Community-Based Tourism Activities in Con Son Island (Mekong Delta- Vietnam) with the Issue of Preserving Cultural and Natural Values Before Changes

Abstract

The strong impacts of urbanization and industrialization have profoundly changed the livelihoods, spiritual cultural values, natural landscapes, and lifestyles of people in Can Tho in general and Con Son Island, Binh Thuy District in particular. There are many different assessments of the impact, transformation, adaptation, or permanent abandonment of the previous living values of Con Son residents, where there are major changes in building a community tourism model. In this article, the authors use a mixed content analysis method (qualitative and quantitative research) to survey to collect information on the livelihood status, the impacts of community tourism activities on Con Son Island, Binh Thuy District, Can Tho City on the issue of preserving community cultural and natural values before the impact of social changes to record the status quo, analyze and evaluate local resources, existing values, the level of sustainability - vulnerability and the desires of the community. The research results show that community agricultural tourism activities in Con Son, Can Tho City have brought high economic value, helping people have a good income, their material life is increasingly developing and the cultural features of symbiosis and solidarity are maintained for households participating in the Community Agricultural Tourism Cooperative here. Besides, the natural landscape is also preserved and adapted to current climate change. This article contributes to providing information on the positive impact of community agricultural tourism, specifically on Con Son Island, Can Tho City (Mekong Delta- VietNam) and contributes to building a sustainable community agricultural tourism model in ensuring livelihoods for people, preserving culture, and landscape, and adapting to climate change.