Craft villages and tourism development, a case study in Phu Quoc island of Vietnam

Abstract

SummaryCraft tourism is attracting many domestic and foreign tourists. In recent years in Vietnam, craft villages have exploited their potentials in tourism industry. For many different causes, tourism activities have yet reached expectations and their potentials for tourism development. This paper is to review their currents, tourism potentials and limitations and then formulate recommendations to the tourism development in Phu Quoc island. The data for this paper are from two sources. Secondary data were collected from the vast literature and journals. Primary data were from interviews with village owners, related authorities, tourists, tourism corporate, etc. and results serve as guidelines to develop the tourism industry and management.

Recovering Tradition in Globalising Rural China: Handicraft Birdcages in Da’ou village

“…Similar examples from elsewhere in Africa, Asia and Latin America are documented in the literature (e.g., Forstner 2013;Pudianti et al 2016;Hieu and Rasovska 2017), with communities functioning as nodes in a transnational market for 'ethnic' art, crafts and fashions, whilst 'maintaining and re-creating a supposed "traditional identity" strongly linked to local places' (Aguayo 2008, p. 546). Yet, even as traditional local identity is foregrounded, the localities concerned are transformed by the connection into translocal networks and the reorganisation of production systems, including tendencies towards mechanisation and industrialisation to meet demand and remain competitive (Kimura 2011;Gough and Rigg 2012).…”

“…The discontinuities that consequently can be found in rural craft traditions in the global north contrast with stronger continuities in the global south, including the persistence of ‘craft villages’ where the economy is dominated by specialist craft production (Gough and Rigg ; Mahanty and Dang ; Hieu and Rasovka ). As in the global north, rural craft making in the global south has come under pressure from modernisation and globalisation, notably the industrialisation of production to increase supply to domestic and export markets, and the spread of ‘modern’ western consumer culture (Karolia and Sardiwal ).…”

“…Elsewhere, in Africa, Asia, Latin America and parts of Eastern Europe, artisan craft production has persisted as a mainstream part of rural economies, including in specialist 'craft villages', only more recently encountering pressures to restructure, modernise and engage new markets (Rogerson 1986;Eyferth 2003Eyferth , 2009Kimura 2011;Gough and Rigg 2012;Mahanty and Dang 2015;Chu 2016;Pudianti et al 2016). As in Europe, such dynamics may form part of neo-endogenous rural development strategies based on the commodification of local cultural resources as 'authentic' ethnic artefacts for export to niche markets (Aguayo 2008;Forstner 2013) or to attract tourism (Hieu and Rasovska 2017), but they can also involve processes of industrialisation and deterritorialisation as production is reoriented towards mass manufacture of low-cost commodities for export (Kimura 2011;Gough and Rigg 2012;Chu 2016).…”

Entrepreneurial artisan products as regional tourism competitiveness

“…The development of artisanal tourism has contributed towards the preservation and development of regional artisanal traditions in a sustainable fashion as this assists not only in expanding the market but also in opportunities favourable to developing production as well as preserving and promoting the cultural values of regions (Hieu and Rasovska, 2017).…”

“…Some artisan villages have contributed by making these products for retail to the tourism sector but this does not reflect the extent of the opportunities and potential for tourism development and that also faces major challenges, including product competition and trends in the exchange rate markets (Hieu and Rasovska, 2017). Some studies have focussed on this artisanal type, embroidery, as a competitive product, even while only a few studies have approached this question (Câmara, 2011; He and Zhang, 2013; Hieu and Rasovska, 2017; Patke, 2015; Scrase, 2003).…”