Impact of community attachment and resident's support on destination sustainability: evidence from spiritual and community destination in Vietnam

This study investigates the influence of community involvement on the destination sustainability for community destinations and spiritual destinations in Vietnam. Community involvement is measured by two constructs, which are community attachment and residents’ support. A structural questionnaire consisting of 41 observation variables measured on a 5-point Likert scale was used to survey households who live in a spiritual destination in An Giang province and three community destinations in Lang Son province with the help of local tour guides and Youth Union. 168 out of 200 responses collected were valid for multivariate data analysis. The results of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM) reveal three main findings. Firstly, community attachment has a direct effect on both perceived benefits and destination sustainability. Secondly, while residents’ support has a direct effect on perceived benefits, it indirectly affects destination sustainability. Finally, community destinations have a higher level of sustainability than the spiritual destination. Based on those findings, this study proposed three suggestions for local authorities, policymakers, and residents to improve the sustainable development of their local tourism destinations, including (1) diversifying local tourism products, (2) encouraging the community participation in tourism development programs, and (3) increasing in the expected benefits in local tourism development policies.