An evaluation of impacts of climate change on tourism development in the mekong delta region of vietnam

An evaluation of impacts of climate change on tourism development in the Mekong Delta region of Vietnam ietnam Van Da Huynh A thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the Western Sydney University Sydney, Australia 2018 Dedication This thesis is dedicated to my father who passed away during my candidature Acknowledgements First of all, I would like to express my deepest thanks my principal supervisor Associate Professor Awais Piracha for his patience, kindness, sympathy, encouragement and intellectual guidance Secondly, I would like to send my special thanks to my associate supervisors: Dr Hayley Saul and Dr Dallas Roger This thesis has had the benefit of professional editorial advice regarding language, completeness and consistency from Associate Professor Awais Piracha and Dr Hayley Saul from Western Sydney University Finally, my appreciation goes to the research team and administrative officers at School of Social Sciences and Psychology and Western Sydney University, especially the Human Ethics Officers Statement of Authentication The work presented in this thesis is, to the best of my knowledge and belief, original except as acknowledged in the text I hereby declare that I have not submitted this material, either in full or in part, for a degree at this or any other institution Van Da Huynh Table of contents Contents Table of contents i List of tables vii List of figures xi Abstract xv Chapter 1: Introduction: Climate change, tourism, the Mekong Delta of Vietnam and a statement of the problems .1 1.1 Climate change and climate change scenarios 1.1.1 Climate change 1.1.2 Climate change scenarios 1.2 Climate change in Vietnam .4 1.3 Tourism development and climate change 1.4 Mekong Delta of Vietnam 1.4.1 Location 1.4.2 Weather 11 1.4.3 River system 12 1.4.4 Topography 12 1.4.5 Economic .13 1.4.6 Population 13 1.5 Research questions and expected outcomes 13 1.6 Thesis structure 15 Chapter 2: Climate change and the tourism sector in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam 19 2.1 Introduction 19 i 2.2 Climate change in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam 19 2.2.1 Temperature 19 2.2.2 Rainfall 20 2.2.3 Salinity 21 2.2.4 Sea level rise 23 2.2.5 Storm .27 2.2.6 Vietnam policy on climate change 28 2.3 Tourism resource in the Mekong Delta 33 2.3.1 The river, fruit gardens and conservation areas .35 2.3.2 Cultural value .35 2.3.3 Cuisines 35 2.3.4 Festivals 36 2.3.5 Handicraft villages 36 2.3.6 Traditional arts .36 2.4 Tourism Development in the Mekong Delta 38 2.4.1 Tourists and income from tourism activities 38 2.4.2 Accommodations and restaurants 41 2.5 Conclusion 41 Chapter 3: Sustainable tourism development, climate change impact, awareness and adaptation .42 3.1 Introduction 42 3.2 Sustainable tourism development 42 3.2.1 Sustainable development and sustainable tourism development 42 3.2.2 Sustainable tourism development principles 45 3.2.3 Sustainable tourism development approaches and tools 46 ii 3.3 Climate change impacts and climate change impacts on tourism: Sectors and type of impacts 51 3.3.1 Climate change impacts 51 3.3.2 Climate change impacts on tourism: Sectors and type of impacts 53 3.4 Environmental awareness .59 3.5 Climate change awareness, adaptation, mitigation, resilience and readiness 63 3.5.1 Climate change awareness, adaptation and mitigation 63 3.5.2 Climate change resilience and adaptation readiness 68 3.6 Climate change and tourism concerns: recent projects 69 3.7 Conclusion 72 Chapter 4: Research framework and methodology 73 4.1 Introduction 73 4.2 Climate change evaluation, awareness and adaptation frameworks in the tourism sector: a critical reflection on methods 73 4.3 Research methodology 80 4.3.1 Mixed method approach 81 4.3.2 Questionnaires .82 4.3.3 In-depth interviews .88 4.3.4 Observations 89 4.3.5 Spatial analysis 89 4.3.6 Data analysis 90 4.4 Research Ethics 91 4.5 Conclusion 91 Chapter 5: Impacts of climate change on tourism sector in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam 93 iii 5.1 Introduction 93 5.2 General evaluation of climate change impacts to tourism sector in the Mekong Delta 93 5.3 Type of climate change impacts to tourism sector in the Mekong Delta 95 5.3.1 Sea level rise impacts .95 5.3.2 Salinity impacts 100 5.3.3 Temperature impacts 107 5.3.4 Rainfall impacts 108 5.3.5 Storm impacts 109 5.4 Level of climate change impacts to tourism sector in the Mekong Delta 111 5.5 Level important of climate change impact factors to tourism sector in the Mekong Delta evaluates by stakeholders 117 5.6 Impacts of climate change to tourism resources in the Mekong Delta 120 5.7 Impacts of climate change to tourism infrastructures 124 5.8 Reality and consequences of impacts of climate change to tourism sector in the Mekong Delta 131 5.9 Conclusion 132 Chapter 6: Climate change awareness in tourism sector in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam 133 6.1 Introduction 133 6.2 Climate change knowledge of stakeholders in tourism sector in the Mekong Delta 133 6.3 Sources of awareness and quality of climate change information sources in the Mekong Delta 139 6.4 Climate change awareness education and action in tourism sector in Mekong Delta 145 iv 6.5 Climate change awareness implications for tourism sector in the Mekong Delta 149 6.6 Conclusion 151 Chapter 7: Adaptation strategies for tourism sector in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam under climate change 152 7.1 Introduction 152 7.2 Short-term and long-term adaptation strategies to address climate change impacts in the Mekong Delta 152 7.2.1 Short-term adaptation 154 7.2.2 Long-term adaptation 161 7.3 Adaptation from leaders and tourism businesses perspective in the Mekong Delta 163 7.4 Adaptation from tourists’ perspective to the Mekong Delta 170 7.5 Climate change adaptation responsibility in tourism sector in the Mekong Delta 175 7.6 Conclusion 176 Chapter 8: Future management implications for tourism sector in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam under climate change: a conclusion 177 8.1 Introduction 177 8.2 Implication for central and local authorities 177 8.3 Implication for tourism businesses 180 8.4 Implication for tourists 181 8.5 Future research directions 182 8.6 Conclusion 182 List of references 184 Appendix 1: List of Questionnaires and interview guide 206 v Appendix 2: SPSS questionnaire analysis data 226 Appendix 3: Interview transcripts 256 vi ... Thesis structure 15 Chapter 2: Climate change and the tourism sector in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam 19 2.1 Introduction 19 i 2.2 Climate change in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam. .. resources in the Mekong Delta 120 5.7 Impacts of climate change to tourism infrastructures 124 5.8 Reality and consequences of impacts of climate change to tourism sector in the Mekong Delta. .. Climate change and the tourism sector in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam 2.1 Introduction This chapter reviews the evidence for climate change in Vietnam, focusing on the Mekong Delta, and evaluates