SUSTAINABLE TOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN RAMSAR SITES IN VIETNAM: CURRENT STATUS AND ISSUES

Sustainable tourism development in Ramsar sites is an important direction for harmonizing wetland conservation with local socio-economic development. This study assesses the current status of sustainable tourism development across nine Ramsar sites in Vietnam based on the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) Destination Criteria. The study uses 778 valid responses from four stakeholder groups, including 473 tourists, 250 local community members, 35 experts/managers, and 20 tourism businesses. The results show that cultural sustainability received high ratings from local communities (4.29/5) and tourists (4.09/5), while businesses gave relatively lower ratings to the use of local suppliers (3.55/5) and local labour (3.60/5). However, important gaps remain in strengthening local economic linkages, managing tourism carrying capacity, protecting cultural values, and improving ecological risk management. The findings highlight differences in sustainable tourism performance among the nine Ramsar sites and suggest the need for site-specific management approaches. The study provides a comparative basis for strengthening destination governance, local value chain integration, equitable benefit- sharing, and risk and carrying capacity management in Vietnam’s Ramsar sites.