tailieunhanh - Sustainable development of Central Coast tourism based on value chain approach

This paper proposes some solutions to sustainable tourism development in the Central Coastal region by developing a single destination and making the best use of creative and supporting resources besides local natural ones. | Sustainable Development of Central Coast Tourism JED October 2013| 133 Sustainable Development of Central Coast Tourism Based on Value Chain Approach NGUYỄN PHÚC NGUYÊN Đà Nẵng University of Economics nguyennp@ LÊ THẾ GIỚI University of Đà Nẵng ltgioi@ ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Article history: Received: March 20, 2013 Received in revised form July 15, 2013 Accepted: Sep. 25, 2013 Over the past decade, the tourism industry in Vietnam in general and in Central Vietnam in particular has grown significantly and played a major role in the economy, contributing not only to the national GDP but also to development of other sectors such as transportation, construction and banking, etc. However, this growth has not reached full potentials of the region. Empirical study in Đà Nẵng has revealed limitations in the development of tourism in this province and in Central Coastal region as well. By analyzing minutely main causes of limitations based on the value chain analysis, this paper proposes some solutions to sustainable tourism development in the Central Coastal region by developing a single destination and making the best use of creative and supporting resources besides local natural ones. Keywords: tourism, Central Vietnam, value chain 134 | Nguyễn Phúc Nguyên & Lê Thế Giới | 133 - 146 1. INTRODUCTION Vietnam’s tourism industry has made great achievements in the past years. The number of international visitors to the country has increased over the years (see Figure 1). In 1995, Vietnam only welcomed and provided services for million foreign visitors, but 17 years later, this figure rose to more than million in 2012, gaining an average growth rate of 12% yearly for the period 1995-2012 with the year 2012 witnessed an increase of over in comparison with 2011. Moreover, the tourism sector has attracted US$16 billion in foreign direct investment with about 625 projects, ranked third among sectors where the biggest .