Spatial and temporal dynamics in a mountain tourist station in Vietnam : Mutations, tourism dualities and spatial dualism in Sapa
Author: Hoang, Thi Quy Phuong
Under the direction of: Philippe Bachimon and Maud Loireau
Avignon University
Texte français
Keywords: Geography, Vietnam, Spatio-temporal dynamics, Mutation, Tourism duality, Spatial dualism, Modeling, Tourism - Planning - Vietnam, Change (philosophy), Tourism - Economic aspect, tourism policy, Mathematical models, Ecotourism.
Abstract
In the northern mountainous region of Vietnam, the tourist station of Sapa has undergone several major transformations according to, first, the colonization of French, followed by political and social reformations and, finally, the state’s economic transformation since its first tourism during being France’s colony until now (2020) : the transformation of forms of tourism, the categories of tourists, the increase and decrease of tourists, tourism practices, popular tourist attractions. Through the analysis and modelling of the tourist routes, the sequences (establishment, renewal and development) are identified ; and transformation mechanisms (mutations) as well as progressing from a point to another (transitions) are explicitly clarified. Various spatial organizations are highlighted and represented under different scales. Dualities are revealed, except during the communist period pre-Doi Moi (Reformation). It has become more and more complex and intense to reach the maximum level of tension in 2020, especially the dualities oppose between Eastern tourists (include Vietnamese citizens and the growing population of foreign oriental tourists) and Western tourists (no longer only French). An in-dept study on spatio-temporal dynamics and their modelling of before, during and after the period 2015-2016 (the period of field study campaigns) in the last phase of development and explosion of Sapa’s tourism, at district level, the results from the analysis suggest that 2015-2016 is an “hinge” period during which the district of Sapa was split into two tourist stations : a metastation in the Centre-North sector and an integrated station in the South sector. The first includes the agglomeration of Sapa which was driven by Vietnamese government and its aggressive tourism development policy. However, it experienced a little or lack of adequate controlling practices (mass tourism, lack of relevantregulations…). It allows the development of a big-sized Amusement Park which has contributed to the detriment of ethnotourism, initially introduced by French “developers”. The latter has been developing toward high-end / luxurious ecotourism under the control of a foreign investor, Danish in this case. Dualities are expressed strongly. They are reflected within the district by a shift from the East-West spatial dualism (mountainous ethnotourism with strong natural and sporting components - mountainous ethnotourism with strong cultural and recreational components) towards the North-South dualism (mass tourism with strong amusement park components – ecotourism components). It is reflected within the metropolitan area in the avoidance of Western tourists, especially in the expanding outskirts. In the Center-North sector of the district, the disconnection between the tourist service offers and the tourists themselves, based on the intrinsic assets of this region of Vietnam, is progressing rapidly. The dynamics (intensity, speed, etc.) are such that Western tourists begin to avoid the metastation of the Center-North sector, that the question arises from its "overflow", in the South sector for example. In the Center-North sector, as in the South sector, the viability of such tourist systems and the local sustainability arise : are we heading towards future changes ?
