Professional Documents
Culture Documents
1. Introduction
Like in many other countries, tourism has been considered a key sector of Vietnam’s economy due
to its significant contribution to GDP, job creation, economic restructuring, and investment attrac
tions (Ha, 2012). The tourism sector’s contribution to GDP in Vietnam has increased from 6.3% in
2015 to 9.2% in 2019. The sector has created jobs for approximately 2.6 million workers in 2019 –
accounting for roughly 5% of Vietnam’s workforce (Intelligence, 2022)—in comparison to only
450,000 in 2013 (Dinh et al., 2019). According to the 2019 Vietnam Tourism Annual Report,
© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
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Vietnam welcomed nearly 18 million international visitors and generated 85 million domestic
visitors. In line with that, the number of accommodation establishments, such as hotels, resorts,
and golf courses has also continued to increase. By 2019, Vietnam had 30,000 accommodation
establishments with 650,000 rooms in total. The average annual growth of the number of tourist
accommodations and rooms in Vietnam during the period 2015–2019 reached 12.0 % and 15.1%,
respectively. This partly reflects the reality that there have been more large-scale and high-end
tourist accommodation investments in Vietnam. A new wave of all-in-one resorts and leisure and
entertainment complexes has been recorded in Vietnam in recent years. Although Vietnam’s
tourism industry in general and the tourist accommodation sector in particular experienced severe
losses during the beginning of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, tourism development con
tinues. Consequently, the demand for land for tourism facilities has been increasing annually. This
situation has placed pressure on other sectors in competition for land. Besides, as also shown in
many other countries, the process of land acquisition and conversion could influence the liveli
hoods of affected people (see, e.g., (Ojeda, 2011; Prasad & Tisdell, 1998; Vanclay, 2017; Xu et al.,
2017)
In light of the above, the Vietnamese government has conducted several reforms related to land
conversion and compensation policies to help the affected people in the land acquisition process
and to prevent possible social conflicts over land, including for tourism development which could
be considered a method for supporting sustainable tourism (Nguyen, 2015; Nguyen et al., 2016).
One such reform is to give more rights to the original land users to negotiate for land compensa
tion in a land acquisition process. Through this right, the original land users would have a greater
likelihood to receive higher benefits from the process compared to the situation before the
introduction of the new law. This marked an important milestone in the history of Vietnamese
land law. However, it is still unclear whether this change has led to real improvements for locally
affected people. This study seeks to determine whether this has been the case by focusing on two
research questions: 1) Have there been any differences in the land acquisition process before and
after the introduction of Vietnam’s latest Land Law? and 2) Have there been any differences in the
way that the land acquisition process in both situations has affected local people from the
perspective of sustainable development?
While this study is centred on the Vietnamese context, its results could well be useful for
a broader context, especially because the negative impact of land acquisition processes for
tourism development on local people has become a serious issue in many countries (see, e.g.
(Aabø & Kring, 2012; Mabe et al., 2019; Narain, 2009; Zhang et al., 2019), and more in Section 3).
Moreover, the fact that Vietnam is still experiencing the transitional process from a socialist and
centralized system to a more open and market-oriented system has also influenced the country’s
land policies (Duong et al., 2020; Nguyen et al., 2017) This factor could provide interesting insights
and perspectives for the general debates on land management and sustainable tourism.
The remainder of the paper is structured as follows. First, an overview of international literature
on sustainable development in tourism with a special focus on land issues is provided in the next
section followed by a discussion on the issue of land acquisition and its impacts on local people in
Sections 2 and 3 subsequently. Section 4 explains the methodology used for data collection and
analysis in this study. Afterwards, Vietnam’s land acquisition mechanism is introduced in Section 5
and the study sites are described in Section 6 to provide greater context for the study. The results
of the analyses are presented in Section 7 which are then discussed in Section 8. Finally, the main
conclusions are given in Section 9.
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a process of change in which the exploitation of resources, the direction of investments, the
orientation of technological development, and institutional change are made consistent with future
as well as present needs” (Brundtland et al., 1987)
Accordingly, sustainable tourism development can be defined as the development that should
take full account of its current and future economic, social, and environmental impacts, address
the needs of visitors, the industry, the environment, and host communities, and provide socio-
economic benefits to all stakeholders, including the local community (World Tourism Organization,
2013). Related to this definition, many researchers have discussed how tourism can be developed
sustainably. For instance, Liu (2003) focused on the issue of simultaneously combining the needs
of the host community, business, and tourists, the demands for environmental protection, and the
sustainable use of resources. More specifically, Phan and Vo (2017) indicated that tourism devel
opment must ensure the continuity of jobs for local people and preserve natural resources for
future generations. Vuong and Rajagopal (2019) argued that sustainable tourism development
means paying attention to economic benefits, the environment, and society, while also preserving
tourism resources and improving local living standards.
Based on the above studies, it can be concluded that generally speaking, sustainable tourism
development should focus on the attempt to balance the socio-economic and environmental
aspects for both future and present needs. Although tourism development can evidently support
economic growth, its implications on the socio-economic aspects of local communities directly
affected by the tourism industry are still questionable in some countries (Akama & Kieti, 2007;
Anderson, 2011; Turco et al., 2003). Indeed, some studies have shown that it is important for the
locally affected people in a tourism development process to have the opportunity to confidently
express their concerns on the consequent socio-economic impacts (Li et al., 2018). Scholars have
also argued providing people with more opportunities to actively participate in the tourism devel
opment process results in less social tension and community dissatisfaction, which in turn, con
tributes to the sustainability of the development (Hughes, 1995; Saufi et al., 2014). One of the
important activities in a tourism development process that directly impacts local people is land
acquisition. In the next section, the socio-economic and environmental effects of the land acquisi
tion process for tourism development are discussed in greater detail.
In the case of Vietnam, the continuing rise of land acquisitions for urbanization and industria
lization, as well as its impacts on local people, have attracted the attention of both domestic and
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foreign scholars. For instance, Ravallion and Van de Walle (2008) suggested that unrestricted land
acquisition processes on land markets in Vietnam would increase landlessness among the poor.
Using a qualitative approach, Nguyen (2015) found that the practice of agricultural land acquisition
for an urban development project in the city of Hue has produced different impacts on certain
groups. Likewise, Nguyen (2015) employed regression analysis to quantify the effect of different
factors on household income after land loss and the role of financial compensation packages in
households’ livelihood reconstruction and found that the issue of equitable and sustainable
development remains controversial due to a lack of attention on establishing long-term
livelihoods.
Based on the aforementioned studies, we here provide a detailed list of some of the important
aspects in assessing the socio-economic and environmental impacts of land acquisition for tourism
development.
3.1.4. Infrastructure
Changes to such infrastructure as roads, water systems, and electricity at the local destination can
significantly enhance the growth of tourism (Seetanah et al., 2011; Snyman & Saayman, 2009). The
improvement of local infrastructure due to tourism development is likely to increase the socio
economic conditions of the local people (Abdollahzadeh & Sharifzadeh, 2014; Ogwang & Vanclay,
2019). Although infrastructure development to support tourism activities is often financed by local
governments, it can also be developed by tourism investors (Letoluo & Wangombe, 2018; Ogwang
& Vanclay, 2019)
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We used these aforementioned aspects as a framework with which to analyze the influence of
land acquisition activities for tourism development on socio-economic and environmental aspects,
which we deemed important to determining the sustainability of tourism development in a certain
area. Before providing the results of the analysis using the framework of the Vietnam case, we
believe it pertinent to offer a general explanation of the land acquisition mechanism in Vietnam to
give a better understanding of the context of the study.
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4. Methodology
This study employed a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods to investigate the
different impacts of the land acquisition process for tourism development on the socio-economic
and environmental conditions of local people in Vietnam given the changes in the country’s Land
Law. First, a desk study research was conducted to closely investigate the Vietnamese Land Law
also its other related and derivative regulations especially to explain the land acquisition process in
the country (Bassot, 2022).
For the primary data, a survey using questionnaires and semi-structured interviews was con
ducted with directly affected households in the areas that experienced the land acquisition
process for the tourism development projects. Two tourism accommodation development projects,
one with land acquisition before and the other after the implementation of the 2013 Land Law,
were selected as case studies. The data were collected from 80 directly affected people to
investigate their perspectives on the land acquisition process, as well as its socio-economic and
environmental effects through the use of a 5-point Likert scale. Additionally, in-depth interviews
were also conducted with some local authorities to acquire data and information related to the
case studies and to gain further explanations for the results of the analysis. Due to the difficulties
in acquiring the exact number of the population and the sample frame for the study given that
there is no adequate data on the exact numbers of the affected people, we used the snowballing
method to recruit our respondents. The lack of information on the population of the data also led
us to employ the non-parametric method for the analysis in this study (Mircioiu & Atkinson, 2017).
In the next sections, the data gathered from the desk study research related to land acquisition
in Vietnam are presented and discussed followed by the descriptions of the study case areas
before the results and analysis of the primary data are presented.
5.2. Policies for the support of affected people in the land acquisition process
Theoretically, land with relatively low productivity will be converted to that with higher productivity
(McPherson, 2012). Accordingly, the process of land redevelopment is also expected to bring more
benefits to affected land users (Nguyen et al., 2016). Nevertheless, the reality of the land acquisi
tion process has frequently led to many negative impacts on affected people, such as residential
displacement, the loss of traditional livelihoods, a decrease in income, social conflicts, and many
environmental problems (Pham et al., 2015).
In response to this situation, the Vietnamese government has issued several policies in an
attempt to support the livelihoods of those whose land is acquired for development (see
Table 1). Regarding compensation packages, affected people are entitled to receive more com
pensation for their losses, as mentioned in Decree No.47/2014, in addition to compensation in the
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Table 1. Compensation, support, and resettlement for land users in the land acquisition
process
Decree No.197/2004/ Decree No.69/2009/ Decree No.47/2014/
ND-CP1 ND-CP2 ND-CP3
Scope of Compen-sation (1) Compensation or (1) Compensation in the (1) Compensation for
support for the form of a land land.
whole land area exchange with the (2) Compensation for
recovered by the same use purpose. remaining invest
state. (2) If no land is avail ment
(2) Compensation or able for compensa expenses.
support for the tion, they are (3) Compensation for
existing property entitled to compen losses caused by
attached to the land sation in cash calcu land-linked
and for expenses lated based on the houses and construc
invested in the land price of land with tion work upon
recovered by the the same use expropriation by the
state. purpose. state.
(3) Compensation for (4) Compensation for
remaining invest losses due to the
ment expenses. restricted use
of land and losses
caused to land-linked
properties concerning
land in safety corri
dors upon the con
struction of public
works with safety
corridors.
(5) Compensation and
support for land upon
expropriation for land
allocated ultra vires
before 1 July 2004.
(6) Compensation and
support for land
when the
real-life area is dif
ferent from what is
stated in land use
rights papers upon
expropriation.
(7) Compensation, sup
port, and resettle
ment to users
of land in the area
suffering environ
mental pollution and
likely threat to
human life; users of
land susceptible to
landslide, sinking,
and other natural
catastrophes impos
ing threat to human
life.
(Continued)
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Table 1. (Continued)
form of a land exchange. As stated in Decree No. 69/2009, compensation is paid in cash or other
forms if no land is available for compensation. Even so, compensation in land for affected people
directly involved in agricultural production should be the priority. However, in practice, because of
limited land banks, compensation is often made in cash. Further to compensation packages,
several non-financial means of support, such as that related to training, job seeking or change,
relocation, and resettlement areas should also be provided. Theoretically, both financial and non-
financial compensation and support should not only fully recover all losses, but also improve the
lives of those affected. However, the gap between the implementation and the practices of the law
or other regulations related to the land acquisition process could well be immense.
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Source: https://maichautourist.
vn/ and https://www.golfasian.
com/golf-courses/vietnam-golf
-courses/hanoi/phoenix-golf-
resort/#shadowbox-1/7/IMG_
1797.JPG., accessed on 14th
April, 2021
and sauna. Although the development of the hotel was not included in the project’s detailed plan,
the entire project was mentioned as part of the national sports development strategy in 2020,
which was approved by the Vietnamese prime minister.
The majority of the households affected by the development process belonged to the Muong
people, one of the 53 minority groups in Vietnam. Before the land development process began, the
livelihoods of the inhabitants were highly dependent on rice cultivation and crop production in the
surrounding mountainous area. After the project’s approval, over 300 households (or approxi
mately 1,000 local people) were displaced from their land and relocated to the nearby Rong Vong,
Rong Tam, and Rong Can hamlets.4
6.2. Study area 2: FLC Sam Son Beach and Golf Resort development project
The second project is located in Quang Cu ward, Sam Son City, Thanh Hoa province (see Figure 3
and Figure 4), roughly 170 km to the south of Hanoi City. In 2014, over 200 hectares were acquired
by the FLC Group, one of Vietnam’s leading real estate companies, to invest in a large tourism
complex project. The project included an 18-hole golf course, villas, hotels, and a luxury resort.
According to the investor’s report, 596 households were relocated due to the project. These were
mostly located in Hong Thang hamlet (210 households), Quang Vinh hamlet (174 households), and
Cuong Thinh hamlet (135 households). Moreover, several households from Thanh Thang, Thanh
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Source: http://flcsamson.com.
vn/en/contact-us.html and
https://batdongsanexpress.vn/
flc-sam-son.html, accessed on
10th December, 2020
Thai, and Cong Vinh hamlets were also relocated. A total of almost 3,000 people, most of whom
were farmers and fishermen, were affected by the project.
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(Continued)
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Table 2. (Continued)
Table 3. Results of the Mann-Whitney U test for the land acquisition process in both case study
areas
Participation in Compensation Areas _land Access _beach_
_the land _support _after &housing_- after forest
acquisition _complaining _land acquisition
process
Mann-Whitney U 527,500 658,500 370,000 778,500
Wilcoxon W 1473,500 1604,500 1316,000 1481,500
Z -2,747 -2,304 -4,488 -,185
Asymp. Sig. ,006 ,021 ,000 ,853
(2-tailed)
Grouping Variable:Location
Law. Such results might support the argument that the 2013 Land Law could improve the position
and situation of locally-affected people.
However, the results also reveal that there were no significant differences regarding access to
natural resources in both cases. This accessibility appeared quite limited for the locally affected in
both case studies. From the interview in Quang Cu, we found that the development of the project
has closed their access to the sea for fishing, which is the main source of their livelihood. One
respondent said:
The project has blocked access to the sea. It created many difficulties for local people to fish.
(R15-QC)
Similarly, the locally-affected people in Lam Son also experienced difficulties in accessing the
mountains where they worked as farmers. One respondent expressed:
‘At first, the project did not allow locals to go to the mountain. After the protest and claims, the
project allowed locals to go to the mountain, but only for a limited time (R37-LS).
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Access to the mountain is tricky and highly depends on the project manager. We are taken
at 4–5 a.m. and picked up at around 2 p.m. (R23-LS)
Based on these findings, we can see that, despite the introduction of the 2013 Land Law, locally-
affected people could have better opportunities to be involved or participate in the decision-
making process, as well as improved compensation and support, and better conditions for their
land and houses. Moreover, the interviews showed that these residents were likely to suffer from
losing access to their working spaces. Therefore, this situation is likely to have influenced their
socioeconomic and environmental conditions in their surroundings, in turn impacting their
livelihoods.
7.2.2. Differences in social, economic, and environmental conditions after land acquisition
Table 4 presents the result of the analysis of whether there were differences in the socio-economic
and environmental conditions after the land acquisitions in the two case studies. It can be seen
that, statistically, a significant difference between the two case studies was only present in the
price of land and housing, local safety, and the attractive appearance of the local area post-land
acquisition. Concerning housing and land prices, respondents in Quang Cu believed that local real
estate prices significantly increased following the project’s approval. One said:
. . . a sharp increase in land price as the project approved. In Ho Xuan Huong Street, the
market price reached 100 million VND/m2, while the compensation price was only 6 million
VND/m2.(R30-QC)
In contrast to Quang Cu, the price of land and housing in Lam Son showed no significant change
after the project development. One respondent mentioned:
Concerning local safety, our respondents also give contrasting opinions. For instance, one
respondent in Quang Cu expressed:
. . . due to the arrival of many workers, some social issues happened. For example, conflicts
and fighting. Theft also increased. (R10-QC)
The interviews with the locally affected people in both Lam Son and Quang Cu yielded contrasting
opinions on the appearance of the area after the tourism development. For instance, one respon
dent in Quang Cu commented:
. . . local landscapes are more beautiful than before, which has attracted more tourists. (R04-
QC)
In stark contrast to this, the disappearance of natural landscapes and typical traditional houses of
the local minor ethnic group in Lam Son brought disappointment. As one respondent said:
The natural beauty of this area was lost for the development. There is no chance to see
yellow rice fields anymore. All of the traditional wooden houses of the Muong ethnics have
been completely destroyed. (R52- Lam Son)
Regarding the other variables, the respondents in both case studies tended to hold similar
opinions. For instance, the majority observed that public infrastructures in both areas had
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Table 4. Results of the Mann-Whitney U test for the social, economic, and environmental conditions after land acquisition in both case study areas
Price Price Income Job local Quality public Quantity of Criminal Local Local Benefit Depletion Pollution Attractive
https://doi.org/10.1080/23311886.2023.2283923
land product _source _people _infrastructure public _drugs safety recreational project natural _appearance
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improved in terms of quantity and quality following the tourism developments. In Lam Son, one
respondent commented:
The project invested in the development of electricity networks and roads within the reset
tlement area. (R45-LS)
Now we can use clean water at a cheaper price than before. In the past, we often obtained
water from a well. (R20-QC)
Interestingly, we found that, while most of the respondents in both areas experienced an increase
in job opportunities, their incomes mostly decreased after the tourism development. Instead of
depending on farming and fishing activities, local people were given opportunities to participate in
non-farming activities. As one respondent in Quang Cu said:
. . . many people lost their jobs because it now takes longer to get to the sea. (R17-QC)
. . . local people can find a stable job in the project in the short term. In the long term, it is
unsustainable. Local people can find jobs as glass cleaners or housekeepers in the hotel.
(R05-QC)
. . . before the land acquisition, the monthly income from farming and aquaculture activity of
our family was about 10 million. (R23-QC)
. . . decrease of income or even no income. Before the project, local people could earn
100,000 VND per day based on catching and selling clams. Now, they’ve lost their jobs
because of losing land and sand to breed clams and losing access to the sea. (R25-QC)
Affected people in Lam Son held similar opinions regarding job opportunities and income sources.
In terms of the former, local authorities mentioned that:
At the beginning of the project in 2004, they employed about 600–700 local workers for
constructing and gardening. After a few years, only 120–150 locals worked for the project as
hotel receptionists, caddies, gardening, and workers . . .. (R52-LS)
The development of the project led to the displacement of farming. [Elder] farmers became
freelancers. Their children, however, found jobs in the nearby industrial zone. (R51-LS)
Although there were some non-farming job opportunities for local people, their income sources
were causes for concern. As one respondent expressed:
Without land, we now have to buy everything, such as rice and vegetables, which were
produced [by ourselves] before. (R09-LS)
7.3. Impact of the land acquisition process on the socio-economic and environmental
condition of the local people
To investigate the effect of the land acquisition process, as well as the differences due to location
—which represents the different implementation of the 2013 Land Law in Vietnam—on the socio-
economic and environmental conditions of the local people following the development-related
land loss, we tested 13 models5 using the Ordinal Logistic Regression analysis. Out of those 13
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models, only 3 could be considered significant. These were the price of land and housing, local
safety, and pollution as the dependent variables. The results of these three models are presented in
Table 5.
By analyzing the results of parameter estimation for each of these three models (provided in
Tables 6, 7 , and 8), we could identify which factor related to land acquisition had the largest
influence on each of the three dependent variables. As can be observed in Table 6, only the
difference in the location had a significant chance to change people’s perspective on the land
and housing prices after land acquisition. Moreover, in terms of local safety, the locational
difference had a significant probability of exerting an influence (see Table 7). Furthermore, the
change in the areas of land and houses due to land acquisition also could change people’s
perspectives on local safety. Interestingly, only the issue of pollution appeared uninfluenced by
the location variable, but was impacted by the areas of land and houses, as well as the compensa
tion and support, in which the latter had the highest probability of exerting an influence (see
Table 8).
8. Discussion
Our findings indeed found that the land acquisition processes for tourism have resulted in con
siderable impacts although the implementation of Vietnam’s 2013 Land Law has changed the land
acquisition process, especially in the case of tourism development. Many similar risks for locally
displaced people which were indicated in the previous study has also been found in this study, for
example, joblessness, lose access to common property resources (Cernea, 1997), tension between
new comers and existing residents, increase in land prices (Nghi & Singer, 2022), many environ
mental impacts (Vanclay, 2017).
More specifically, based on our findings, land acquisition for tourism development projects could
only influence the price of land, local safety, and pollution in the area. This section discusses some
of the interpretations and reflections of these results.
8.1. State ownership, and the gap between the law’s implementation and practices
The changes in Vietnam’s Land Law have allowed land users to play a more prominent role in the
process of land acquisition. Indeed, Vietnamese land users are currently entitled to negotiate with
investors to transfer their land-use rights. This right allows land users to be involved or participate
in the process of land conversion more actively. However, the fact that the state has the sole
ownership right over land and retains the power to make the final decisions on development
projects for public purposes or public interests means that land users can still be expropriated from
their land through the process of land conversion. Although by law the compensation and support
for the affected people in a land acquisition process should be made with concern for the
restoration and stabilization of life, as well as the production of the affected people, this concern
routinely encounters many challenges in practice. This is also related to the general issue of
livelihood, which remains controversial in the land acquisition process (Li et al., 2018; Nguyen
et al., 2016)
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Table 6. Parameter estimation for the price of land and housing
Estimate Std. Error Wald df Sig. 95% Confidence Interval
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Lower Upper
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Bound Bound
Threshold [price_land_housing = 1] -6.819 2.007 11.542 1 .001 -10.752 -2.885
[price_land_housing = 3] -2.476 1.718 2.076 1 .150 -5.843 .892
[price_land_housing = 4] -.551 1.690 .106 1 .744 -3.864 2.761
Location [Location=1] -2.302 .629 13.406 1 .000 -3.534 -1.070
[Location=2] 0a . . 0 . . .
[participation_landacquisitionprocess=1] -.972 1.210 .645 1 .422 -3.344 1.400
[participation_landacquisitionprocess=2] 2.125 1.428 2.216 1 .137 -.673 4.924
[participation_landacquisitionprocess=3] -.177 .702 .063 1 .801 -1.552 1.198
[participation_landacquisitionprocess=4] -.310 .710 .191 1 .662 -1.701 1.081
a
[participation_landacquisitionprocess=5] 0 . . 0 . . .
[compensation_support_after_complaining=3] -.137 1.505 .008 1 .927 -3.087 2.813
[compensation_support_after_complaining=4] .447 1.630 .075 1 .784 -2.747 3.641
a
[compensation_support_after_complaining=5] 0 . . 0 . . .
[areas_landandhousing_after_landacquisition=1] .272 .801 .115 1 .735 -1.298 1.841
[areas_landandhousing_after_landacquisition=2] -.670 .724 .858 1 .354 -2.089 .748
[areas_landandhousing_after_landacquisition=3] 0a . . 0 . . .
[access_beach_forest=1] -.141 .655 .047 1 .829 -1.425 1.142
[access_beach_forest=2] -.322 .732 .193 1 .660 -1.757 1.113
[access_beach_forest=3] 0a . . 0 . . .
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Table 7. Parameter estimation for local safety
Estimate Std. Error Wald df Sig. 95% Confidence Interval
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Lower Upper
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Bound Bound
Threshold [localsafety_outsider = 3] .506 2.068 .060 1 .806 -3.546 4.559
[localsafety_outsider = 4] 1.787 2.078 .740 1 .390 -2.286 5.861
Location [Location=1] -2.802 .894 9.823 1 .002 -4.554 -1.050
[Location=2] 0a . . 0 . . .
[participation_landacquisitionprocess=1] 1.303 1.488 .767 1 .381 -1.613 4.219
[participation_landacquisitionprocess=2] -19.476 .000 . 1 . -19.476 -19.476
[participation_landacquisitionprocess=3] .045 .974 .002 1 .963 -1.864 1.955
[participation_landacquisitionprocess=4] -.109 .933 .014 1 .907 -1.938 1.720
[participation_landacquisitionprocess=5] 0a . . 0 . . .
[compensation_support_after_complaining=3] -1.549 1.755 .779 1 .377 -4.988 1.890
[compensation_support_after_complaining=4] -2.134 1.899 1.264 1 .261 -5.856 1.587
[compensation_support_after_complaining=5] 0a . . 0 . . .
[areas_landandhousing_after_landacquisition=1] 2.826 1.356 4.343 1 .037 .168 5.484
[areas_landandhousing_after_landacquisition=2] 2.448 1.288 3.614 1 .057 -.076 4.972
[areas_landandhousing_after_landacquisition=3] 0a . . 0 . . .
[access_beach_forest=1] -.157 .965 .026 1 .871 -2.049 1.736
[access_beach_forest=2] -.648 1.094 .351 1 .554 -2.792 1.496
[access_beach_forest=3] 0a . . 0 . . .
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Table 8. Parameter estimation for pollution
Estimate Std. Error Wald df Sig. 95% Confidence
https://doi.org/10.1080/23311886.2023.2283923
Interval
Duong et al., Cogent Social Sciences (2023), 9: 2283923
Lower Upper
Bound Bound
Threshold [pollution = 1] -21.622 1.175 338.848 1 .000 -23.924 -19.319
[pollution = 2] -21.035 1.131 346.007 1 .000 -23.251 -18.818
[pollution = 3] -18.876 1.095 297.342 1 .000 -21.021 -16.730
[pollution = 4] -17.217 1.105 242.881 1 .000 -19.382 -15.051
Location [Location=1] -.488 .546 .799 1 .371 -1.558 .582
[Location=2] 0a . . 0 . . .
[participation_landacquisitionprocess=1] 2.050 1.098 3.488 1 .062 -.101 4.202
[participation_landacquisitionprocess=2] -.024 1.274 .000 1 .985 -2.522 2.473
[participation_landacquisitionprocess=3] .292 .677 .186 1 .666 -1.035 1.618
[participation_landacquisitionprocess=4] 1.077 .690 2.439 1 .118 -.275 2.429
[participation_landacquisitionprocess=5] 0a . . 0 . . .
[compensation_support_after_complaining=3] -18.343 .725 640.510 1 .000 -19.764 -16.923
[compensation_support_after_complaining=4] -18.703 .000 . 1 . -18.703 -18.703
[compensation_support_after_complaining=5] 0a . . 0 . . .
[areas_landandhousing_after_landacquisition=1] -.820 .799 1.054 1 .305 -2.385 .745
[areas_landandhousing_after_landacquisition=2] -1.513 .734 4.252 1 .039 -2.952 -.075
[areas_landandhousing_after_landacquisition=3] 0a . . 0 . . .
[access_beach_forest=1] .912 .639 2.042 1 .153 -.339 2.164
[access_beach_forest=2] .639 .698 .839 1 .360 -.729 2.006
a
[access_beach_forest=3] 0 . . 0 . . .
a. This parameter was set to zero due to its being redundant.
Note: Statistically significant (p<0.05)
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8.2. Price of land after land acquisition: An increase in land value due to land-use change
and the development of infrastructure
Many studies have observed a rise in land prices after land acquisition in Vietnam (Nguyen, 2015,
2015; Nguyen et al., 2016). The process of land conversion is characterized by the shift from low-
value agricultural land to high-value residential and commercial land. In addition, the develop
ment of related infrastructure and facilities in the area as part of the land-use changes also serves
to increase value (Nguyen, 2015). However, our findings suggest that the increase in land values is
mostly enjoyed by private investors and developers. Local people—mostly farmers and fishermen
—do not enjoy these increases due to not having had land to sell at the time of such infrastructure
development.
8.3. Local safety and the issue of outside workforces: The shift in labour structure after land
acquisition
Another consequence of land acquisition reported in the literature is its impact on local safety
(Khiev, 2013; Nguyen, 2015). In line with the previous findings found in the literature, our regres
sion analysis indicates that the land acquisition process did indeed lead to a reduction in local
safety as a result of labour immigration. Indeed, land acquisition not only led to local unemploy
ment but also created more chances for labour immigration. For instance, in the Quang Cu case
study, the project managers preferred to employ workers from their own hometowns rather than
local people. Similarly, in Lam Son, the manager of the golf course also mainly employed those
from other provinces instead of local workers, primarily due to the limited skills and educational
backgrounds of the latter.
9. Conclusion
It can be concluded from this study that, in general, the way land is acquired for Vietnam’s tourism
development creates sustainability problems for local communities. In particular, there is an unequal
benefit sharing among the stakeholders concerning the increase in land values, social insecurity due
to immigration, and negative environmental externalities during the land acquisition process. The
effects of these acquisitions pose a great challenge to Vietnam’s sustainable tourism development.
However, our results indicate that particular factors, namely, participation and compensation, may
have the greatest impact on the negative aspects of land acquisition for tourism. Obviously, the study
provides additional empirical evidences on how land acquisition for the implementation of develop
ment projects of any kind, especially in Vietnam context, have an impact on local communities even
though the developers already provide them with compensation (Nghi & Singer, 2022).
This reality demonstrates a fact that (financial) compensation alone is never sufficient for
displaced people to reestablish a sustainable socioeconomic life (Cernea, 1997). Furthermore, it
is extremely important that the discourse in the land acquisition process should change from the
focus on compliance with minimum requirements and obtaining agreement from local people to
give up their land to a more effective way to manage the social risks experienced by communities.
Based on the findings, we suggest that in order to achieve sustainable development in tourism
(concerning the land acquisition issue), both local authorities and affected people should exert
greater pressure on the developers to take full responsibility for problems of externality. For
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instance, full compensation for the negative externalities due to the operation of the projects
should be paid. As the heart of sustainable development is its stakeholders and their interests,
collaboration among stakeholders appears to be a vital component of developing tourism in
a sustainable manner. Nevertheless, currently, land users in Vietnam have a somewhat passive
involvement in land use planning, and their voices related to compensation prices are often
disregarded by local authorities. Thus, affected people must actively participate in the decision-
making processes related to the planning, acquisition, and compensation of land development.
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