Sustainable tourism development in the world heritage tourism destination - The scenic landscape complex of Trang An

he growth of tourism prod-
ucts such as: construction, transportation, 
accommodation, retail, fi nance ..., espe-
3Nghiên cứu trao đổi ● Research-Exchange of opinion
cially production activities of Traditional 
craft villages such as Van Lam embroider-
ies, Kim Son sedge mat, Phuc Loc carpen-
try, Ninh Van stone... thrive by introducing 
and the selling of products to tourists and 
visitors. Income of local residents in tour-
ist attractions has increased - per capita to 
about 5 million VND/month, contributing 
to improving the economy of the local res-
idents. It can be seen clearly that tourism 
has made a signifi cant contribution to the 
socio-economic development of the locali-
ty, although there are also signs of a wealth 
gap between the rich and the poor as the 
income gap tends to widen. 
4. Socio - cultural impacts of tour-
ism activities
In addition to economic, tourism ac-
tivities also have many positive socio-cul-
tural impacts. Through union activities, so-
cial activities associated with tourism, the 
residential community in Trang An SLC 
is ever more connected. Tourism activities 
also create cultural exchange opportunities 
between domestic and international tour-
ists, help to further promot Trang An tour-
ism image, enhance the pride of the local 
community, reinforce the tradition of lov-
ing one’s homeland as well as one’s coun-
try. In addition, the coordination between 
the state management agencies of culture 
and tourism at all levels, businesses and 
local residents at heritage sites in manage-
ment activities, in grasping the situation to 
ensure communal security as well as the 
implementation of the Code of Conduct of 
Civilized Tourism in the tourist attracting 
areas and destinations in Trang An QTDT, 
is done quite well. knowledge about her-
itage protection, behavioral communica-
tion skills, cultural and civilized lifestyle 
in tourism activities of a part of the local 
community in the Core region of the SLC 
is enhanced through participation in a 
number of training courses organized by 
the Department of Tourism, the District 
People’s Committee, Trang An SLC Man-
agement Board. Some discussions between 
the Management Board and street vendors, 
photographers, and motorbike taxi drivers 
have been carried out in order to reorganize 
and put the service providing businesses 
into order. According to a research in 04 
borough in the heritage Core region (Ninh 
Hai, Truong Yen, Ninh Van, Ninh Xuan), 
in recent years, tourism related activities 
has not increased the rate of crime and so-
cial evils in the locality. In particular, the 
habit of smoking in the past, which existed 
in some areas of the Truong Yen borough, 
decreased signifi cantly after the tourism 
development had created more job oppor-
tunities for the residents. There is no longer 
begging or pickpocketing delinquency tak-
ing place at tourist attractions.
However, the current state of vio-
lating laws in construction and in tourism 
businesses still happened and has not been 
completely overcome. Dozens of cases of 
individuals disregarding the law and build-
ing without a permit or with the incorrect 
permit, spontaneously changing the pur-
pose of the use of land, doing business 
without a permit or without ensuring the 
conditions for tourism business right in 
Core regions of the SLC, are consequenc-
es of pursuing economic benefi ts. In addi-
tion, the fact that the quantity and quality of 
the labor force in the tourism sector don’t 
keep up with the growth in the number of 
tourists will aff ect their ability to serve the 
needs of tourists. Thus, it can clearly be 
seen that tourism activities have basically 
implemented the principles of sustainable 
socio-cultural development, but the issue 
of order in construction and tourism busi-
ness needs to be re-addressed, and fi rmly 
maintained, the human resources for tour-
ism must also be improved both qualita-
tively and quantitatively.
4 Nghiên cứu trao đổi ● Research-Exchange of opinion
5. Environmental impacts of tour-
ism activities 
In terms of environment, sustain-
able development requires protecting and 
managing natural resources, conserving 
biodiversity and natural heritages and 
minimizing environmental pollution. Ac-
cording to Mr. Pham Sinh Khanh, Vice 
Chairman of Trang An SLC, awareness 
and action on environmental protection 
in Trang An SLC of businesses and the 
local residents has been improved sig-
nifi cantly. This is the result of integrating 
and thoroughly understanding legal doc-
uments on environmental management 
and protection, conservation and promo-
tion of heritage values into the communal 
conventions; training courses on heritage 
and environmental protection, especial-
ly in core communes such as Ninh Hai, 
Ninh Thang ... for tourist accommodation 
establishments, tourist service businesses 
and residents. In addition, some business-
es also have diverse methods of contrib-
uting to environmental protection such as 
linking the interests of workers with re-
sponsibility for environmental protection, 
assigning people to care for trees and pay-
ing remuneration. 
However, besides the bright spots in 
environmental protection activities, as for 
most tourist destinations, it has been shown 
that tourism development often entails en-
vironmental consequences, Trang An SLC 
in this case is of no exception. Because 
the goals and motivations of the parties in-
volved in tourism related activities are very 
diff erent, thus making the process of manag-
ing and protecting the environment as well 
as the conservation and promotion of the 
heritage very diffi cult. In 2018, the Trang 
An SLC Management Board discovered 
and made a written request to authorities 
and local government to handle 06 cases of 
violations of the reserve forests and envi-
ronmental landscapes in Ninh Hai, Truong 
Yen, and Son Ha communes. In general, 
the environmental protection activities of 
businesses, especially the food and bever-
age businesses, still lack initiative, not pay-
ing attention to waste treatment. During the 
festival season, the amount of waste sharp-
ly increases (due to tourists overload) and 
is collected, processed and burned right in 
the Core zone of the heritage , aff ecting the 
soil, water and air environment and causing 
problems in the overall aethestic of the des-
tinations, especially in the two communes 
Truong Yen and Ninh Xuan. In addition, the 
cases of illegal exploitation of fi rewood, ex-
ploitation of ornamental plants, ornamental 
stones, and hunting of wild animals have 
not been completely resolved. Thus, despite 
progress in the protection of landscapes and 
heritage environments, the task of develop-
ing tourism harmoniously and environmen-
tally sustainable is still a big challenge for 
all participants at Trang An SLC.
6. Harmonize interactive systems 
- Sustainable tourism development in 
Scenic Landscape Complex of Trang An
There is no denying the signifi cant 
contribution that tourism brings to the 
development in all aspects of socio-eco-
nomic life in Trang An SLC. However, 
from the viewpoint of sustainable devel-
opment, the positive impact on all aspects, 
especially the economic aspect is only one 
of the conditions contributing to the suc-
cess of sustainable tourism development. 
Sustainable tourism development requires 
harmony among all interactions, includ-
ing economic, socio-cultural and environ-
mental.
The current state of tourism devel-
opment in Trang An SLC shows that, be-
sides the meaningful contributions, there 
are still many limitations - a consequence 
of the tourism development process, espe-
cially in terms of culture - social and envi-
5Nghiên cứu trao đổi ● Research-Exchange of opinion
ronmental such as diff erentiation between 
the rich and the poor, deterioration of 
service quality, the quality of the natural 
environment, especially in the peak sea-
son. The main cause of these shortcom-
ings is identifi ed by the perception of the 
role and importance of heritage protection 
associated with sustainable tourism de-
velopment and the livelihoods of a part of 
the local population and of the commune 
authorities is still limited; lacking initia-
tive and tenacity in the act of coordination 
between the authorities, local government 
and businesses in solving and handling vi-
olations, especially in the construction of 
houses and business establishments and 
the services provided by the local resi-
dents; The process of research and iden-
tifi cation of key markets as well as the 
ability to space and diversify the fl ow of 
customers are not really eff ective. There-
fore, it is necessary to have measures to 
solve these problems, in order to ensure 
conditions for sustainable tourism devel-
opment.
Improving management 
The state government still continues 
to perfect the management mechanism and 
management model at tourist sites in the 
heritage area. In particular, it is necessary to 
strengthen the implementation of manage-
ment tasks, professional tasks, inspection 
assignment, and supervision of the obser-
vance of legal regulations in tourism acti-
vities, construction order and tourism busi-
nesses at Trang An SLC. As for the tourism 
and heritage management agencies, local 
authorities must resolutely handle violations 
in the construction of houses and service es-
tablishments associated with tourism of the 
local residents; to put an end to the illegal 
exploitation of natural resources, hunting of 
wild animals and other acts of environmen-
tal encroachment in the heritage area.
Partnering and cooperating:
 Trang An SLC Management Board 
continues to work closely with relevant 
agencies, businesses, local authorities 
and especially communities in the heri-
tage area to monitor and grasp the overall 
situation of protecting and promoting the 
legacy of the heritage. Moreover, Trang 
An SLC Management Board also works 
with local authorities to ensure securi-
ty, order, safety, hygiene, environmental 
landscape on inland waterways, roads, 
protect reserve forests, protect biodiversi-
ty; coordinate with businesses in guiding 
tourists and local residents to ensure the 
implementation of the Code of Civilized 
Tourism Conduct in tourist spots and at-
tractions; coordinate with the authorities 
in guiding the households in the heritage 
site to strictly comply with the regulations 
on housing construction and business 
permits. Promote connection in training, 
retraining both managerial and general 
workers of training institutions, tourism 
related businesses and enterprises. 
Training and retraining human re-
source: 
Focusing on the task of training and 
retraining to improve the quality of hu-
man resources for the occupation of her-
itage management; workforce planning 
in the fi eld of tourism, assess the training 
requirements for the current workforce in 
order to have a plan to foster profession-
al skills, foreign languages ... associated 
with specifi c job positions. At the same 
time, determine the requirement for quan-
tity, quality and structure of tourism hu-
man resources in the short, medium and 
long term periods to develop appropriate 
training plans and programs.
Doing research:
Research of the market needs to be 
invested in in order to build a solid sci-
6 Nghiên cứu trao đổi ● Research-Exchange of opinion
entifi c basis, identify suitable key mar-
kets, and prioritize quality over quantity. 
In addition, in order to avoid the issue of 
overloading which leads to negative en-
vironmental consequences, it is essenti-
al that the process of researching the ca-
pacity of each specifi c tourist area in the 
heritage area be carried out. In addition, 
there needs to be research to assess the 
environmental impact of tourism activi-
ties in order to devise a plan to make the 
most of tourism within the capacity of 
the environment. Finally, it is necessary 
to focus on research, development and 
diversifi cation of tourism products, with 
emphasis on green tourism products, 
ecotourism in diff erent tourist destinati-
ons in the heritage region to simultane-
ously address the diverse needs of the 
market, and to both diversify and space 
the fl ow of tourists while creating more 
livelihoods for local people, and contri-
buting to protecting the environment of 
the heritage site.
Educating and promoting:
Promote the task of propagating, 
providing extensive training courses on 
heritage conservation and attaching the 
valuable heritage with sustainable tourism 
development. Publicizing is not only for 
individuals who are directly involved in 
tourism activities but also needs to be car-
ried out on a large scale, by the local au-
thorities, local residents and related busi-
nesses located in the heritage area with the 
aim to raise awareness, adjusting behavior 
in the process of interacting with the heri-
tage environment in general.
‡ According to the guidelines for the implementation of the World Heritage Convention of the 
UNESCO, Cultural and Natural Heritage are invaluable and irreplaceable assets. It not only belongs 
to a nation, but also belongs to the humanity in general
7. Conclusion
Nationwide, Ninh Binh is one of the 
pioneering localities in building a set of reg-
ulations in all fi elds to manage the mixed 
heritage site of Trang An SLC. In addition to 
other results in the conservation and promo-
tion of the heritage, this is a good sign show-
ing the determination of the government and 
management units in their eff orts of harmo-
nizing the relationship between conservation 
and development. With the consensus of all 
parties involved in tourism activities in Trang 
An in the process of resolving existing limita-
tions, tourism will have suffi cient conditions 
for sustainable development so that Trang An 
SLC can forever be an invaluable asset of hu-
manity‡.
References:
1. Trang An SLC Management Board, Sum-
mary of work in 2016, 2017, 2018.
2. Choi, H. C., & Sirakaya, E. (2006). Sus-
tainability indicators for managing communi-
ty tourism. Tourism Management, 27(6), 1274 
- 1289. 
3. United Nations World Tourism Organiza-
tion. (2010). Tourism high lights: facts & fi g-
ures. Madrid, Spain. 
4. Yfantidou, G., & Matarazzo, M. (2016). The 
Future of Sustainable Tourism in Developing 
Countries. Sustainable Development, 25(6), 
459-466. 
5. World Council for Economic Development. 
(1987). Our common future, World Commis-
sion on the Environment and Development. 
Oxford University Press, Oxford. 
 Author address: Faculty of Tourism - Hanoi 
Open University
Email: maintt@h@hou.edu.vn