Heritage, education and processes of change in Vietnamese rural tourism: A case study from Hội An

While the notion of farm tourism is not new in tourism studies, it continues to evolve and take forms not previously examined. This article describes the development of this form of tourism on the outskirts of Hội An (a World Heritage Site in Vietnam) as a farming sector seeks to build on a demand being created by visitors to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization gazette site. Based on 27 informants, the article examines the nature of the agritourism products and their move towards sustainable tourism in response to demand. The article highlights (a) the nature of the products, (b) the opportunity provided by proximity to a World Heritage Site and (c) the educational background of the farmers and suggests that levels of education possess importance by enabling entrepreneurs to acquire business skills not previously available to earlier generations. In identifying this, the article contributes to a literature on how tourism products evolve in developing countries, for not only does education create skill sets but also creates an awareness of the commercial and social values of traditions and the need to retain this as expressions of cultural patterns of life.