Tourism activities and the impacts on the life of ethnic minorities in Southern Vietnam

Abstract

The South of Vietnam, with its dense river system and diverse ecological environment, has contri-buted to the colorful yet united cultures of all ethnic groups here, reflecting lifestyles, activities, rituals, and communal festivals. These are considered as important resources for the development of tourism of each area in particular, and the whole Southern area in general. However, exploiting those cultural resources in tourism development may affect the economy, politics, culture, society, and environment of the areas, bringing benefits or causing negative consequences to the communi-ty, especially the Khmer, the Chinese, the Cham. As a result, policies on tourism development should be put in the general policy to develop the socio-economy of each area and the whole region with the participation of the whole political system. This paper on “Tourism activities and their impact on the life of ethnic minorities in the South” consists of 4 parts: 1) Theoretical founda-tion and research theories. 2) Overview of the ethnic minorities in the South. 3) Some examples of cultural tourism activities and their impact on the life of the ethnic minorities in the South. 4) Opi-nions on preserving and improving cultural values associated with developing ethnic minorities in the South of Vietnam today