented itself to develop tourism into a key economic sector in the economic development strategy from "brown" to "green" of the province Thus, Quang Ninh Tourism industry has the potential to boom From 2014 to 2018, the average growth rate of the province's tourism industry was over 10% per year (People's Committee of Quang Ninh Province 2017, 2018) Tourism development not only brings benefits to the economy of the province, but it also brings significant transformation to the lives of local people The change in people's lives in the tourism centers of Quang Ninh is the main focus of this research Methodology In order to carry out the research, the authors collected and processed two data groups, which are secondary data, including local documents, reports, statistics, etc., and primary data as a result of social surveys about the people in the areas The surveyed areas are Thuong Yen Cong commune (Yen Tu relic site), Ha Long city (Bai Chay) and Mong Cai city (border gate and Tra Co) These are the three areas considered to have the earliest tourism development in Quang Ninh province, with three main types of tourism: Yen Tu with spiritual tourism, Ha Long with sea and scenery tourism, and Mong Cai - Tra Co with border tourism 67 The authors have developed questionnaires and surveyed the people in the three areas according to the scale described in the following table: Table Structure of survey questionnaires to assess the impact of tourism on socio-economy of Quang Ninh province (Unit: Number of households) # non- # delivered # collected # tourism questionnaires questionnaires households Yen Tu 100 100 77 77.0 23 23.0 Ha Long 200 200 146 73.0 54 27.0 Mong 150 150 105 70.0 45 30.0 450 450 328 72.9 122 27.1 Areas Percentage tourism Percentage households Cai Total (Source: Authors' survey, 2017) In addition to surveying by questionnaires, the authors also conducted in-depth interviews with five people and 18 local government officials The results from the survey are an important primary source of data as they demonstrates the impact of tourism on some socio-economic aspects that were not addressed in existed reports and statistics, especially the impacts on the socio-economic life of the local people The results obtained are processed by SPSS 20.0 software to have survey reports of each studied area and the whole province The results from the sociological survey mainly serve to analyze and assess the impact of tourism on the socio-economic life of the people there, reinforcing the arguments and judgments of the authors Results 3.1 The impact of tourism development on people's economic life Among 328 surveyed households participating in tourism business in all three areas of Uong Bi, Ha Long and Mong Cai, 319 households believed that the income of their households had changed after they participated in tourism businesses In particular, 49.7% said that the change was small and 47.6% said that the change was large The contribution of tourism income to total household income in the studied areas is summarized in Table Table Contribution of tourism income to total household income in Thuong Yen Cong, Ha Long and Mong Cai (Unit: Number of households) Areas Contribution Thuong Yen Cong Ha Long Below 20% Mong Cai Total Percentage 1 0.3 20% - 50% 20 13 42 12.8 50% - 70% 40 35 84 25.6 70% - 90% 33 49 40 122 37.2 68 About 100% 26 37 16 79 24.1 (Source: Survey results, 2017) The data in Table shows that the percentage of households with income from tourism accounting for over half of the total household income is 89.7% Especially worth noting, 43.3% of the households reported their whole income originated from tourism Through surveys in these three areas, income from tourism accounts for an important part of the total income of households participating in the tourism business Although tourism in Uong Bi (Thuong Yen Cong commune) is highly seasonal, and the income is mainly concentrated in the first three months of the year from January to March (with 97% of respondents), it is the area where tourism generates a great source of income for households The number of households in Uong Bi with between 70% to 100% incomes originating from tourism accounts for 76.7% of all households This shows that the economic dependence of households on tourism is strong, households focus on the business for three months, and that revenue must be used to cover their life for the whole year In the other two areas, the proportion of income from tourism accounts for 70-100% which is lower but still very high (58.9% in Ha Long and 53.4% in Mong Cai) because, in addition to tourism, people still participate in other work to generate income, the household's income depends on tourism less, but it is still very high Thus, income from tourism is an important part of the household's economic life due to the fact that a significant number of households almost entirely on income from tourism businesses However, in many localities, people still need to find other work to increase their income because of high seasonal income from tourism Income from tourism is mainly used by people on the purpose of covering and improving the quality of life as follows: Building and repairing houses (17.3%), family expenses (20.4%), children's education (21%), travel (8.4%), etc., and numerous households use the income to invest and increase profits such as: saving (16.7%), business capital contribution (8.1%), and buying real estate (8.0%) Based on the results of the questionnaire survey, we also find that the income from tourism in the three studied areas is different, reflected in the purpose of using income As income increases, people use their income to improve their quality of life It is used for everyday expenses, build and repair houses, and educate their children As income increases, more is spent on entertainment, investment, and the purchase of land (Detailed information in Table 3) Table Allocating income from tourism of households in the surveyed areas Thuong Yen Areas Results Bai Chay Mong Cai Total Cong #Resp.* % #Resp % #Resp % #Resp % Buying real estate 20 7.0 42 11.7 20 5.2 82 8.0 Building houses 60 20.9 49 13.6 69 18.0 178 17.3 67 23.3 59 16.4 84 21.9 210 20.4 Criteria Shopping and spending 69 Business capital 83 8.1 18.5 172 16.7 37 9.7 87 8.4 78 20.4 217 21.0 1.0 56 15.6 24 6.3 Saving 36 12.5 65 18.1 71 Travelling 24 8.4 26 7.2 76 26.5 63 17.5 contribution Children’s education Others 0.3 - - - - 0.1 Total 287 100.0 360 100.0 383 100.0 1030 100.0 * Note: #Resp = the number of respondents (Source: Survey results, 2017) According to that reasoning, Yen Tu is the area with the least amount of income from tourism compared to the other two areas The income is mainly used for: House construction and repair (20.9%), shopping and spending expenses (23.3%), children's education (26.5%), and a very small part of the income is spent on traveling, business capital, savings and so on Thus, tourism revenue is very important and almost the main income when more than two-thirds of respondents said that tourism income accounted for over 70% of the household's income However, that source of income is not high, is unstable, or only enough to improve life and not much accumulated when people still not have money to invest due to short travel seasons Ha Long is the area with the best income from tourism This is also considered the largest tourist center of Quang Ninh as it accounts for about 70-80% of the province's annual tourists The income of the people is quite good, so income use is quite equal for all spending categories In particular, the tourism income used for business capital contribution, savings, and real estate purchase is relatively high over other areas (15.6%, 18.1%, and 11.7%, respectively) The development of different types of tourism in the three surveyed areas also makes up differences in the choice of business fields and services of households Table Types of business services of households in surveyed areas Thuong Yen Areas Results Bai Chay Mong Cai Total Cong #Resp* % #Resp % #Resp % #Resp % Hotels/motels 34 23.6 33 17.0 31 13.8 98 17.4 Restaurant/ catering service 35 24.3 38 19.6 37 16.4 110 19.5 Transporting tourists 26 18.1 26 13.4 44 19.6 96 17.1 Travel 17 11.8 20 10.3 26 11.6 63 11.2 Selling goods at tourist areas 27 18.7 33 17.0 52 23.1 112 19.9 Making souvenirs / 3.5 20 10.3 11 4.9 36 6.4 Additional services - - 23 11.9 24 10.7 47 8.3 Others - - - - 0.2 Total 144 100 194 100 225 100 563 100 Criteria handicrafts * Note: #Resp = the number of respondents (Source: Survey results, 2017) 70 The selection of business types of households depends on the financial ability and the actual needs of tourists when they come to that tourist destination, according to the law of supply and demand Thuong Yen Cong commune represents the development of spiritual tourism with which the households mainly deal in accommodation services (23.6%), catering (24.3%), selling goods at relic sites (18.8%), and transporting tourists (18.1%) Tourists coming to Yen Tu relic to visit the pagoda scene, so they not have a high demand for other services, but mainly catering services and overnight stays Besides, the planning of the relic and the selling kiosks at the foot of Yen Tu has also created convenience for tourists to buy products of Yen Tu Bai Chay area is an attractive tourist resort center of domestic and international tourists, so in this area, tourism services are diversified and developed relatively evenly, unlike Thuong Yen Cong area In addition to the essential services, many households provide additional services to tourists such as visas, interpreting, booking air tickets and so on These supplementary services are often provided by travel business households mainly to serve international customers In Mong Cai, 10.7% of the surveyed households said that they provided additional services for tourists such as visa, laissez-passer, money exchange and so on, mainly concentrated in the area near the border gate In addition to the complimentary service group, cross-border tourism with a large number of tourists coming to Mong Cai to visit and buy goods at the border area has led to the fact that numerous Mong Cai households selected business services such as tourist transportation (19.6%) and sales (23.1%) 3.2 The impact of tourism development on residents social life The tourism business households had a change in their awareness of participating in social organizations compared to before doing business This change may be due to many other factors, but tourism must be a key and important factor that leads to that change In Uong Bi, the traditional cultural and social factors of Thuong Yen Cong commune have rapidly changed over the past 15 years, during which tourism developed at a high rate in the locality Survey results in the locality show that the participation of households in the family organizations has almost no change compared to before the tourism business and after the business 71 100 % 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 Past Present Yen Tu Ha Long Mong Cai Figure Participation of non-tourism business households in the family organization 100 % 90 80 70 60 50 Past 40 Present 30 20 10 Yen Tu Ha long Mong Cai Figure Participation of tourism business households in the family organization As well as there is no significant difference between the households engaged in the tourism business and the non-tourism business (Figure and figure 2) This shows that families are always essential and close organizations for the Vietnamese people However, there is a significant change in the participation of households in other organizations such as craft organizations from 8.1% to 25.2%, annual councils from 12.1% to 43% More modern social organizations such as the elderly associations, veterans' associations, women's unions, and trade union organizations all having an increase in the number of families participating This may be explained that in the course of the tourism business, people need to participate in more social organizations, wishing to strengthen social relations and links to develop together Furthermore, people with higher income have 72 the opportunity to exchange and share, therefore traditional social organizations also have more chances to expand (Figure 3) 50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 % Past Present Family Crafts organizations organizations Annual councils Religious organizations Figure Participation in before and present social organizations of tourism business households in Quang Ninh In addition to the change in the participation in social organizations, there is also a change in people's worship activities Before doing business, families mainly worshipped their ancestors, but after joining tourism businesses, more and more households worshipped the God of Fortune (from 6% to 40%) and Buddha (from 20.8% to 60.8%) in addition to their ancestors(from 37.6% to 59.2%) (Figure 4) 70 60 % 50 40 Past 30 Present 20 10 Ancestors Buddha God of Fortuneuddha Figure The change of worship objects of tourism business households in Quang Ninh province 73 The vigorous development of Buddhism at Yen Tu is understandable because this has been the cradle of Buddhism for a long time.However, the increase in households worshipping Buddha hereafter tourism business also partly demonstrates that the active local spiritual tourism development has affected people's religious awareness and beliefs Buddhism increasingly develops and plays an integral part in the faith of the people here Along with the increase in Buddhist worship, the number of households participating in religious organizations also increased here (from 5% to 17.8%), which is entirely consistent with the general trend, needing to unite and gather together to carry out religious and belief activities In the two areas of Ha Long and Mong Cai, urban areas were previously formed with the strong development of commercial activities, and the population here include people from many other places Therefore, the elements of traditional social organizations of communes and villages are somewhat loose Before doing tourism business, the households participated in family organizations at the rate of 17.9% in Mong Cai and 26.9% in Ha Long, the annual council sat the rate of 2% in Mong Cai and 17.6% in Ha Long, and craft organizations at the rate of 6.7% in Mong Cai and 17.1% in Ha Long These rates increase after households participate in the tourism business, which may indicate the general trend that after doing business, households need to strengthen their social relations and become more involved in local social organizations Besides, more modern social organizations such as women's unions, veterans' associations, industry associations, and so on also have a higher percentage of households participating in the tourism business than before The change in worship is similar to that in Thuong Yen Cong Thus, it can be seen that the participation of households in the tourism business is also a factor that makes households change their perceptions, affecting the participation of social organizations No matter which organization it is, participation tends to increase, as if it proves that when the economic condition is better, people have a need to contribute to their homeland and families more, and they also need to expand further social relations 3.3 The change in foreign language proficiency and use of people Quang Ninh tourism is increasingly attracting many international tourists Quang Ninh, with the advantage of the borderline and border gate with China, easily attracts Chinese tourists It also has the world wonder of Ha Long Bay, so the number of European, Korean, and Japanese tourists coming to Quang Ninh is also very high According to statistics, the number of international tourists to Quang Ninh in recent years has increased by an average of 10% per year (QNPPC 2017) In order to serve international tourists, the human resources in the tourism industry must undoubtedly have a certain level of foreign language proficiency, and tourism business households also need to use foreign languages to improve their business According to the authors' survey (results in Table 4), the two most commonly used foreign languages in Quang Ninh are English and Chinese It can be seen that the use of foreign languages is closely related to the number of international tourists at the destination Yen Tu tourist area, with the characteristics of 74 spiritual tourism, has a high number of domestic tourists but a low number of international tourists So the percentage of people using foreign languages in the tourism business is the lowest, especially only using English with tourists and it is also rarely used However, the two surveyed areas of Ha Long and Mong Cai have a higher number of international tourists, so the use of foreign languages is different InMong Cai, Chinese is preferred when 57.8% say that they often use Chinese at work This is also understandable because Mong Cai area has a border gate with China, so Chinese tourists traveling by road to Quang Ninh mainly go across Mong Cai Also, the people in Mong Cai need to trade with the neighboring country, so Chinese is advantageous In Ha Long - Quang Ninh's most renowned tourist center, in recent years, more than two million international tourists have been welcomed each year, the foreign language is used more frequently; in particular, 43.1% of the respondents said that they often used English and 43.8% used Chinese, and the main communication subjects are tourists and partners This shows that using English or Chinese is becoming increasingly popular in Ha Long The higher the number of international tourists is, the more business households realize that knowing a foreign language is an advantage and an essential condition to serve tourists Table The use of foreign languages of tourism business households (Unit: %) Areas Ha Long Mong Cai Thuong Yen Cong Tourists 70.8 23.5 29.9 Partners 12.5 21.6 Family 0.7 2.0 No idea 16.0 52.9 70.1 Often 43.1 15.7 6.5 Criteria English Using subjects Using frequency Chinese Using subjects Using frequency Rarely 27.8 9.8 28.6 No use 9.7 65.7 20.8 No idea 19.4 8.8 44.2 Tourists 70.1 46.1 Partners 11.1 23.5 Family 4.2 18.6 No idea 13.9 11.8 100 Often 43.8 57.8 Rarely 25.0 16.7 No use 9.7 19.6 No idea 24.6 5.9 100 (Source: Survey results, 2017) The comparison between tourism business households and non-tourism households in surveys also shows more clearly the change in the trend of using foreign languages For non-tourism households, the use of English and Chinese is still limited (information in Table 5) Table The use of foreign languages of non-tourism households (Unit: %) 75 Areas Ha Long Mong Cai Thuong Yen Cong Tourists 17.6 2.1 63.6 Partners 29.8 2.1 4.5 Family 0 9.1 No idea 52.6 95.8 22.7 Often 43.1 15.7 Rarely 27.8 50.0 8.7 Criteria English Using subjects Using frequency Chinese Using subjects Using frequency No use 9.7 29.2 73.9 No idea 40.4 4.2 17.4 Tourists 14.0 6.2 Partners 40.4 0 Family 8.8 2.1 No idea 36.8 91.7 100 Often 26.3 20.8 Rarely 33.3 64.6 No use 15.8 12.5 No idea 24.6 2.1 100 (Source: Survey results, 2017) Thus, non-tourism households often not use foreign languages, and in the case of using foreign languages, they mainly use with partners or tourists Ha Long is still the locality where people had the highest demand for foreign languages when only 9.7% of the households answered that they did not use English, and 15.8% did not use Chinese Especially, despite not doing tourism business and not having much contact with tourists, this locality has the highest number of households using foreign languages in communicating with partners (29.8% use English, 40.4% use Chinese) This shows that trading and relations with foreign partners, especially China, are outstanding here English is also simplified and used more in Ha Long when the main English communication subjects are family and friends This proves that local people have recognized English as an essential foreign language and invested in developing and improving foreign languages Conclusion The results of the survey, analysis and evaluation show the change of economic and social life of the households in three major tourism centers of Quang Ninh province under the impact of tourism development After participating in the tourism business, the economic life of households has been significantly improved Tourism has brought higher income, helping households to cover living costs, education, home construction and repair A significant percentage of households can save or contribute capital to business with this source of income Participating in the tourism business also helps families increase the need to participate in social organizations, have changed in some cultural and social conceptions, 76 and the use of foreign languages of households This change will continue to occur, and the difference between tourism business households and non-tourism households is growing If tourism continues to grow as today and the local government does not have appropriate orientation policies, negative impacts will increase, and the benefits that tourism will bring to people will be affected Based on the results of this paper, policymakers can consult to make appropriate policies to ensure the sustainable development goals of the locality References Dennison, N (1996) Anthropology of Tourism” Emerald Group Publishing Limited, UK; page 124-127 Haley A.J., Snaith, T., Miller, G (2004) The social impacts of tourism: A case study of Bath, UK Available online: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/d947/431a3cfd35c509b9639f19ac70ba6d63fdeb.pdf(accesse d on 05/2/2017) Heidi, K (2009) Developing Tourism in South Africa: Towards Competitive Destinations Oxford University Press, USA; page 20-37 Jenkins, C.L (1997) Social impacts of tourism Available online: http://s1.doan.edu.vn/q1p3es2a3ogg3sdmy5p5fwak3sva1ttz/swf/2013/05/06/bao_cao_tac_d ong_xa_hoi_cua_du_lich.5hfsURsni1.swf (accessed on 14 Dec 2016) QNPPC (People's Committee of Quang Ninh Province) (2017), Report on four years of implementing the Resolution No 07-NQ/TU dated July 24, 2013 of the Provincial Party Executive Committee on tourism development in the period of 2013 - 2020, orientation to 2030; page QNPPC (People's Committee of Quang Ninh Province) (2018), Report on socioeconomic situation and direction and administration of the Provincial People's Committee in 2018, socio-economic development plan in 2019, No 220/BC-UBND, November 22, 2018; page Saenz, T.L (2014), Social impacts of tourism in Brazil Global Sustainable Tourism Review (GSTR) Available online:http://qualitycoast.info/wpcontent/uploads/2014/03/Dossier-Brazil-Social-impacts.pdf (accessed on Feb 2017) Stynes Daniel J (1999) Approaches to Estimating the Economic Impacts of Tourism; Some Examples Available online: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.200.245&rep=rep1&type=pdf (accessed on 27 Jan 2017) 77 ... assess the impact of tourism on the socio-economic life of the people there, reinforcing the arguments and judgments of the authors Results 3.1 The impact of tourism development on people's economic... major tourism centers of Quang Ninh province under the impact of tourism development After participating in the tourism business, the economic life of households has been significantly improved Tourism. .. find other work to increase their income because of high seasonal income from tourism Income from tourism is mainly used by people on the purpose of covering and improving the quality of life