Sustainable Eco-Tourism Development in National Parks: an Approach from Local Community’s Support

Abstract

Objective: This study aims to demonstrate the factors influencing the support for ecotourism development by local communities in the Mekong Delta region of Vietnam.   Method: To validate the research hypotheses, a mixed-method research approach combining qualitative and quantitative methods was used. An official survey was conducted from July 2022 to September 2022. The survey targeted residents living in national parks in the Mekong Delta region, including Tram Chim National Park, Mui Ca Mau National Park, U Minh Ha National Park, and U Minh Thuong National Park. The total number of survey responses obtained was 270, and after removing invalid responses (lack of reliability), a total of 265 valid survey responses were used to test the research hypotheses.   Results: Using the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), the study results reveal that the support for ecotourism development by local communities in national parks is positively influenced by the following factors: community participation, personal benefits, positive perceptions, and community attachment. Conversely, negative perceptions adversely impact the support for ecotourism development by local communities in national parks. Among the influencing factors, personal benefits are identified as the strongest factor affecting the support for sustainable ecotourism development by local communities in national parks.   Conclusions: Personal benefits were identified as the strongest influencing factor in the support for eco-tourism development by the people in the national parks. The research findings provide a scientific basis for suggesting policy implications to promote people’s support for eco-tourism development in the national parks in the Mekong Delta region.