Factors influencing local community participation in sustainable ecotourism development at Vam Sat tourist site, Can Gio commune
Main Article Content
Abstract
This study addresses a critical gap in the ecotourism literature by examining the determinants of local community participation in sustainable ecotourism development within a biosphere reserve context, where empirical evidence remains limited and fragmented. Drawing on established theoretical perspectives, the study proposes a conceptual model that integrates community attitude, institutional policy barriers, service capacity, local resources, perceived benefits, and social capital as key explanatory factors. Data were collected from 150 local residents at the Vam Sat Tourist Site and analyzed using SPSS 27 through reliability testing, exploratory factor analysis, correlation analysis, and linear regression. The findings reveal that community attitude, institutional policy barriers, service capacity, local resources, and social capital exert positive and significant effects on participation decisions, with community attitude emerging as the strongest predictor. Notably, perceived benefits do not show a statistically significant effect, suggesting that community engagement in ecotourism is driven less by short term economic expectations than by institutional trust, social relationships, and attitudinal commitment. This unexpected result offers an important theoretical insight by challenging benefit centered participation assumptions in ecotourism research. The study contributes to the literature by refining participation theory in protected areas and provides policy relevant implications for ecotourism governance in biosphere reserves, emphasizing the need for institutional transparency, capacity building, and network-based community engagement mechanisms.
Keywords
Can Gio; Local community’s decision to participate; Sustainable ecotourism; Vam Sat Ecotourism Area
Article Details
Field of Economic (JEL Codes)
L83 - Sports • Gambling • Restaurants • Recreation • Tourism - Industry Studies: Services, Q56 - Environment and Development • Environment and Trade • Sustainability • Environmental Accounts and Accounting • Environmental Equity • Population Growth - Environmental Economics, R58 - Regional Development Planning and Policy - Regional Government Analysis
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