Destination Image of a Unesco World Heritage Site in Vietnam

Home , Northeast (Vietnam)

HA LONG BAY SEEN THROUGH THE REVIEWS OF TRIPADVISOR:

DESTINATION IMAGE OF A UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE IN

VIETNAM

A Project

Presented to the

Faculty of

California State Polytechnic University, Pomona

In Partial Fulfillment

Of the Requirements for the Degree

Master of Science

Hospitality Management

Nhi Hoang Yen Nguyen

2019

SIGNATURE PAGE

PROJECT: HA LONG BAY SEEN THROUGH THE REVIEWS OF TRIPADVISOR: DESTINATION IMAGE OF A UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE IN VIETNAM

AUTHOR: Nhi Hoang Yen Nguyen

DATE SUBMITTED: Fall 2019

The Collins College of Hospitality Management

Dr. Zhenxing (Eddie) Mao Project Committee Chair Hospitality Management

Dr. Neha Singh Hospitality Management

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study is to examine destination image of Ha Long Bay, Vietnam on the Internet by studying content of selected reviews on TripAdvisor website. UNESCO listed Ha Long Bay twice as a World Heritage Site in 1994 and 2000, respectively. Also, it is one of the most famous destinations in Vietnam. Nevertheless, there are few studies on online tourism destination image of Ha Long Bay. Consequently, this study is conducted. Reviews on TripAdvisor website are selected and their content is analyzed in order to explore Ha Long Bay’s destination image through traveler-generated content.

This research may contribute the understanding of Ha Long Bay’s destination image perceived by international tourists to Vietnamese governmental tourism administrative departments as well as tourism providers. It may help them to expand the area’s advantages as well as improve the weaknesses of tourism services at Ha Long Bay.

Keywords: destination image, Ha Long Bay, traveler-generated content,

TripAdvisor.

iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

SIGNATURE PAGE ...... ii

ABSTRACT ...... iii

LIST OF TABLES ...... vi

LIST OF FIGURES ...... vii

INTRODUCTION ...... 1

1.1 Vietnam Tourism – Ha Long Bay ...... 1

1.2 Relationship of Destination Image and Traveler-Generated Content ...... 2

1.3 Research Objective ...... 4

1.4 Significance of Research ...... 4

LITERATURE REVIEW ...... 6

2.1 Destination Image ...... 6

2.2 Projected and Perceived Destination Image ...... 8

2.3 The Context of Ha Long Bay ...... 9

2.4 Traveler-Generated Content (TGC) ...... 12

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY...... 14

3.1 Content Analysis ...... 14

3.2. Data Collection ...... 14

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION ...... 16

4.1 Findings ...... 16

4.1.1 Beautiful Scenery ...... 19

4.1.2 Tour Services - Cruise ...... 19

4.1.3 Formation of Ha Long Bay – A UNESCO World Heritage Site ...... 20

4.1.4 Activities ...... 21

4.1.5 Environment ...... 21

4.2 Discussion ...... 23

CONCLUSION ...... 25

5.1 Conclusion ...... 25

5.2 Contributions ...... 26

5.3 Limitations ...... 27

REFERENCES ...... 28

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1. Nationalities of TripAdvisor Reviewers ...... 17

Table 2. Keyword Frequency Through Text Analysis ...... 18

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1. Location of Ha Long Bay in Vietnam (Encyclopædia Britannica, 2017) ...... 11

Figure 2. Ha Long Bay, Vietnam (Taewangkorea, 2019) ...... 11

vii

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Vietnam Tourism – Ha Long Bay

In recent decades, there have been a growing number of visitors to Vietnam, particularly to Ha Long Bay (UNESCO World Heritage List) and other famous destinations. According to World Tourism Organization (2003), East Asia (Northeast

Asia and Southeast Asia) welcomed 115.1 million foreign travelers, which comprised

16.1 percent of worldwide tourism in 2002. More specifically, tourism to Brunei,

Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam, which belong to the Southeast Asia region, grew 3.9 percent (So &

Morrison, 2004).

Recently, according to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, over the past three years, the number of international visitors to Vietnam has continuously grown, from 10 million in 2016 to 15.6 million in 2018. A report by the Pacific Asia Tourism

Association (PATA) states that one of the top ten tourist destinations in the Asia-Pacific region is Vietnam, which also ranks fourth in Southeast Asia. A total of 8.48 million foreign tourists arrived in Vietnam during only the second quarter of 2019. An increase of 7.5% in Vietnam’s tourism year after year results in a positive forecast from PATA, which states that from 2019-2023, international visitors will most likely be attracted by

Vietnam in the Asia-Pacific region (Nguyen, 2019).

According to Pedersen (2003), the United Nations Educational Scientific and

Cultural Organization (UNESCO) identifies sites and monuments of worldwide significance as World Heritage Sites (WHS), in order to classify, endorse, and protect irreplaceable natural and cultural sites. Ha Long Bay was recognized as a WHS in 1994,

1 which has led to prospering growth in Vietnam’s tourism industry from both domestic and international visitors. According to the South China Morning Post, in 2018, approximately 5.2 million international travelers arrived at Ha Long Bay, which was approximately 30 percent of the total foreign tourists visiting Vietnam. The enormous

22% increase in foreign tourists traveling to Ha Long Bay compared to 2017 is predominantly credited to the enhancement in the region’s infrastructure. In September

2018, the Ha Noi - Hai Phong Expressway was opened to traffic, which decreased the distance from Hanoi to Ha Long Bay by 50 kilometers. Furthermore, Van Don

International Airport, only 50 kilometers from Ha Long Bay, officially began operation in

December 2018. Both improvements have offered easier access to Ha Long Bay for international visitors. (Nguyen, 2019)

1.2 Relationship of Destination Image and Traveler-Generated Content

A study by Lai and Li (2016), which reviews forty-five valid tourism destination image definitions, suggests a sophisticated definition: tourism destination image is “a voluntary, multisensory, primarily picture-like, qualia-arousing, conscious, and quasi- perceptual mental (i.e., private, nonspatial, and intentional) experience held by tourists about a destination.”

According to Chung and Buhalis (2008), among the most costly experience services are travel and tourism services, which may involve an immense extent of risk and vagueness in the trip arrangement process. Consequently, travelers search for different sources of information in order to decrease such vagueness. One of the important sources for travel-related information is cyberspace (Litvin, Goldsmith, & Pan,

2008). Destination images have been reviewed, commented on and shared by travelers on web-based resources (online social media) with the continual development of Web 2.0 applications. Tourists use an online platform, provided by a social networking website, to distribute their experiences and interact with others. That platform affects destination image (Sigala, 2012). According to Ye, Law, Gu, and Chen (2011), a new form of electronic word-of-mouth has been created by traveler-generated content because it may include information about destination products, brands and services as well as travelers’ experiences. Tourism service providers might find beneficial advantages to maintain and potential weaknesses to improve by reviewing such content. During the process of preparing for a trip, traveler-generated content has constituted an important source of information (Cox, Burgess, Sellitto, & Buultjens, 2009).

One of the most critical components of tourist destinations is destination image.

Elements such as quality accommodations, gorgeous sights to see, and/or friendly services affect travelers’ decision-making process. Therefore, in order to be selected as a final choice, a destination must be distinctive and differential (So & Morrison, 2004).

Travelers’ preferences, the process of selection and recommendations are based on destination image, as demonstrated in past studies. Consequently, positive destination image is critical to develop, since it influences travelers’ behaviors and decisions (Bigne,

Ruiz, & Curras-Perez, 2019).

Surprisingly, there are a very small number of studies regarding Ha Long Bay, even though the region’s increase in tourism began in the early 1990s. Those studies address Ha Long Bay tourism improvement through local opinions (Pham, 2012), life quality for local people in Ha Long Bay (Mai, Rahtz, & Shultz, 2014), the improvement

3 of sustainable tourism (Gala, 2002) and tourist satisfaction with and destination image of

Ha Long Bay based on surveys (Bui & Le, 2016). However, there is, to date, no research regarding Ha Long Bay’s destination image based on online, traveler-generated content.

Therefore, this study will investigate the destination image of Ha Long Bay through an online source of information that is popular and extensively accessed all over the world, the TripAdvisor website.

1.3 Research Objective

The principal purpose of this study is to explore the destination image of Ha Long

Bay, as associated with information, services, and resources to welcome international visitors, using the TripAdvisor website. Specifically, the examination focused on two research questions: (1) What are the most frequent words the TripAdvisor website uses to provide information about Ha Long Bay? (2) What strengths and weaknesses of Ha Long

Bay are revealed on the TripAdvisor website by travelers?

1.4 Significance of Research

The findings of the analysis will offer support to Vietnamese governmental tourism administrative departments and tourism providers in recognizing the strengths and weaknesses of Ha Long Bay and to assist in preparation for further tourism improvement. The research applied content analysis to evaluate the destination image of

Ha Long Bay using the TripAdvisor website. Texts were examined. In the future, researchers might be able to use this study as a resource when considering travel websites

4 as information merchants and their effectiveness at attracting potential travelers.

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Destination Image

According to Gallarza, Saura, and Garcá (2002), fours features comprise the academic definition of an image: dynamic, complex, relativistic and multiple.

Furthermore, the image of a destination is explained as an oral, written or visual demonstration that is documented and can be transferred to others (Bui & Le, 2016). In addition, destination image is generally acknowledged as “the sum of beliefs, ideas, and impressions that a person has of a destination” (Crompton, 1979). The overall perception, feelings and knowledge of a destination in a traveler’s mind comprise destination image

(Fakeye & Crompton, 1991). According to Baloglu and Brinberg (1997), image is both cognitive (including beliefs and ideas), and affective (including impressions and feelings). Therefore, a traveler’s general image of a destination is a mixture of these two factors (Beerli & Martin, 2004). Research by Gunn (1972) and a study by Phelps (1986) indicate that the image of a particular destination is generated in tourists’ minds through their actual voyage experience or through external information.

In the tourism literature, destination and image formation have been significantly studied because of their important position in tourists’ decision-making processes (Pike,

2002; 2010). Destination image and the popularity of that particular location in the tourism market are the key elements of a destination (Crouch, 2011). Tourists’ decision- making process is significantly affected by the images of the destination and correlated particular destination attributes (Echtner & Ritchie, 2003). In addition, the impact on consumer behavior differs before, during, and after travelling to a destination and is attributed to the holistic destination images and the particular destination (Tasci &

Gartner, 2007). In the field of hospitality, destination image has been a principal subject of interest for the past several decades. Using various approaches, researchers have developed a conceptual framework for the image configuration process, for example, the investigation by Gunn (1972), the exploration by Fakeye and Crompton (1991), the study by Echtner and Ritchie (2003), the research by Beerli and Martin (2004), and the studies by Pike (2002; 2010).

There are several reasons for taking a trip or vacation, such as exploring new places and cultures or escaping from the daily life. However, a destination lacking interesting elements will not be included in the consideration process. According to

Brezovec, Brezovec and Jancic (2004), both positive and negative elements contribute to the destination image that emerges for visitors. Congruently, tourists’ decision-making process, behaviors during and after visiting a destination, their satisfactions levels and their revisit intentions are all affected by destination image. Consequently, a study by

O’Leary and Deegan (2003) states that the perceived image of destinations is the principal element of travelers’ decision-making process.

In the tourism literature, the destination image of a specific location is frequently identified by a set of attributes. An empirical study by Bui (2011) suggests a list of twenty-six contributing features to destination image in the case of Vietnam. Those attributes range from tangible attributes to intangible and psychological attributes: world heritage sites; local people's attitude toward visitors; special events and activities; culture and history; accessibility; tourism infrastructure; entertainment; services; cleanliness; souvenirs and handicrafts; political stability; landscape; “green” tourism and environmental protection; proximity to other destinations; relaxation; special animals;

7 new experience; climate; memories, nostalgia and colonial charm; adventure; price; economic development; wildlife; sport; safety; and freshness of products/ healthy eating options.

2.2 Projected and Perceived Destination Image

The projected destination image, which results from both the destination’s identity and the local marketing strategies, essentially impacts tourists’ perceived destination image (Gartner, 1989). Urry (2002) indicated that the projected destination image might form tourists’ perceptions and observations about the host culture. However, research by Dann (1996) emphasizes that a destination is not observed precisely the same way through the eyes of different travelers. Therefore, the destination image projected by the government might not be the same as the image of that particular destination perceived by the travelers. The social, natural and cultural characteristics of a destination are the components of the impression that travelers form about that specific destination

(Kotler, Haider, & Rein, 1993; Beerli & Martin, 2004). According to Li and Wang

(2000), the perceived image of a destination might be dissimilar from the destination- projected image, and the perceivers’ personal experiences form such images.

Additionally, travelers’ loyalty to a destination is generated and drastically impacted by its destination images (Zhang, Fu, Cai, & Lu, 2014). Therefore, the cognitive image and the total image of a destination might be impacted by available travel information.

An empirical study by Bui (2011) explored the congruency between the projected destination image by Vietnamese governmental tourism administrators and the perceived tourism destination image of Vietnam by global travelers. Natural beauty, safety, price,

8 entertainment, political stability, friendly people, new experience, festivals and cultural events, good climate, culture and history, tourism services, relaxing atmosphere, exotic food, and adventure are attributes that are both projected by the Vietnamese government and observed by international travelers. In addition, there are destination image attributes that have not been proposed by the Vietnamese public sector but appear significant to visitors’ satisfaction level such as healthy eating; proximity to other destinations; tourism infrastructure; “green” tourism and environmental protection; memories, nostalgia and colonial charm; cleanliness; and convenience. Furthermore, the Vietnamese tourism administration has not emphasized the “rapid economic developments” attribute in order to promote a modern image of the country. However, political stability, natural beauty, cultural diversity and friendly people are proposed intensively by both tourism providers and the public sector (Bui, 2011).

2.3 The Context of Ha Long Bay

The core of Ha Long Bay, which includes 788 limestone islets within a 434- square-kilometer area, was recognized as an UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994.

However, the entirety of Ha Long Bay covers more than 1,500 square kilometers, involving 1,960–2,000 limestone islets. The meaning of “Ha Long” is “descending dragon”, and the tourist destination is located in Quang Ninh Province in northeast of

Vietnam. Among the current eight World Heritage Sites recognized by UNESCO in

Vietnam, Ha Long Bay is the second-listed natural site and is a famous destination for both domestic and international travelers. In 1994, UNESCO added Ha Long Bay to its

World Heritage List for its landscape value. Subsequently, Ha Long Bay’s geological and

9 geomorphological value were recognized, and the description of the bay in the World

Heritage List was extended in 2000. Nevertheless, the rapid expansion of tourism in Ha

Long Bay led to a collective concern about an increase of pollution and decreases in land cover, and the well-being of the natural environment (Bui & Le, 2016).

In the 25 years since UNESCO listed Ha Long Bay as a World Heritage Site, the number of tourists has continued to grow dramatically, which affects the worldwide significance of the site and has resulted in the aquaculture, fishing, development of industry and population growth in the area surrounding Ha Long Bay (IUCN, 2013;

JICA, 2013). The total number of visits escalated from 236,000 in 1996 to 4,768,000 in

2013. The percentage of worldwide tourists visiting Ha Long Bay is approximately 50 percent of the total number of visits, since the bay has developed to become a remarkable national and global tourist destination. Most visitors love to explore the region’s caves as well as enjoying sightseeing, trail walking, swimming, and kayaking (Bui & Le, 2016).

CHINA

MYANMAR Ha Long Bay

SOUTH CHINA SEA

VIETNAM

CAMBODIA

Wo rld Herit age Si te C 2009 EB Inc. *

Figure 1. Location of Ha Long Bay in Vietnam (Encyclopædia Britannica, 2017)

Figure 2. Ha Long Bay, Vietnam (Taewangkorea, 2019)

2.4 Traveler-Generated Content (TGC)

The development of communication and information technologies and Internet communities has led to the evolution of user-generated content. The vacation planning process has been dramatically influenced by this evolution in the field of tourism.

According to a survey in Flash Eurobarometer 432 (2016), potential travelers use word- of-mouth as the principal source of information. Second is electronic word-of-mouth.

Another survey in Technology and Social Media: Foresight—Issue 152 (2017) states that more than half of the participants thinks that other travelers’ reviews on social media are trustworthy.

One reason why the user-generated content, specifically, electronic word-of- mouth, is greatly popular is that it is free and available to retrieve all over the world.

Moreover, travelers (other users) trust user-generated content because it is voluntarily shared and unprejudiced information. Recently, online travel reviews (OTRs) have flourished impressively, since travelers are now able to easily describe their travel experiences and evaluate the provided services (transport, restaurants, hotels, etc.) as well as the attractions (parks, museums, shopping center, etc.) of a particular destination.

According to Marine-Roig (2017), travelers shared their experiences and opinions in more than 200 million comments on TripAdvisor in January 2015 and approximately 500 million comments in July 2017.

In the industry of hospitality and tourism, travelers share their experiences through social media and incorporate other tourists’ generated content into the decision- making process (Sotiriadis, 2017). Several platforms, such as Facebook posts, forums about travel, tweets, and online images, are used by travelers to create destination image.

Because of perceived reliability, electronic word-of-mouth profoundly influences travelers’ perceived destination image and destination choice. Online comments can shape the formation of destination image and choice of brand. For example, negative reviews about a brand or product might result in lower intention to purchase and negative evaluation of a brand or product. Furthermore, in the decision-making process, the persuasiveness and trustworthiness of a review results from its specificity. Detailed reviews help potential customers feel confident about the product quality and can accelerate the decision-making process (Bigne, Ruiz, & Curras-Perez, 2019).

Lately, researchers have used traveler-generated content as a substantial data source for reviews of hotels or restaurants. Marine-Roig (2019) reviews studies on destination image through traveler-generated content and finds numerous studies that investigate travel blogs and online reviews on TravelBlog, TripAdvisor and

VirtualTourist regarding several different destinations in Europe such as Île de France, the Basilica of La Sagrada Família in Barcelona, Catalonia, and Catalan territorial brands.

Another study, by McKenzie and Adams (2018), explores the similarities between

Athens, Cairo and Rome through 1,695,333 online travel reviews. Research by Franzoni and Bonera (2019) measures tourists’ satisfaction in an Italian province by examining

25,220 TripAdvisor reviews on things to do in that particular destination.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1 Content Analysis

Content analysis is defined as a “as a systematic, replicable technique for compressing key words or key phrases into a few content categories. It allows researchers to sift through large volumes of data with relative ease in a systematic way” (Stemler,

2001). Furthermore, word-frequency count is the most popular content analysis technique because the most repeated words expose most pronounced interest (Marine-Roig, 2019).

According to a study by Stepchenkova and Zhan (2013), researchers frequently used content analysis in order to analyze textual and pictorial materials from web-based content for studies both about destination image specifically and the tourism industry in general. Travel guidebooks and websites deliver an abundant amount of information about a projected tourism destination when such content is analyzed (O’Leary & Deegan,

2005). Leedy and Ormrod (2010) emphasize that patterns, themes or biases can be identified by comprehensive and orderly analysis of the contents of a particular source of data. Therefore, the best methodology for the goal of this study is content analysis. The goal of this study is to explore the destination image of Ha Long Bay through the reviews on TripAdvisor website. Consequently, TripAdvisor reviews of Ha Long Bay were manually coded and analyzed by the researcher.

3.2. Data Collection

According to a study by Marine-Roig (2014), the TripAdvisor website is the most commonly used data source by travelers for information when visiting new places based on the metrics of size, visibility and popularity. Therefore, TripAdvisor is the most

14 appropriate website for this study on the destination image of Ha Long Bay.

There were a total of 10,736 Ha Long Bay reviews on TripAdvisor for the period from December 8, 2005 to October 18, 2019, of which 6,982 reviews were in English.

The researcher manually chose 100 reviews with the same interval, which is seventy, within the English-language reviews of Ha Long Bay and created a textual content document of those reviews using Microsoft Word for this study. However, during the collection process, the researcher encountered several reviews that were only about the tour services not the specific destination. In such instances, the researcher skipped that service-related review and selected the next item that truly reviewed Ha Long Bay.

An online text analyzer was utilized to determine high-frequency words.

Moreover, the researcher used Microsoft Office to generate the categories/themes in order to understand better the complex text based on the selected TripAdvisor reviews.

The tourists’ experiences and/or opinions as well as their destination images about Ha

Long Bay can be revealed by the most frequently repeated words retrieved from the selected reviews. Although word frequency cannot represent the comprehensive tourism resources of Ha Long Bay, potential visitors still have an opportunity to form an image of the famous bay through reading reviews and comparing them with their own cognitive images. The total amount of textual data collected from the TripAdvisor website in this study is approximately 8,215 words.

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

4.1 Findings

The researcher identified the nationality of 100 reviewers in 100 selected reviews, among whom, as shown in Table 1, the UK has the highest percentage of reviewers

(16%), followed by Unknown (15%), the USA (15%) and Australia (12%). The English language was selected to filter the TripAdvisor reviews; thus 94% of the selected reviews were from international travelers, and only 6% were from Vietnamese visitors. As a result, the perceived destination image of Ha Long Bay in this research will derive primarily from international tourists.

The content analysis includes 100 collected reviews. The longest review has 346 words, and the shortest review is only 20 words. There are certain words that have no meaning and will be eliminated, such as and, or, the, etc. The researcher conducts word selection using Microsoft Word. Subsequently, the meaningful repeated words are underlined and marked as keywords for further thematic building. A study by Singh, Hu, and Roehl (2007) states that the keywords generated from content can be separated in to different themes to be further analyzed. Last, the researcher identifies the families of keywords that refer to the same themes. The following table and paragraphs demonstrate the number of the most-repeated words in the collected reviews and the themes determined from those keywords.

Table 1. Nationalities of TripAdvisor Reviewers NATIONALITY AMOUNT PERCENTAGE UK 16 16% UNKNOWN 15 15% USA 15 15% AUSTRALIA 12 12% VIETNAM 6 6% CANADA 5 5% FRANCE 4 4% INDIA 3 3% NEW ZEALAND 3 3% PORTUGAL 2 2% MALAYSIA 2 2% CHINA 2 2% JAPAN 2 2% PHILLIPINES 2 2% SINGAPORE 2 2% ITALY 2 2% ISRAEL 1 1% MEXICO 1 1% UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 1 1% HONDURAS 1 1% SOUTH KOREA 1 1% THAILAND 1 1% IRELAND 1 1% TOTAL 100 100% Source: Self-produced.

Table 2. Keyword Frequency Through Text Analysis Keyword Count Statistics

Keyword Frequency Theme

Beautiful 63

Amazing 35 Beautiful Scenery

Scenery 21

Cruise/Boat 147

Tour 42 Tour Services - Cruise Day 49

Night 35

Caves 48

Island 34 Formation of Ha Long

UNESCO 12 Bay – A UNESCO World

Limestone 12 Heritage Site

Heritage 10

Kayaking 25 Activities Swimming 7

Plastic 11

Dirty 4 Environment

Rubbish 4

Source: Self-produced.

4.1.1 Beautiful Scenery

Based on the word-count statistics, the researcher noticed three words that appear in the texts the most: “amazing”, “beautiful” and “scenery”. Ha Long Bay has appeared in numerous global lists of gorgeous scenery. For example, Ha Long Bay is one of the world’s most beautiful sunrise spots, as listed by Microsoft Network. In addition, the

US’s Cable News Network (CNN) includes the famous bay in its list of the 25 most beautiful places around the world. Moreover, according to the South China Morning Post,

Ha Long Bay is among the most popular attractions in Asia (“Ha Long Bay ranked in top

10”, 2019).

The following quotations are drawn from several reviews from travelers who visited Ha

Long Bay:

“The bay is simply amazing”;

“Lovely cruises, breath taking lime stone formations, very beautiful serene water, surprise cave will actually surprise you with its size and beauty”;

“Loved the limestone formation, cave visit and kayaking in beautiful scenery. This is definitely a must visit in Vietnam.”

4.1.2 Tour Services - Cruise

Throughout the whole textual corpus, the words “cruise” and “boat” were used interchangeably for a total of 147 times. The word “tour” occurs 42 times, the word ‘day” occurs 49 times, and the word “night” occurs 35 times. Examples of such usage include the following:

“Done an overnight cruise with pelican cruises with a group of four”;

“Take an overnight cruise as there is nothing like staying on the bay especially enjoying the ambiance of the scenery of the sunset and sunrise (if you can wake up) as well as the night.”

According to British magazine Women and Home, on Instagram, one of the most frequently mentioned worldwide cruise destinations is Ha Long Bay. Due to such popularity, to ensure travelers’ safety as well as to preserve the environment, the

Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, Nguyen Duc Long, has established stricter regulations for the boats/cruises used to provide tourism services. For instance, the boat/cruise owners should gradually substitute their outdated and insecure wood ships with new and reliable ones. Additionally, although 68 high-speed canoes and 504 cruises vessels have operated in Ha Long Bay, and this number continues to increase, the number of boats docking overnight on the bay should not be changed (“Quang Ninh works to raise”, 2018). Clearly, cruise services are very popular for travelers visiting the bay, who want to discover one of the most beautiful sunrise spots in the world. Consequently, the

Vietnamese tourism administration must manage and improve cruise-related services to attract more potential visitors as well as to increase past travelers’ revisit intentions.

4.1.3 Formation of Ha Long Bay – A UNESCO World Heritage Site

For this theme, the word “caves” occurred 48 times, “island” 34 times,

“UNESCO” 12 times, “limestone” 12 times and “heritage” 10 times. For example:

“…it was an amazing trip round some fantastic rock formations”;

“You must go to this place! It is amazing, the views, the islands, the water, the caves is unbelievable.”

Obviously, UNESCO has recognized Ha Long Bay twice as a global heritage site for its landscape and geological value in 1994 and 2000, respectively. The formation of the landscape is demonstrably spectacular, and it amazes the tourists who visit Ha Long

Bay for the first time. According to Newsweek, an American newspaper, Vietnam’s Ha

Long Bay is ranked fourteenth in its list of the top 100 most beautiful UNESCO World

Heritage Sites. This newspaper portrays the bay as an outstanding, spectacular attraction with genuine and unoccupied islands (“Ha Long Bay among 100”, 2018).

4.1.4 Activities

The word “kayaking” appears 25 times, and the word “swimming” appears 7 times in the reviews. For instance:

“Great activities of kayaking, swimming, cave exploring and visiting the floating villages and private beaches.”

“You can also do many tours from your junk such as a floating village tour, kayaking, swimming, squid fishing and even a visit to one of the many caves.”

A study by Tseng, Wu, Lee, Lim, Bui, and Chen (2018) demonstrates that local communities can profit from the income from tourist-related activities such as sale of souvenirs, food, accommodations, etc. Therefore, local resources should be protected to ensure that tourism providers prosper and to keep the destination more sustainable for future development.

4.1.5 Environment

Throughout the reviews, the word “plastic” occurs 11 times, the word “dirty”

21 occurs 4 times, and the word “rubbish” occurs 4 times. Several reviews complain about environmental pollution, such as plastic trash on the surface of the bay and water that is not as clear as it used to be. For example, see the following:

“I photographed quite large volumes of plastic bags and objects, polystyrene containers and other garbage floating by and as I watched (and photographed), one of the tour boats released either its filthy bilge water or contaminated water of some sort into the bay.”

“The only sad thing is that the water in really dirty because people (boats, locals, tourists etc.) throw rubbish and oils in the water. As Unesco heritage it should be better protected!”

A study by IUCN (2013) illustrates that “coal mines, limestone quarries, roads, and ports around the bay have put in place measures to significantly reduce runoff of polluted water”. Nonetheless, according to another study by the Asian Management

Development Institute (AMDI), untreated wastewater was disposed directly into the bay by most of the boats traversing the area. More than half of the cruises are owned by a few large companies, which are reluctant to invest in advanced pollution control technology because of Vietnam’s changeable and nontransparent environmental policy. New environmental laws should be established and enforced by the government to protect the sustainable resources. For example, the law should require that wastewater treatment systems be installed and operated by all boats (“Water pollution in Ha Long Bay”, 2016).

The bay pollution issue could be solved by stricter environmental regulations.

Throughout the reviews, although the bay’s natural beauty is impressive to tourists, it is demonstrated that the dirty water and rubbish ruin their experience and raise concerns

22 about the sustainability of Ha Long Bay’s environment. This weakness might discourage potential visitors and decrease past travelers’ revisit intentions.

4.2 Discussion

This study examines the destination image of Ha Long Bay based on the

TripAdvisor website’s reviews using content analysis. Five themes were identified as the result of the text analysis of the collected reviews: “Beautiful Scenery”, “Tour service –

Cruise”, “Formation of Ha Long Bay - A UNESCO World Heritage Site”, “Activities” and “Environment”. Based on those themes, the destination image of Ha Long Bay is portrayed as a gorgeous natural destination for sunrise and sunset viewing tours, with the amazing geological formations of islets and caves, which has been recognized as a World

Heritage Sites by UNESCO. Furthermore, the visitors can enjoy activities at the bay such as swimming and kayaking. However, concerns about environmental pollution, which have been raised by the international travelers, might negatively affect the tourism industry of Ha Long Bay and Vietnam in general. Regarding the causes of environmental pollution identified above, the Vietnam Administration of Tourism could establish stricter regulation(s) on the environment and pollution to solve this negative issue and make Ha Long Bay a sustainable resource for the development of Vietnam tourism.

In comparison to a previous empirical study by Bui (2011), which suggested a list of twenty-six attributes of Vietnam’s destination image, the researcher finds five themes generated by this analysis that match five attributes from the empirical study, which are landscape, services, special events and activities, world heritage sites, and “green” tourism and environment protection. This result demonstrates a similarity in attributes of

23 the destination image of Ha Long Bay and Vietnam.

However, the other twenty-one attributes from the empirical study were not found in this study: memories, nostalgia and colonial charm; adventure; proximity to other destinations; relaxation; culture and history; entertainment; price; safety; climate; local people's attitude toward visitors; wildlife; accessibility; sport; economic development; political stability; tourism infrastructure; new experiences; special animals; cleanliness; souvenirs and handicrafts; and freshness of products/healthy eating options.

CONCLUSION

5.1 Conclusion

While Vietnam generally and Ha Long Bay specifically have become appealing tourist destinations, there are few studies on its destination image, which can affect the decision-making process of potential travelers when considering visiting Vietnam and Ha

Long Bay. Moreover, the development of tourism depends heavily on the projected and perceived image of the destination. By studying the perception of worldwide travelers regarding Ha Long Bay as a travel destination, the research ascertains that global tourists seem very thoughtful regarding this destination’s the environmental issues. However, the government’s tourism public sector and tourist-related service providers do not seem to be taking this issue seriously. Although the travelers’ perceived image of Ha Long Bay regarding the scenery, cruise service, natural formations and activities seems appealing, the significant issue of environmental protection might ruin the beautiful scenery of the famous bay and eventually deteriorate tourist experiences. The results of this research will help both governmental tourism administrators as well as tourism service providers recognize international travelers’ perceived destination image of Ha Long Bay and understand both its positive and negative destination image attributes. Such knowledge would help in determining action plan(s) to maintain the advantages, improve the environmental issues, and ultimately build a strong destination image for Ha Long Bay.

5.2 Contributions

Qualitative study on the destination image of Ha Long Bay as perceived by international tourists will help Vietnam in general, and specifically Ha Long Bay, to attract more tourists. The destination image of Ha Long Bay is explored by conducting a qualitative study with content analysis methodology in this research. Textual content

(TripAdvisor reviews) was used as the information carrier. This research emphasizes Ha

Long Bay as the destination target to reveal the area’s destination image as perceived by foreign tourists. There are several studies about Vietnam’s general destination image.

However, this research is different from other studies in delivering the perceived destination image of a particular destination target through an evolving source of data, electronic word-of-mouth. Furthermore, this research analyzed the attractiveness of a

Vietnamese World Heritage Site, Ha Long Bay, from the viewpoint of consumers rather than that of tourism providers and/or the government’s tourism public sector.

Online traveler-generated content plays a significant role in exploring a destination due to its credibility, convenience and availability. The results of this study help clarify the strengths and weaknesses of Ha Long Bay as a destination location. Using such information, local tourism providers and the Vietnamese government’s tourism administration could expand the area’s advantages and build plans to improve the weaknesses of Ha Long Bay to attract more visitors. This research might be an appropriate reference for future studies exploring the destination image of other cities or

World Heritage Sites of Vietnam from a consumer perspective.

5.3 Limitations

This research has several limitations that must be noted by future researchers. The first limitation is the data collection process. Due to limited resources, the study only selected 100 reviews of Ha Long Bay on the TripAdvisors website, and thus, the results cannot be generalized and do not reflect the complete destination image of Vietnam.

Second, the reviews were selected across a long period of time. During those fourteen years, many things could have changed, such as environmental pollution and the improvement or deterioration of amenities as well as tourism services. Last, because the researcher manually performed the selection of reviews and keywords, subjectivity is implicated in the data collection procedure. Future studies could select larger sample sizes from TripAdvisor and/or other traveler-generated content websites to reveal more precise and credible conclusions.

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