Factors affecting sustainable tourism development in Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Vietnam

Sustainable development – including tourism development – is the general trend of all economies. With the orientation to build and develop the tourism industry into a key economic sector and become a tourist center of the Southeast region, Vietnam, Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province is demanding a proper, rational, development policy, while ensuring the development and exploitation of immediate natural advantages, and ensuring long-term sustainable development. The objective of this study is to examine the factors and their trends in sustainable tourism development in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province, Vietnam. Methods used include descriptive statistical analysis, exploratory factor analysis and regression analysis. Data was collected from the results of a survey of 550 domestic and foreign tourists visiting Ba Ria-Vung Tau. With the help of SPSS statistical software, 12 groups of factors affecting sustainable development were identified including: economy, society, environment, humanistic tourism resources, natural tourism resources, tourism human resources, tourism products and service, tourism quality, infrastructure, technical facilities, governmental management and group of criteria to evaluate sustainable tourism development. The research results show that there are four groups of factors that significantly affect sustainable tourism development in Ba Ria-Vung Tau. These are groups of factors: Society, Environment, Tourism products and service, and Technical facilities.