Evidence of an emerging domestic ecotourist market from Cat Tien National Park, Vietnam

Protected areas in Vietnam and other developing Asian countries are being subjected to growing ecological stress due to increases in the number of domestic and international visitors.The latter in large part are alleged to adhere to a widely recognised biocentric Western construct of the 'ecotourist' that should minimise the attendant environmental costs.In contrast, little is known about the characteristics of domestic protected area visitors and in particular the extent to which they adhere to the Western ecotourist model. This paper reports the results of a study in Cat Tien National Park (CTNP), Vietnam.The quantitative research involved 1,082 questionnaries completed by Vietnamese (54%) and Western (46%) visitors to the park during the 2010-2011 six month dry season.A T-test was employed to compare any differences between the Vietnamese and Western visitors with regard to psychographic, behavioural and demographic characteristics.Using Hierarchical Cluster Analysis, five clusters were found; 19.2% 'Sociable wildlife engagers', 26.2% 'Typical CTNP visitors', 8.2% 'Service shunners', 15.8% 'Classic Western ecotourists', 22.1% 'Unenthusiastic visitors', and 8.5% 'Service seekers'.Among the three groups which comprise 93.4% of the Vietnamese in the sample, one softer and two structutured ecotourist groups were identified. These findings suggest suitable ecotourism management and products for domestic ecotourist markets and effective interpretation strategies for enhancing learning/education