Local actors and sustainability in the tourism value chain

International audienceCalls for more sustainable models are growing in many different fields. Sustainable tourism is a very important one due to its impacts. Too many developing countries, in need of economic growth, but also developed countries, accept the negative social and environmental impacts in order to attract tourism. Institutions and industry actors have started to waken up to the issue but existing approaches of sustainable tourism remain limited to niche markets since the concept is felt elusive and difficult to implement by practitioners. Global value chain theory has studied ways of capturing a higher part of the tourism value chain by actors of the destination country. We contend that the tourism value chain analysis needs to also integrate sustainability issues. We have chosen to conduct an exploratory research project in Vietnam. Our research aims at understanding what actors in the tourism value chain, at the local level, understand and enact under the terminology “responsible” or “sustainable” tourism