Analyse the changes that have been brought about by the tourism growth

Economical Impacts

Although the tourism industry in Vietnam is still developing, it plays a key economic role in the country. Tourism attracts foreign investment and creates jobs. According to the Footprint Vietnam Travel Web Site, it states that tourism activities have created jobs for more than 234,000 direct employees and about 510,000 indirect employees.

It also provides investment opportunities for small business owners and thus shifting the Vietnamese workforce from agriculture to the services industry created by tourism growth. This also means that Vietnamese will now have higher disposable incomes and therefore reduced poverty in the country itself.

Tourism in Vietnam benefits the hotel, construction and retail sectors as well as other service-oriented industries. A service-based sector requires higher education levels than an agricultural sector, because tourism sector jobs which include receptionists, clerks and tour guides, must interact with the public and keep accurate business documents. Through this, it will also avoid revenues to leak out of Vietnam and thus directs the most money to local economies.

Socio-economic Impacts

Tourism in Vietnam has contributed to eliminating hunger and alleviating poverty, improving the living standards and enriching the society. The development of tourism has helped to change the face of urban and rural areas. People’s living standards have been much improved, especially in tourist areas such as Sapa, Halong Bay, Cat Ba Island, Sam Son beach, Cua Lo beach, the ancient city of Hue, and provinces of Quang Nam, Khanh Hoa, Binh Thuan and Ba Ria.

Cultural Impacts

Vietnam’s diverse culture includes over 50 distinct ethnic minority groups, who account for approximately 14 percent of population. Ethnic minority groups tend to live in remote mountainous regions of the central part of the country or coastal river deltas and have preserved their cultures for generations. Positive impacts that tourism have brought about in Vietnam is that tourist will be able experience both pristine wildlife and traditional Vietnamese culture, which therefore generates income for the communities. And through tourism, many historical and cultural sites have been preserved such as the Cu Chi Tunnel.

Negative cultural impacts on these communities resulting from contact with the outside world include possible loss of cultural practices to new ideas; introduction of illicit drugs, prostitution practices and communicable diseases and land displacement due to tourist accommodation development.

Environmental Impacts

While nature-based tourism provides substantial incentive for environmental preservation, numerous negative environmental impacts result from the unmanaged arrival of visitors in an area. Without proper infrastructure, litter and other types of pollution worsen. Restaurants opened to accommodate tourists have no way to dispose of waste properly, and resorts and hotels are known to release untreated sewage into waterways. If visitors are not educated about beneficial environmental practices, they can cause habitat degradation and loss of biodiversity. Freshwater shortages are also common in areas with increased tourism and minimal management practices.

The tourism industry has created capability of consuming goods and services, boosting other industries to develop, restoring many traditional festivals and craft villages, boosting economic restructuring of the whole country and each locality, expanding exchange among regions and with foreign countries, and ensuring security, national defence and social order.