MINISTRY OF EDUCATION & TRAINING HCMC UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM Independence - Freedom - Happiness INFORMATION ON NEW ACADEMIC AND THEORETICAL CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE DOCTORAL DISSERTATION Name of PhD student: NGUYEN THI HONG Name of supervisor: Assoc.Prof.Dr Nguyen Kim Hong Dr Truong Phuoc Minh Title of the doctoral dissertation: The Development of River Tourism in Da Nang city Major: Geography Specialization: Geography Code: 62310501 Course: 2016 - 2020 Institution: Ho Chi Minh City University of Education NEW ACADEMIC CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE DOCTORAL DISSERTATION New academic and theoretical contributions The doctoral dissertation has clarified the content of river tourism’s concept and related concepts The dissertation also identified factors affecting the development of river tourism such as geographical location, climate, characteristics of hydrology, river tourism resources, infrastructure, river tourism development policy, socio-economic development, social security and safety, and participation of local communities in river tourism The dissertation also built six groups of criteria to evaluate the potential for the development of river tourism in Da Nang city, namely river size, landscape attractiveness, linkability with riverside tourist attractions, river tourism infrastructure and facilities, river environment and accessibility In addition, the dissertation proposed six indicators to assess the current situation of the development of river tourism including river tourists, total river tourism revenue, the average spending of river travellers, river tourism labour, technical facilities for river tourism, and management and operation of river tourism activities As a result, the thesis provided eight scientific evaluation methods when implementing the thesis The new points drawn from the results of research and surey of the thesis The thesis has deeply analyzed eight groups of factors, disadvantages and challenges affecting the development of river tourism in Da Nang city At the same time, the results of assessing the potential for the development of river tourism in Da Nang city show that each river has different levels of convenience and attractiveness for river tourism development Which, most rivers have many advantages and attractions in terms of landscape attractiveness, ability to link with tourist attractions along the riverbank, river environment and accessibility while facing major difficulties in terms of infrastructure and technical facilities for river tourism The results of the combined assessment show that the Han River has very favourable and attractive potential, the Co Co and Cu De rivers have favourable and attractive potentials, meanwhile, the Cam Le and Tuy Loan rivers have potential at a less favourable and less attractive level for the development of river tourism in Da Nang city Based on analysing of the current situation of the development of river tourism in Da Nang city in the period 2010 – 2020, the dissertation shows that river tourism has achieved several certain achievements Da Nang city has operated several river tourism products The number of visitors, revenue and average expenditure of river tourism increased during the long term However, the proportion of contribution compared to the whole tourism industry is not high Although technical facilities, human resources, management, and operation of river tourism activities have invested and achieved some results However, there are still many limitations In general, river tourism is mainly invested and developed on the Han River route The assessment of river tourists, a case study on the Han River route shows that tourist satisfaction is affected by factors according to the level of decreasing influence: attractiveness, responsiveness, safety, tangible facilities, and reliability The overall assessment of satisfaction reached a good level To promote the advantages and solve the existing problems of river tourism in Da Nang city, the doctoral dissertation proposed 05 groups of orientations and 10 groups of solutions (08 groups of general solutions and 02 groups of specific solutions) Specific orientations on the issue of diversity of tourism products, linkages to tourism development, tourism market development, tourism infrastructure and technical facilities, and human resource training A group of general solutions towards solutions on mechanisms and policies associated with the development of river tourism; investment capital sources; promoting and advertising; civil service services; environmental protection and sustainable development; attracting the participation of local communities; ensuring security and safety; developing public transport A separate group of solutions includes solutions for the exploitation and development of river routes and master planning for tourism development The research results from the disseration are an important scientific basis in proposing policies for development of river tourism in Da Nang city in the future SUPERVISORS PhD STUDENT Assoc.Prof.Dr Nguyen Kim Hong Dr Truong Phuoc Minh Nguyen Thi Hong