Perceptions of Local Residents toward Impacts of Agro-tourism in Da Lat, Vietnam

Abstract

Vietnam has the abundant potential of tourism similar to some countries of the South-east Asia region and most the population living in rural areas based on agriculture production as a primary livelihood, however, the local authorities and scholars have paid less attention to participate in agro-tourism development. Meanwhile, most studies within the situation are done in developed countries, the developing countries have not had much attention paid to them, a few studies were carried out in Malaysia, Thailand, China. There are no sufficient studies investigating residents’ perceptions toward agro-tourism impacts, and its effects on community participation in support of agro-tourism. Therefore, to address an aforementioned notable gap, the study about perceptions of local residents toward the impacts of agro-tourism was conducted in Da Lat, Vietnam. The aimed study was to identify the perceptions of local residents toward agro-tourism impacts on the economy, socio-culture, environment; as well as their community participation in support of agro-tourism. Moreover, to determine the effects of socio-demographic factors on the residents’ perceptions toward impacts of agro-tourism, and on their community participation in support of agro-tourism; to explore which factors of residents’ perception toward agro-tourism impacts influenced on their community participation in support of agro-tourism. Data obtained from a survey of 300 samples in Thai Phien village, Phuong 12 sub-district, Da Lat district, Lam Dong province, Vietnam based on the random sampling method. This study used descriptive statistics, independent t-test, one-way ANOVA analysis, and linear regression to analyze the data. Results revealed that agro-tourism mostly brings positive impacts that outweigh the negative ones on the local community. In terms of residents’ perception toward positive economic impacts, for instances, offering new livelihood chances to locals, attracting investment to infrastructure improvement, contributing to diversifying local economic activities, providing an opportunity for direct sales of agricultural products to tourists. As regards positive socio-cultural impacts, local residents perceived that agro-tourism provides more recreational areas, opportunities for cultural exchange and educating visitors about agriculture, the motivation for the preservation of cultural identify and the pride of community in agricultural production. Concerning positive environmental impacts, residents also perceived that agro-tourism enhances the appearance of the community’s landscape and influences positively on the perceptions of both local community and local authorities to preserve the natural environment and community resources as well. Notwithstanding agro-tourism contributes significantly to the well-being of the community, also brings negative impacts. Most revenues of agro-tourism end up with the tour operators and individuals outside the locality, while the community has received a low salary from these activities. In addition, the increasing number of agro-tourists, leading to putting pressure on infrastructures and public services, in particular, resulting in overcrowding, traffic congestion, and lack of parking lot in the community. This study also pointed out that there were significant differences between the socio-demographic characteristics of residents and the residents’ perceptions of local residents toward impacts of agro-tourism, and the community participation in support of agro-tourism development as well. Particularly, level of education, net household income, farm size, farm type, number of family member participated in agricultural production were significant differences with both the residents’ perception toward agro-tourism impacts and their community participation in support of agro-tourism. Moreover, the findings of linear regression model indicated that the residents’ perceptions toward the positive impacts of agro-tourism on both economic and socio-culture influenced positively on their community participation in support of agro-tourism, whereas the residents’ perceptions toward the negative impacts of agro-tourism on socio-culture showed a negative effect. Therefore, the residents’ perceptions toward agro-tourism impacts played a crucial role, thereby affecting on perceptions of local residents toward impacts of agro-tourism and their community participation in support of its development in the area.