STG - Mobilizing assets for

local development

THE FINAL REPORT

The impact of the Covid-19 epidemic on ethnic minorities working in tourism - The case

of H’Mong and Dao people in Sa Pa

Submitted by STG research team:

Trieu Thanh Quang

Nguyen Duc Vinh

Nguyen Thi Loi

Hanoi, November 2020

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Table of Contents List of figures ................................................................................................................................................................. 3

List of tables .................................................................................................................................................................. 3

List of abbreviations ..................................................................................................................................................... 4

I. Introduction .......................................................................................................................................................... 7

II. Background ....................................................................................................................................................... 8

2.1 The effect of Covid-19 on economics and incomes ............................................................................................... 8

2.2 Overview on Lao Cai and Sa Pa tourism ............................................................................................................. 9

2.3 Impact of Covid-19 on tourism ........................................................................................................................... 10

III. The study purpose and study objectives ........................................................................................................ 11

3.1 Study purpose ...................................................................................................................................................... 11

3.2 Study objectives .................................................................................................................................................. 11

IV. Research methodology and data collection .................................................................................................. 11

4.1 Methodology ....................................................................................................................................................... 12

4.2 Data Collection ................................................................................................................................................... 14

V. Main findings ...................................................................................................................................................... 15

5.1 Data description ................................................................................................................................................. 15

5.2 Asset mapping by sites ........................................................................................................................................ 16

5.3 Key stakeholders in Sa Pa’s community-based tourism value chain system ...................................................... 18

5.4 Ethnic minority participation in the tourism supply chain ................................................................................. 19

5.5 Influence of the Covid-19 pandemic on the income of the ethnic minorities working in tourism in Sa Pa ........ 21

5.6 Influence of the Covid-19 pandemic on the livelihood strategies of ethnic groups working in tourism ........... 25

5.7 Influence of the Covid-19 pandemic on changing ethnic minority’s daily life ................................................... 30

VI. Policies on overcoming the Covid-19 consequences and accessibility of the ethnic minorities in Sa Pa. 30

6.1 Policies on the Covid-19 pandemic implemented in Sa Pa town ........................................................................ 31

6.2 Results of supporting programs .......................................................................................................................... 32

6.3 Access to support programs of ethnic minorities working in the tourism industry in Sa Pa .............................. 33

VII. Solutions to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic and develop sustainable tourism among ethnic

minorities in Sa Pa ...................................................................................................................................................... 35

VIII. Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................... 36

References: .................................................................................................................................................................. 38

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List of figures

Figure 1: Tả Phìn commune in the Sa Pa Tourism Map ........................................................... 12

Figure 2: Mường Hoa Commune in the Sa Pa Tourism Map ................................................... 13

Figure 3: Gender of research participants ................................................................................. 15

Figure 4: Ethnicity of research participant ................................................................................ 15

Figure 5: Living places of research participants........................................................................ 16

Figure 6: The main stakeholders and actors in community-based tourism value chain system 18

Figure 7: Tourists flows and revenue in Sa Pa from 2015 to 2020 ........................................... 21

Figure 8: The implementation of Resolution No. 42 in Sa Pa .................................................. 34

List of tables

Table 1: Local assets of Muong Hoa and Ta Phin communes .................................................. 16

Table 2: Accommodation Service Providers in Sa Pa ............................................................... 20

Table 3: Types of tourism services by sex of ethnic minority households ............................... 23

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List of abbreviations

UN: United Nation

HH: Households

SME: Small and Medium Enterprises

ABCD: Asset Based Community Development approach

VND: Vietnam Dong

NGO: Non-Government Organization

GRDP: Gross Regional Domestic Product

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Research summary

In 2020, the Covid-19 epidemic greatly affects economic sectors in general and

especially the service sector, including the tourism industry in particular. Rosa-Luxemburg-

Stiftung Southeast Asia has ordered Center for Research, Training and Consultancy for Local

development-STG to conduct research on: “Impact of the Covid-19 epidemic on ethnic

minorities working in tourism - The case of H ' Mong and Dao people in Sa Pa”. The research

is mainly qualitative and focuses on two ethnic minority communes where many households

participate in homestay business and other addition services to homestay in the two

communes of Ta Phin and Muong Hoa. More than 200 households in the two above-

mentioned communes, tourism service companies and representatives of governmental

agencies related to the tourism industry of Sa Pa town were selected to survey. The results

of the study show that the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic has made most of the homestay

business households completely lost their income. Other households participating in this

value chain and providing addition services to homestay are also affected such as local tour

guide, motorbike taxi, hand-made souvenir retailing… To cope with the negative impacts of

Covid-19, most of the households who are ethnic minorities have adjusted their livelihood

strategies and temporarily reverted to agricultural production as before. This is the strength

and internal resources of the ethnic minorities to respond and adapt to the impact of the

Covid-19 epidemic. The study also surveyed a group of Kinh people participating in this

homestay business. They are mostly investors from outside the community and use borrowed

funds (bank loans) to do business. Therefore, when the Covid-19 took place, they were more

severely affected than the ethnic minority households. They suffered double losses, including

loss of income and the burden of paying off loan maturity (debt). The study also conducts a

quick review on the support provided by national and local government to tourism

businesses. Research results show that the supports are very timely, but the procedure for

receiving these supports is not easy because the criteria for receiving those supports are quite

rigid. In addition, many ethnic minority households operate in tourism spontaneously and do

not register their business or pay tax, thus they do not meet this criterion for support.

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In general, to overcome the effects of the Covid-19 epidemic, the study recommends

the following solutions: (i) It is necessary to have tourism promotion programs through

communication events, discounts on service packages, reducing or temporarily suspending

entrance fees to tourism landscapes (ii) While tourism businesses are still interrupted, it is

also important to organize capacity building training programs for tourism households to

further improve services; (iii) Supporting households in transforming business models

towards serving domestic tourists; (iv) Studying and redesigning tourism service models

toward cultural experience; combining homestay with farmstay to diversify tourism

products; (v) Since many households doing business in tourism are returning to agriculture

production, there should be activities to promote trading and selling agricultural products as

well as to seek and expand markets for those products.

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Introduction

The impact of the Covid-19 epidemic on the main sectors of the Vietnam economy,

especially the tourism industry, is extremely serious. Organizations and individuals in the whole

industry have heavily suffered from the decline in income, loss of income, and loss of jobs,

leading to a financial problems and difficulties. Vulnerable groups such as people with

disabilities and ethnic minorities involved in this sector may also be affected more severely

because their resilience to economic shocks is often quite weak. Assessment of the impact of

the Covid-19 epidemic on ethnic minorities working in tourism was carried out in Sa Pa town

and in two communes with relatively busy community-based tourism activities. They are Ta

Phin commune with the majority of the population of Dao (Red Dao) ethnic minority group and

Muong Hoa commune with H’Mong ethnic minority. In each commune, two representative

villages have been selected with the most tourism related occupations such as homestay, local

tour guide, souvenir sales (brocade embroidery), transportation service (motorbike taxi, taxi) …

Two representative villages selected in Muong Hoa commune are Hoa Su Pan 1 and Thao Hong

Den. The two villages in Ta Phin commune are Sa Xeng and Ta Chai. The research methodology

is mainly qualitative one with in-depth interviews and focus group discussions at all three state

administration levels including Sa Pa town, communes, and villages. Two workshops also were

organized to report and collect comments on the initial research results and a consultation

workshop for final report completion.

The limitations of the study are as follows:

- Lack of key representatives of related department in the town: Several key stakeholders

could not be invited for consultation as they were busy implementing the planned activities but

were delayed due to Covid-19 epidemic. Therefore at the town level, it is mainly focused on

tourism-related governmental offices; tourist agencies and hotels that have a client relationship

with 2 study communes. At the commune level, the leaders of Muong Hoa commune and Ta

Phin commune are surveyed, and at the village level, focusing on only 2 representative villages

as mentioned above.

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- Lack of recent secondary data/report by the local authority in 2020 as almost all

departments were inactive in April 2020 due to national social distancing: Therefore the time

period for assessing the effects of the epidemic is starting from the national social distancing

implemented in April until the end of September 2020. The number of visitors and revenue were

surveyed and compared with the same period in 2019 (when there was no Covid-19 pandemic).

The report is structured as follows:

- Background: This section briefly describes the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic on the

tourism industry in general and tourism activities in Sa Pa in particular.

- The study purposes and study objectives.

- The research methodology and data collection.

- The main findings: this is the core of the research findings from the field survey.

- Policies on overcoming the Covid-19 consequences: this section will review the results

of the Government's Resolution No. 42 / NQ-CP and other related local policies and measures

to mitigate the negative impact of Covid-19.

- The solution recommendations to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic: this section will

analyze and suggest immediate solutions as well as long-term ones to cope with Covid-19

consequences.

- Conclusion of the study

I. Background

2.1 The effect of Covid-19 on economics and incomes

According to the report on How the Covid-19 epidemic has a strong impact on which

economic sector in Vietnam (Can et al., 2020) to study the impact of the pandemic on 15

important economic sectors (accounting for 78% of GDP) of Vietnam, 8/15 industries are

evaluated as was strongly and heavily affected by the Covid-19. The service sector was heavily

affected by the proportion of temporarily suspended businesses accounting for 41%. Up to now,

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the epidemic situation is still very complicated and uncontrolled in many countries and continues

to have strong impacts on the socio-economic situation in general and many economic sectors

in Vietnam in particular.

According to the report of the Private Development Research Board (under the

Administrative Procedure Reform Advisory Council of the Prime Minister), the second outbreak

of Covid-19 has had a serious impact on enterprises. The report shows that 2% of businesses

surveyed have dissolved, 20% of businesses have suspended, 76% of businesses still operating

but cannot balance revenue - expenditure. Only 2% of the survey enterprise said that they were

temporarily unaffected (Pham, 2020).

According to the assessment report on the socio-economic impact of the Covid-19

pandemic on vulnerable households and businesses in Vietnam (UN Woman, 2020), the survey

is conducted to 930 vulnerable households (HH) and 935 businesses (SME) in 58/63 provinces

across Vietnam, Covid-19 significantly reduced the incomes of households and vulnerable

workers and led to a temporary increase in income poverty or pushed poor households deeper

into income poverty. Specifically, the average income of ethnic minority households in April

and May 2020 respectively only 25.0% and 35.7% of the income of December 2019. The HHs

and the SMEs surveyed experienced a decrease in revenue due to the Covid-19 outbreak, which

resulted in them having to reduce the scale of their business. The decline in sales was uneven

across business types. On average, the revenue of SMEs and HHs in April 2020 compared with

December 2019 revenue ratios are 22% and 17%, respectively. In other words, compared to

December 2019, SMEs had a 78% decrease in revenue and the decrease for HH was 83%.

2.2 Overview on Lao Cai and Sa Pa tourism

The socio-economic master plan of Lao Cai province up to 2020, with a vision to 2030

(approved in Prime Minister’s Decision No. 1636/ QD-TTg in September 12th, 2015) has set

the goal for Lao Cai province to become a major tourism center of Vietnam and South East Asia,

and emphasized tourism as a key economic sector. The main tourism services include: Resort

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tourism, national culture, traditional festival, eco-tourism and MICE1. At the same time, the plan

has oriented the service and tourism sector to account for over 50% of the province’s Gross

Regional Domestic Product (GRDP).

Sa Pa, a mountainous town of Lao Cai province, is a world-famous tourist destination in

Vietnam. According to the Sa Pa’s Culture and Information Department, in 2019 alone, Sa Pa

welcomed nearly 3.3 million visitors. Beautiful scenery, temperate climate and diverse cultures

of ethnic minority groups such as H’Mong and Dao are the main factors in attracting tourism.

The flow of tourists brings economic prosperity to a town of 81,857 people of different ethnic

groups. However, these ethnic groups participate differently in the tourism supply chain, worth

4,000 billion Dong, equivalent to 166 million USD in 2018. Kinh people, mainly living in Sa Pa

town dominates accommodation services, catering services (bars, restaurants), retail services,

and tour operators. In contrast, the H’Mong and Dao people who lived in the villages around the

town many centuries ago participated in this value chain quite low. They make less from selling

souvenirs and handicrafts, and from tour guide services. Recently, a number of ethnic minority

households have gradually improved their participation through provision of homestay facilities

and a number of other accompanying services. According to a report of Sa Pa’s Culture and

Information Department, by the end of 2019, Sa Pa has 314 homestay facilities, 66 catering

facilities, 75 souvenir shops, 39 medical herbal massage establishments of Dao people and 213

other services developed in association with community-based tourism destinations.

2.3 Impact of Covid-19 on tourism

The service sector is the most visible reflection of the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic

and takes longer to recover due to psychological factors and changes in consumer behavior. The

service sectors such as tourism and transportation (especially air transport) experienced the

strongest decline, mainly due to travel restrictions and social distancing policies occurring in the

context of epidemics. According to the report on How the Covid-19 epidemic has a strong

impact on which economic sector in Vietnam, in the first 6 months of 2020 compared to the

same period of 2019, the number of international tourists decreased by 55.8%, domestic tourists

1 Meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions

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decreased by 27.3% and revenue decreased 77.8% (Can et al., 2020).

In Lao Cai province, although many solutions have been taken to stimulate tourism

demand in the summer of 2020, especially domestic tourism, due to the impact of the Covid-19

epidemic, the number of tourists coming to Lao Cai has decreased sharply. The Covid-19

outbreak that happened in the first quarter of 2020 suddenly stopped the flow of tourists,

especially international tourists, to Sa Pa. All 709 tourism and service businesses in different

communities have closed down and nearly 10,000 people had lost job or income. Traditional

handicrafts, agricultural products and cuisine, which are mainly used to serve tourists, cannot be

consumed. For the two surveyed communes, Muong Hoa and Ta Phin communes have almost

no tourists from April 2020.

II. The study purpose and study objectives

3.1 Study purpose

The purpose of this study is to understand the social-economic impacts of the Covid-19

pandemic on ethnic groups who are working in the tourism industry – the field has been seriously

influenced by the pandemic.

3.2 Study objectives

Three specific objectives are focused on this study as following: (1) To explore the Covid-

19 impact on different ethnic groups, focusing on H’ mong Dao, and Kinh ethnic group, in the

tourism industry of Sa Pa town; (2) To analyze the government support program/policy for these

stakeholders; (3) To seek for alternative economic solutions in response to the Covid-19 crisis

for ethnic minorities, vulnerable groups living in Sa Pa. In order to that, the research content

covers several topics, including Covid-19 impact on stakeholder livelihoods /life; stakeholders’

access to Covid-19 information / Covid-19 preventing measures; state and local government’s

support program/policies: Who benefit from what? And their coping strategy and strategy in the

post-pandemic period.

III. Research methodology and data collection

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4.1 Methodology

The study uses different methods and techniques to examine the research questions. First,

focus group discussions, and intensive interviews are used to explore how the Covid-19 and the

anti-Covid-19 campaigns by the government impacts different stakeholders in the tourism

industry, especially ethnic differentials. The focus group discussions are carried out in two

communes in Sa Pa. In each commune, two group discussions (one is ethnic minorities, and the

other is the Kinh majority) are conducted. The conversation topics mainly concentrate on the

Covid-19 impacts and current state and local policies supporting local people in response to the

pandemic consequences. Tả Phìn, one of the selected communes for the survey is located in Sa

Pa with a natural area of about 275 ha, about 10 km from the center of Sa Pa town, located along

Provincial Road 152 and is one of the

important tourist destinations in the

tourism route: Tả Phìn - Ma Tra - Sa

Pa - Tả Van - Hầu Thào - Sử Pán -

Nậm Cang. There are more than 40

households providing

accommodation services (homestay),

14 catering services, 24 local tour

guides, and some tens of female

retailers of handicrafts. The

ecological space and landscape of Sả

Xéng and Tả Chải villages of Tả Phìn

have the potential to develop

community- based tourism, explore

and experience the nature and cultural

space of the Dao ethnic group (Red

Dao) such as Tả Phìn Cave,

traditional houses and cuisines with

Figure 1: Tả Phìn commune in the Sa Pa Tourism Map

(Source: Sa Pa’s planning report for community tourism, 2019)

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characteristics of the Dao and natural medicinal herbs.

Sử Pán or Mường Hoa

commune now is another selected

commune for the survey. It has a

natural area of about 933 ha, about 14

km from the center of Sa Pa town,

located along the Provincial Road 152

and is one of the important tourist

destinations in the tourism route: Ma

Tra - Sa Pa - Hầu Thào - Sử Pán - Tả

Van. There are over 40 households in

the commune providing

accommodation services (homestay),

10 catering services, 115 local tour

guides. Regarding ecological space

and landscape of Hoà Sử Pán 1 and

Thào Hồng Dến village in Sử Pán,

there are many potentials and

resources to develop community-

based tourism, explore and experience the nature and cultural space of the H’Mong people, such

as the ancient village of Tẩn family, Ngựa Bay waterfall, Chestnut hill, bamboo forest, orchid

hill, traditional forging village.

Second, based on the discussions, in-depth interviews are conducted to focus on

particular circumstances to have better explanations of pandemic consequences as well as its

intervention effects. The intensive interviews are also used to local authorities and experts to

have a better understanding of these policies as well as effectiveness from the state and local

government’s perspectives.

Figure 2: Mường Hoa Commune in the Sa Pa Tourism Map

(Source: Sa Pa’s planning report for community tourism, 2019)

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Third, community asset mapping is another method used to explore community assets

and seek community solutions in response to the pandemic. To effectively mobilize local assets

in pandemic circumstances, the study applies the Asset Based Community Development

(ABCD) approach, a strategy for sustainable community-driven development. The appeal of

ABCD lies in its premise that communities can drive the development process themselves by

identifying and mobilizing existing, but often unrecognized assets, and thereby responding to

and creating local economic opportunity. Community asset mapping is used in all three research

sites. Participants include representatives of local tourism business owners, local handicrafts,

tour guides, other local tourism service providers, and residents.

Finally, the institutional approach, which requires policies need to be well matched with

people’s demand or problems, especially, vulnerable groups, also be used in the data collection

and reporting stages. During the data collection stage, the institutional approach allows

conducting information on current policies dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic from the state

and local informants to have a better understanding of the state strategies and policies and their

consequences to the studied population. Furthermore, adopting the institutional approach at the

reporting stage is to advocate policies and seek collaborations from related provincial and

district governmental offices, mass organizations, and other partners to disseminate the findings

in practices. In order to do so, local authorities are engaged in the study from the early beginning.

4.2 Data Collection

Fieldwork activities for data collection were carried out sequentially as follows: include:

(1) Consultation in Sa Pa town with 2 main activities: group discussion with town authorities

and in-depth interviews with typical cases; (2) group discussions and in-depth interviews in

Muong Hoa and Ta Phin communes. In fact, the group discussion with the local authorities in

Muong Hoa could not be done as expected due to the coincidence of another meeting between

the commune leaders and provincial authorities. The working plan with villagers in Muong Hoa

also had to be changed to the evening meeting instead of the day because of harvesting seasons

in the area, (3) sharing the preliminary report, (4) consultation workshop for final report

preparation and finalization.

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IV. Main findings

The main objective of the study is to understand the impacts of Covid-19 on the ethnic

groups whose work-related to tourism in Sa Pa, the effectiveness of current campaigns, and

suggestions for recovery and sustainable tourism development among ethnic minorities

5.1 Data description

The study was conducted based on data collected from more than 100 group discussion

participants. Accordingly, district officials participating in the discussion are 8, tour booking

agencies and hotel in the district are 4, at commune level: 20, and at villages: 90. In which,

female accounts for 57%, male 43%; Dao ethnic group accounts for 42%, H’Mong people 38%,

Kinh people (15%) Tay and Nung groups 5%. Ta Phin commune accounts for 50%, Muong Hoa

commune 37%, and 13% are officers and company owners from Sa Pa. Out of 90 participants

in the villages, the number of people who own the homestays is 16, providing food services is

9, selling handicrafts as souvenirs are 10, the local tour guide is 33, motorbike taxi is 5 and doing

other jobs related to tourism activities: 17.

Figure 3: Gender of research participants

Figure 4: Ethnicity of research participant

Male43%Female

57%Male

Female

42%

38%

15%

5%

Dao

Hmong

Kinh

Other ethnicminorities

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Figure 5: Living places of research participants

5.2 Asset mapping by sites

The assets and potentials of the surveyed communes are analyzed based on Asset Based

Community Development (ABCD) approach. There are 5 types of assets including

- Human asset: individual skills / indigenous knowledge and labor force

- Social asset: relationships, traditions, and culture.

- Natural asset: land, rivers, mountains, and weather/climate.

- Physical asset: infrastructure, equipment for production, and daily life.

- Financial asset: cash and other values that can be converted into money.

The table below are local assets of Muong Hoa and Ta Phin communes.

Table 1: Local assets of Muong Hoa and Ta Phin communes

T Mường Hoa commune Tả Phìn commune

Human asset - Planting (rice) on sloping

land / terraced fields

- Tourism service skills

(homestay, tour guide…)

- Planting flax,

- Planting orchids

- Tourism service skills

(homestay, tour guide,

cooking, traditional bath)

37%

50%

13%

Mường Hoa

Tả Phìn

Thị xã

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T Mường Hoa commune Tả Phìn commune

- Weaving/ dyeing brocade

fabrics from flax

- Hand embroidery

- Knife forging

- Silver carving

- Collecting cardamom

- Planting pears and peaches

(selling fruit or branches)

- Exploiting forest products

from the forest (cardamom)

- Collecting and processing

medical herbs for a traditional

bath

- Brocade embroidery

- Drum making

- Winemaking

Social asset H’Mong culture and related

festivals. There is a cultural

space of the H’Mong like the

ancient village of Tan family,

the traditional forging village.

Red Dao culture and related

festivals such as the “Cap

sac” ceremony, the traditional

wedding of the Red Dao.

Natural asset - Majestic nature with

mountain, wide land, and

many beautiful landscapes for

tourism development such as

Ngua Bay waterfall, orchid

hill, chestnut hills, bamboo

forest,

- Good climate

- Good landscapes for tourism

development such as Ta Phin

cave, protected forest areas,

medicinal plant, and herb

forests.

- Orchid/flower farms for

check-in

- Streams flowing through

some villages

Physical asset - All inter-village roads have

been covered with concrete

- Having community centers

(halls)

- Stable electrical system

- All houses have internet and

wifi

- All inter-village roads have

been covered with concrete

- Having community centers

- Stable electrical system

- All houses have internet and

wifi

- Having a good system of

local grocery shops and

communal market

Financial asset - The main source of income

for households comes from

homestay service and other

additional tourism services

- The main source of income

for households comes from

homestay services, medical

herb bathing services, or

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T Mường Hoa commune Tả Phìn commune

- Some households have

income from knife forging/

brocade fabrics weaving

- Some households can get

some income from collecting

cardamom in the forest

- Some households have land

accumulation and can

mortgage when necessary

selling medical herb bathing

gel

- Another significant source

of income is growing and

selling orchids

- Some households have land

accumulation and can

mortgage when necessary

5.3 Key stakeholders in Sa Pa’s community-based tourism value chain system

Below are the main stakeholders and actors in community-based tourism value chain

system:

Figure 6: The main stakeholders and actors in community-based tourism value chain

system

The roles of the stakeholders in the above diagram are as follows:

- Stakeholders (enabling actors) that create the environment for the operation of the chain

of as well as state management of tourism activities include: Sa Pa Town People’s Committee

and Commune People's Committees. Next is Sa Pa’s Culture & Information Department which

Local Travel Organization and

Booking

Transportation service groups

Local tour-guide groups

Accommodation services (homestay

owners)Restaurant owners

Grocery shop owners

Handicrafts female retailer groups

Cultural activities and entertainment service households

Enabling

actors:

- Sapa Town

and

Commune’s

People

Committees

- Sapa’s

Culture &

Infor. Dept.

Supporting

actors:

- Sapa’s

Tourist

Association

- Bank and

local credit

organization

- Investors

- Lao Cai

Vocational

Training School

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is responsible for the orientation and development of tourism activities.

- Stakeholders (supporting actors) support the operation of the chain including Sa Pa

Tourism Association; Local banks and credit institutions; Private investors; and Lao Cai

Vocational Training School, which provide basic training in English, customer service,

cooking…. for households doing tourism activities in the communes.

- Key actors in the value chain include local tour operators; households providing

transportation services including motorbike taxi and taxi; groups of households to act as a local

tour guide; homestay facilities and medical herb bathing services (mainly in Ta Phin commune),

restaurants, grocery shop owners, groups of women selling handicrafts and finally, households

that provide cultural experience services to tourists.

5.4 Ethnic minority participation in the tourism supply chain

According to the report of the Sa Pa’s Department of Culture and Information, ethnic

minorities in the area participating in tourism through providing homestay services, handicrafts,

and souvenirs, tour guides, motorbike taxis, agricultural products to the restaurant system. The

study shows that by May 2020, Sa Pa town has 607 household registering accommodation

services with 6710 rooms and 13191 beds.

While a large proportion of hotels and motels are concentrated in the central wards of Sa

Pa town, such as Phan Xi Pang (17.58%) and Sa Pa (74.55%). Homestays are mainly located in

communes, with 247/277 homestays. In which, Ta Van commune in the commune with the most

homestays established, 96 homestays (34.66%), followed by Muong Hoa communes, 43

homestays (15.52%), Ta Phin 34 homestays (12.27 %), and Ban Ho with 30 homestays

(10.83%). All remaining communes also have homestays but less than 10%. Most homestays

have been run by local ethnic minorities, about about 70% in Ta Van by mainly H'Mong and

Giay, about 88% in Muong Hoa by H'Mong group, and 89% in Ta Phin by Dao group. Beside

accommodation (homestay) service, traditional cuisines of ethnic minority are also offered to

tourists as an additional service. Ethnic minorities also provide food services which often

attaches homestay services. In addition, traditional medical herb bathing service is also one of

the popular services in Sa Pa, they operated mainly by the Dao and concentrated in Ta Phin

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commune. Ethnic minorities, especially H’Mong and Dao people, also provided tour guide

services and transportation activities (motorbike taxi). However, most of them are part-time and

informal work, simple tasks. In addition, items and services that they provided are often at low

prices. Ethnic minority-owned homestays also often only obtain single guests, short length of

stay, and depends much on the tour guides and the tour companies in Sa Pa and Hanoi, so their

revenue is often low. According to Lao Cai’s Department of Culture, Sport, and Tourism, there

was about 2000 ethnic minority people involved in tourism in Sa Pa. However, a study shows

that the proportion of ethnic minorities who benefit from Sa Pa’s tourism industry still accounts

for a low proportion of the total population in Sa Pa (La Thi Bich Quang, 2018).

Table 2: Accommodation Service Providers in Sa Pa

No Awards/Commune

Hotels/Motels Homestay

Total Num. % Num. %

1 Cầu Mây 2 0.61% 27 9.75% 29

2 Hàm rồng 11 3.33% 0 0.00% 11

3 Ô Quý Hồ 0 0.00% 2 0.72% 2

4 Phan Xi Păng 58 17.58% 0 0.00% 58

5 Sa Pa 246 74.55% 1 0.36% 247

6 Sa Pả 13 3.94% 0 0.00% 13

7 Bản Hồ 0 0.00% 30 10.83% 30

8 Hoàng Liên 0 0.00% 17 6.14% 17

9 Liên Minh 0 0.00% 12 4.33% 12

10 Mường Bo 0 0.00% 5 1.81% 5

11 Mường Hoa 0 0.00% 43 15.52% 43

12 Ngũ Chỉ Sơn 0 0.00% 7 2.53% 7

13 Tả Phìn 0 0.00% 34 12.27% 34

14 Tả Van 0 0.00% 96 34.66% 96

15 Thanh Bình 0 0.00% 3 1.08% 3

Total 330 100% 277 100% 607

Sources: Department of Cultural and Information

21

Meanwhile, hotels, motels, restaurants, and other services locating in the center are mainly

run by Kinh people. Most of these facilities are well invested, well managed and well connected

with travel agents and companies. Therefore, they have more customers and revenue compared

to the ethnic minority owner- facilities. According to Lao Cai’s report, Kinh people working in

the tourism industry in Sa Pa account for 67% of the total labors in 2016 (La Thi Bich Quang,

2018), about 7000 people in 2020.

5.5 Influence of the Covid-19 pandemic on the income of the ethnic minorities working in

tourism in Sa Pa

Figure 7 shows that, after nearly 10 years of high growth, the Sa Pa tourism industry has

suffered great losses. The number of tourists coming to Sa Pa has decreased significantly. After

reaching 1 million tourists since 2015, especially more than 5.1 million tourists in 2019, Sa Pa

has only reached more than 700,000 tourists in the first 9 months of 2020, only 30% compared

to the same period in 2019. While the pandemic has not shown signs of being completely

overcome and only 3 months left to the end of the year, the number of Sa Pa visitors is unlikely

to exceed 1 million at the end of the year.

Along with the decrease in the number of tourists, revenue from tourism also decreased in

Sa Pa. It is considered a bumper year for the tourism revenue of over 9,000 billion VND in 2019,

this figure is only 2300 billion VND for the first 9 months of 2020. These figures mean that

nearly 10,000 workers involved in the tourism and services industry face threats losing their

jobs. This means about 7000 people are Kinh and 3000 people are ethnic minorities working in

the tourism industry in Sa Pa are vulnerable.

The survey conducted in September 2020 by the Sa Pa’s Department of Culture and

Information of Sa Pa shows that the Covid-2019 pandemic has caused 270 tourism business

shutdown. In which, 136 homestays had to completely shut down. They are mainly located in 3

places: Cau May (27), Ban Ho (30), Hoang Lien (17) accounting for 50% of the total. Although

homestays in Ta Phin and Muong Hoa have not completely closed, the service capacity used is

just under 10%. Also, 43 hotels and motels were closed, accounting for 16%, 36 restaurants,

account for 13%, were closed and the rest of services such as souvenir sales, herbal baths,

transportation have 55 cases closed, accounting for 20%.

22

Figure 7: Tourists flows and revenue in Sa Pa from 2015 to 2020

Four tour operators and hotels that have relationships with and often send tourists to visit

or stay in the communes of Muong Hoa and Ta Phin are selected to survey the impact of Covid-

19 on their business situation including Cuong Huong company, Sa Pa EcoLodge Joint Stock

Company, Huong Sen Hotel, and Golden Villa Hotel. According to the companies and hotels,

the first 9 months of 2020’s revenue is decreased by 70-95%. All most all the businesses in Sa

Pa maintain minimal staffing. For example, one of the above companies only retains 5/20

employees enough to operate in a minimal capacity. A representative of one of the above

businesses said: “Our company is at the point of death. We only earned 70 million Dong from

the beginning of the year until now compared to 3 billion Dong in the previous year. We will

try to maintain our operation, however, if it is still affected by the epidemic, we may have to

close”.

The results of focus group discussions and in-depth interviews showed that the Covid-19

and government anti-pandemic programs affect the income of people engaged in tourism

activities. According to participants in Muong Hoa and Ta Phin communes, homestays targeting

1,114,000

1,699,0002,277,400

5,507,000

9,300,000

2,362,000

991,361 745,000

1,460,270

2,132,000

2,974,000

686,480 208,369 250,000 259,370 288,000 320,000

74,667

1,199,730 995,000

1,719,640

2,420,000

3,294,000

761,147

2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 T9/2020

Revenue Domestic visitors International visitors Total visitors

23

foreign tourists lose 100% of their income, while homestays often welcoming domestic tourists

gain only 10% compared to the previous year. Other services such as motorbike taxi, the tour

guide have also had absolutely no guests since the pandemic began. Businesses providing

cultural experiences, agricultural products for the tourism system also had their revenue reduced

by up to 90%.

Mr. Tan A L, owner of a homestay expressed: “My family and the other households

who are doing homestay business in the village have almost no customers since

national social distancing because we mainly welcome international tourists. Domestic

visitors do not like to stay in our homestay facilities very much because it does not

have a toilet in each room”.

For Muong Hoa and Ta Phin communes, the households participating in the tourism supply

chain are as follows:

Table 3: Types of tourism services by sex of ethnic minority households

Commune Homestay

facilities

Catering

services

Selling

handicrafts

Local

tour

guide

Motorbike

taxi

Other

related

services

Mường Hoa

(# of

household)

3 0 5 24 3 10

Tả Phìn

(# of

household)

12 9 6 9 2 7

Service/job

by sex M-F M-F F F M M-F

The survey results show that the participation of two sexes in tourism services has been

clearly divided as follows: a tour guide and handicraft selling are by women, transportation

services (motorbike taxi or taxi), silver carving and knife forging by men. When the Covid-19

epidemic takes place, women lose 100% of their income because the main source of income is

from (international) tourists. Knife smithing and silver carving male workers/masters still have

24

a temporary income from domestic sales (to local residents and Vietnamese tourists).

Transportation service households can earn some money but very little.

Mr. Chau A S, who is running a taxi service said: “Before the Covid-19, making 10-

12 million Dong per month was very easy. Now I hardly touch my car except someone

in my neighborhood hires me. I have earned almost nothing in recent months. I also

do not want to run a taxi service in the downtown Sa Pa because it is far from home

and it costs me some money to drive down there”.

According to data from the Department of Culture and Information of Sa Pa town, H'Mong

people had the highest proportion of homestays closed by Covid-19, 45%, followed by the Tay

(28%). ), Kinh people (19%), and Dao people (8%). Meanwhile, 43 hotels and motels of Kinh

people also closed completely.

The group discussions show that the ethnic differences in homestays which were a closed

result from differences in location, service types, market targets rather than the ethnic identity

itself. For example, while Kinh people mainly focus on business in restaurants, hotels, travel

services, and tour organizers, and they are mainly located in the town center. Ethnic minority

groups such as H’Mong, Dao, and Tay mainly take advantage of the residential area and family

facilities to provide community tourism services, especially homestays. In Muong Hoa

commune, the tourism services are mainly ethnic cultural experiences and homestays attracting

foreign tourists. In Ta Phin, the community-based tourism products go along with the Dao ethnic

culture such as traditional medical herb bathing experience often attracts domestic customers.

In addition, Covid-19 resilience is also governed by the ability of community resources

mobilized in each business. The study shows that, while ethnic minorities mainly take advantage

of family facilities and housing to provide homestays and catering services. Many other outside

investors, mainly Kinh ethic people, use loans from commercial banks to run their business.

Therefore, when the market fails due to the Covid-19, local businesses still can run at a minimum

cost like the cost of living of a household, external investors or loan-based businesses have to

close since they cannot afford overhead costs without customers.

Mr. Nguyen Van A, an outside investor in homestays in Muong Hoa commune said:

“It is true that we are all influenced by Covid-19. But if there are no tourists, local people still

25

have fields and gardens to work for their survival. They still have something to eat because

people mainly use their family's facilities to run their homestay business. But we are not like

them. We have to borrow a lot from banks. If there are no tourists we would have died. We are

the people most severely affected by the Covid-19”. During the data collection, there was local

leaders and residents agreed with this statement. Mr. Ly Lao B, a local government leader in

Muong Hoa commune said: “It is true that Covid-19 had a huge impact that reduced our income,

however, villager's lives were still normal. We did not have customers, we still cultivated fields,

grew vegetables, raised chickens…”.

In summary, although the Covid-19 reduces the number of tourists and it reduces the

income of all businesses, households, and individuals engaged in the tourism supply chain, these

influences differ mainly depending on service types, customers, and the way that business

mobilizes resources to run their business. Therefore, while H’Mong and Dao groups doing their

business mainly based on their own resources are likely to be less vulnerable/more resilient than

Kinh people who are in large scale businesses with well investments or loans-based businesses.

5.6 Influence of the Covid-19 pandemic on the livelihood strategies of ethnic groups

working in tourism

To stop the virus from entering and spreading within the country, Vietnam had to apply

social distance and limit travel in some areas, and closed the border for most countries.

Therefore, people involved in the tourism sector in Sa Pa have made important adjustments to

their livelihood strategies.

First, reforming tourism business models. The results of group discussions and in-depth

interviews show that most the ethnic minorities in both Muong Hoa and Ta Phin communes

remain in the tourism sector chain by choosing cost redundancy or cost-minimizing strategies

or find new markets.

Cost reductions have been made in most of the homestays in Muong Hoa and Ta Phin. It

has been done by cutting down workers and replacing them with family labor.

Mr. Vang A C, an owner of a homestay in Muong Hoa commune, said: “In the past,

we hired cleaners and cooks to serve diners. Because of the Covid-19 and no tourists

26

coming, we gave them a break. When we were lucky enough to have some guests

coming to stay, we did the cleaning by ourselves and sometimes had to refuse catering

services”. Ms. Ly Mo D, the owner of a traditional medical herb bathing business in

Ta Phin said during she was processing the herbs with her husband in the yard: “We

used to hire two villagers to do things like this, now we have to do it by ourselves.

Before the Covid-19, people come to sell leaves, we often accept easily because we

know that the work so hard to get them, and they are poor. But now we cannot, we

have to choose to reduce the poor-quality herbs to reduce input costs.

Cost redundancies are also achieved through facilities suspending or cutting down new

investments or stopping upgrading facilities. Ms. Ly Muong E, the owner of a homestay in Ta

Phin, said:” We used to have a plan to invest in more traditional bathing rooms and upgrade the

facility so that we can welcome more guests. However, for now, we have to stop everything to

cover current maintenance costs”.

Finding new customers and new markets is also a strategy used by ethnic minorities

working in the tourism sector in both Muong Hoa and Ta Phin communes. Especially in Muong

Hoa commune when the customers are mainly international tourists who are not expected to

come back early during the Covid-19 circumstance.

Mr. Vang A C said: “We are looking to the way that we can reach more domestic

tourists, especially visitors coming as groups instead of focusing the foreigners for my

homestays”.

Expense discounts and promotions for services are also used to attract visitors once the

social distance is no longer applied and tourists return. For some tourism services, the absence

of tourists due to pandemic s is also an opportunity to review their facilities, gradually upgrade

and improve the quality of the infrastructure. This is usually something that is difficult to do in

the normal tourism seasons.

Ms. Ly Mo E said: “Our family had a plan to upgrade the family room to welcome

more guests coming with their family, however, due to a large number of customers,

it could not be done in the past, now is the time to do it. Furthermore, I also would like

to upgrade my facility so that I can provide guests rooms with better quality after the

27

pandemic ends”. Ms. Ly Mo D also said: "On the occasion of the absence of guests,

my husband and I are taking advantage of investment to expand a few extra bathrooms.

Last year, guests had to wait for hours for their turn in the yard because we did not

have enough rooms.

Second, reforming livelihood models. Focus group discussions and in-depth interviews

show that changing livelihood models from the tourism industry to other businesses is quite

common in Muong Hoa and Ta Phin. Some people quit completely from tourism services to

other businesses, some others only partially reform while continuing to combine tourism with

other sectors to have a diversified livelihood model.

Mr. Vang A F, an owner of a homestay in Muong Hoa commune, decided to quit his

tourism business and return to farming. Mr. Ly Lao T, another homestay owner in Ta

Phin commune decided to hand over the facility to his wife, and I moved to Yen Bai

to work as a bus driver, T's wife said: “Before Covid, we live together and manages

the homestay, but since Covid-19 spread out up to now, even social distancing was

removed, there were still no guests coming to stay and no income for us. My husband

has to change his job and work far from home. He only can come back home once or

twice a month. I also have to seek herbs to get some extra money for the living which

I did not have to do before”. Ms. Ly Mo D, an owner of the Dao Do bathing facility,

said, that since the Covid-19 came, she had to change her work to be an online seller,

mainly Red Dao traditional medicines.

Changing the livelihood model is quite common for ethnic minorities who work closely

with tourism services such as tour guides, hotel and restaurant staff, motorbike taxi drivers.

When there were no more visitors, they have looked for new jobs, or taken other vocational

training courses to seek other opportunities.

The results of group discussions in Ta Phin commune showed that a young labor force

working in restaurants and hotels attended the garment vocational training course in Hai Duong,

some looking for manual labor locally and are willing to receive a lower-pay than usual.

28

Ms. Ly Mo F, a Red Dao woman who used to be a tour guide with more than 5- years

of experiences, said: “Now I don't know what to do to make money, I used to work as

a tour guide for foreign visitors with many different travel agencies. Currently, I have

to pick up herbs to sell through the day, do not have any specific plan”. Ms. Ly Mo D

said: “My employer used to find to hire daily workers quite difficult, we paid 250,000

VND / workday and fed them two meals with a comfortable dinner, but now I can only

pay 180,000 VND / per day and meal is no longer served, but there are still many

people willing to do it”.

Returning to agricultural activities is one of the relatively popular changes among

ethnic minority households working within the tourism business in Muong Hoa and

Ta Phin communes. The study results show that most of the homestays running by

ethnic minorities take advantage of their own resources and community assets. They

managed both farming and homestays. When the number of tourists is high, the

resources are being prioritized for tourism, but when the number of tourists decreases,

the resource is devoted to agricultural production. Therefore, in the context of the

Covid-19 pandemic, ethnic minorities turned to agricultural production. This is the

main reason that the study participants in the town and two communes said that Covid-

19 has a great impact on income, but does not completely threaten their lives. Unless

they have to borrow heavily from commercial banks to invest in the construction of

accommodation.

Mr. Vang A G, a local authority staff, said that besides the absence of tourists in the area,

the lives of the people of the commune do not have a big impact. This opinion was also shared

by the group discussions in Ta Phin and Muong Hoa.

Tan A L, the owner of a homestay said: “Almost all of the local people here have

farming land. If there are no tourists, they just go back to farming. Some other

households will go to the forest to collect cardamom and sell for income”.

Third, while the adjustments of livelihood strategy is a relatively favorable issue for ethnic

minorities, it is a real obstacle for the Kinh people, who are outside investors or employees in

the tourism industry in Sa Pa.

29

One of their first challenges was to maintain their business when there were no tourists.

Cost-cutting is of course an obvious solution, but they still need to ensure basic operations to

their maintain business. This is different from ethnic minorities when they use their own living

facilities and daily activities for services and have little or no cost to maintain the system.

Mr. Nguyen Van B, the owner of a hotel in the center of Sa Pa downtown, said:

“Fortunately, the hotel invested by my family and my savings. So I don’t have to pay

loans or interest for now. However, to survive, we still have to reduce staff. Works in

the hotel are done by family member. There is only one receptionist hired now, and

she have to do other tasks like cleaning, too. I personally no longer work as tour guide

but spend that time to support my hotel”.

One reluctant solution when the costs cannot be recovered is to close the businesses. This

is a relatively common solution. According to the Sa Pa’s Department of Culture and

Information, out of the 272 business closed by the Covid-19, up to 150 businesses (56%) were

owned by Kinh people.

Another adjustment of Kinh-owned businesses is finding new markets, for example

expanding into the domestic tourist market; linking with the partners from neighbor provinces

to expand the tour routes.

Mr. Nguyen Van A, said: “I cannot close my hotel because I want to keep the

remaining traditional passengers, besides reducing costs and providing promotion to

attract customers, I look for new customers. Based on my network, I tried to connect

to tour operators in Hanoi and other provinces. This is what we are more advantageous

than the ethnic minority people because we have economic potential and relationship”.

In summary, it is obvious that the Covid-19 pandemic lowers down the income of ethnic

groups whose work relates to tourism sectors. In addition to that, it has fundamentally changed

the livelihood strategy of the ethnic minorities in Sa Pa town. Such strategies include cutting

costs; adjusting and upgrading service infrastructure to suit the new pandemic context; adapting

new business models based on their available resources; or going back to agriculture. For the

Kinh group, it seems that they are more vulnerable than H’Mong and Dao. Their strategies used

30

is also cost-cuttings, business closed, and seeking for new customers which is they have more

advantage compared to the minority groups.

5.7 Influence of the Covid-19 pandemic on changing ethnic minority’s daily life

The Covid-19 pandemic has also changed somewhat in the lives of ethnic minorities

working in the tourism industry. People in both Muong Hoa and Ta Phin communes said that

their lives have changed a lot because of the Covid-19 such as living habits change and lifestyle.

Ms. Ly May E said: “In the past, despite being busy with work, my family still had a

lot of time together, we took care of the children together. But since the Covid-19

came, my husband had to go down to Yen Bai to drive, and come home a couple of

times a month. My eldest daughter has to send it to Sa Pa town for schooling and stay

over there with my relatives, while I have to take care of the baby and look after the

house”.

Most of the group discussions in Ta Phin said that after a long time with a favorable

livelihood and income, the Covid-19 has reduced their revenues and income significantly. So

everyone has a sense of spending more economically.

Ms. Ly Mo D said: “Before, my husband and I rarely had to think about how to spend

economically. My family cooks for my parents (although they live in different houses),

cooks for the employees. But until now, we no longer can do so, my parents also cook

for themselves and my staff can no longer have free meals. Now whenever I go to the

market, I have to think to buy more to get a better price and keep them in the

refrigerator. If in the past when I bought herbs, I bought them all whenever someone

delivered them, now I can only buy selectively.

In summary, although it may not be the most affected group, ethnic minorities participating

in the tourism sector have had to change and adjust their consumption and living behavior

towards cutting down and efficiency in response to the economic shock of the Covid-19.

V. Policies on overcoming the Covid-19 consequences and accessibility of the ethnic

minorities in Sa Pa

31

6.1 Policies on the Covid-19 pandemic implemented in Sa Pa town

First, the major direct policy to support people facing difficulties caused by the Covid-19

pandemic is indicated in the Government's Resolution No. 42 / NQ-CP of April 9, 2020. Aiming

at 7 groups with respective levels of support, namely:

Group 1: The employee working under the labor contract regime, having to agree to

suspend the labor contract, take leave without pay for one month or more due to the difficulties

of enterprises caused by Covid-19, and have no revenue or financial resources to pay salaries.

Support level 1.8 million VND/ month.

Group 2: Loan support (interest rate of 0%, a maximum loan term of 12 months) for

employers with financial difficulties and has paid at least 50% of the salary in advance for

employees, to pay the rest of the salary.

Group 3: Individual business household with a tax return of less than 100 million VND /

year, temporarily suspending business from April 1, 2020. The support level of 1 million VND/

month, no more than three months.

Group 4: The employee who terminates the labor contract, works but is ineligible for

unemployment benefit, and the employee who does not have a labor contract loses their job. The

level of support is 1 million VND / person/month, not exceeding three months.

Group 5: The people with meritorious services to the revolution and are enjoying the

monthly preferential allowance, the support level of 500,000 VND / person/month, paying once

for all three months.

Group 6: The social protection beneficiary receiving the monthly social allowance. The

support level is 500,000 VND / person/month, paid once for all three months.

Group 7: The poor, near-poor households in the list of the poor and near-poor households

as of December 31, 2016, and recognized by the authorities according to the national standards.

The support level is 250,000 VND / household/month, paid once for all three months.

Secondly, the support from the local government with fundraising by the Provincial

Fatherland Front, supporting rice for households in difficult circumstances.

Third, the supports of non-governmental organizations, charity programs of

philanthropists.

32

6.2 Results of supporting programs

Implementing Resolution No. 42, by the end of August 2020, according to the report of

the Department of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs, the People's Committee of Sa Pa town

has supported 22,284 subjects qualified the requirements of the resolution. Specifically, there

are 3 main groups of beneficiaries that have received support: poor and near-poor households

21,501 (96%), social protection beneficiaries 713 (3%), and people with meritorious service 70

(less than 1%).

In terms of supporting workers and enterprises: The Division of Labor, Invalids, and Social

Affairs has advised supporting 4 companies, 10 business households, 28 workers in Sa Pa ward

due to job loss from May 4,5,6 / 2020. The total number of supported employees: 153 employees

with a support budget of 244 million VND.

According to people in Ta Phin commune, some households in the group of artisans also

receive support for rice through the artisan club, but these supports are very small.

33

6.3 Access to support programs of ethnic minorities working in the tourism industry in Sa

Pa

The support program under Resolution No. 42 has been disseminated and widely spread

out through ethnic minorities via many different channels, such as radio, television, newspapers,

social networks, and public meetings. In addition, grassroots officials also conducted

information and inspection of direct beneficiaries in the community. Therefore, people and

ethnic minorities are basically informed about the program's preliminary information.

However, the results of group discussions in the town, Muong Hoa and Ta Phin communes

show some problems in the implementation process of resolution No. 42 for ethnic minorities.

Firstly, although Covid-19 affects all parts of society, especially the 7 groups of subjects

mentioned in resolution No. 42, however, the study shows that the group received the most

support was not the group directly hurt by the Covid-19. For example, the poor and the near-

poor and the social protection groups and the people with meritorious services are the most

vulnerable, but their living did not strongly attach to tourism sectors therefore they may not be

the most vulnerable by the Covid-19 and the anti-Covid-19 campaigns by the government.

Meanwhile, the most direct influences are enterprises, households, workers in the tourism sector

who have not received support from this program.

Ly A G, a leader of Muong Hoa commune said: “It is true that the poor, the near-poor

face difficulties in their lives, but people working in the tourism sectors are the ones

really need help due to the Covid-19 consequences”.

This fact is also presented in figure 8 showing three main groups of beneficiaries that have

received support from Resolution No. 42 in Sa Pa, including: poor and near-poor households,

social protection beneficiaries, and people with meritorious service.

34

Figure 8: The implementation of Resolution No. 42 in Sa Pa

Secondly, paperwork requirements for beneficiaries are complicated, thus many ethnic

minorities who work in the tourism sectors and got significant influence by the Covid-19 could

not be able to apply successfully the supports. Even though they are clearly considered as

beneficiaries under Resolution No.42. For example, ethnic minorities work as a professional

tour guide. However, because they did not work for only one tourism company so they could

not be able to find evidence that they are full-time workers and lose their jobs caused by the

Covid-19 pandemic. In addition, ethnic minorities who used their own house to operate the

homestay model could not qualify due to a lack of a certificate of fire protection. Some homestay

owners also complained that they did not know about the regulation of business establishment

so they did not know how to register for taxpayer – another requirement for the support.

Sung Thi S, a local tour guide in Muong Hoa commune expressed: “Criteria for

businesses to receive support from the Government including (i) having revenue below

100 million Dong per year, (ii) have a business license, (iii) have a tax code. Or, if the

employee is unemployed, he or she must have a labor contract. But in reality, none of

the households or the unemployed in the village meet above criteria”.

35

VI. Solutions to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic and develop sustainable tourism

among ethnic minorities in Sa Pa

The effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the tourism development of ethnic minorities in

Sa Pa town confirm that livelihood models based on internal resources can cope and recover

better from the economic shock. Therefore, the solution direction to recover and develop tourism

for ethnic minorities - vulnerable groups should be based on the assessment and identification

of potentials and strengths of each locality, and in the spirit of maximizing local resources to

actively implement activities to restore and develop tourism products to meet the needs of the

market, at the same time spending on sustainable tourism development.

In order to gradually develop livelihoods, especially in the tourism field of ethnic

minorities in Sa Pa town, it is necessary to focus on the following solutions:

In the short term, first, it is necessary to continue to better implement the pump priming in

tourism effectively. In addition to continuing to encourage businesses to participate in tourism

stimulus programs by reducing service prices, it is necessary to promote communication

activities, promote tourism, and reduce or suspend entrance fees to tourism attraction landscapes

which have been managed by Sa Pa town.

Second, promote capacity building for ethnic minorities to participate in the field of

tourism (homestay, tour guide, souvenir sales, catering services). Consider the time of tourist

absence as an opportunity to assess and recognize the capacity of the tourism industry in ethnic

minority communities. Enhancing their capacity to meet the increasing demand for tourism

quality also need to be seriously considered.

Third, along with capacity-building activities, technical assistance, market linkages in

redirecting/expanding domestic arrivals are very necessary for the current period. In fact, the

models of cultural experience tourism, homestays are mainly passive in attracting international

tourists and fragmented in attracting domestic tourists.

Fourth, supporting the development of diversification of tourism products in order to

attract more tourists, especially domestic tourists, in the context of returning international

36

visitors will need more time. The current tourism services of ethnic minorities are still mainly

focused on foreign tourists.

Fifth, support linking and finding markets for locally existing endemic products. The

results of the resource analysis in Muong Hoa and Ta Phin communes show that, although the

local people can grow good agricultural crops for income generation such as organic vegetables,

herbs, and orchids in Ta Phin commune, they have not paid attention in this due to better income

generation from tourism. Therefore, people in both Muong Hoa and Ta Phin were not interested

in developing appropriately their local specialty agricultural products. Now the tourism is quiet

because of Covid-19, finding markets for local special agricultural products not only helps

people to have more income but also more ways to diversify their livelihoods.

In the long term, it is necessary for local municipalities to review, revise, and/or renew

existing tourism strategies/planning to ensure tourism and service activities in each locality are

diversified and consistent with the approved national tourism development criteria while

maximizing the potentials and resources of the locality. Based on the assessment of potentials,

strengths, and available resources, there are plans to develop new livelihoods for ethnic

minorities in the area.

VII. Conclusion

The Covid-19 pandemic deeply affects all areas of economic development and all aspects

of society. Especially in the tourism sector, the pandemic, along with policies to prevent its

spread at different levels, has severely reduced the number of domestic and international tourists.

Thereby reducing the income of people working in the tourism product supply chain, including

ethnic minorities, who are just beginning to find livelihood opportunities in this field.

Research in Sa Pa town indicates that, the impact of the pandemic on the livelihoods of

ethnic minorities, the H’Mong and Dao people are clear and their adjustments in the livelihood

strategies and consumption behaviors are an inevitable. In addition, they also need to adjust the

business model gradually to be more efficient and sustainable. This study shows that tourism

service providers based on the promotion of internal strengths have developed their strengths in

37

resisting the economic shock caused by the Covid-19. Meanwhile, businesses that are based on

pure investments, especially from outside the community are seriously hurt. The demonstration

for this is impacts of the Covid-19 on Kinh people who are business owner and employees. Their

living is very much depending on their tourism business. In a nutshell, ethnic groups (H'Mong

and Dao) participate in most of the links in the community-based tourism value chain, while

Kinh people only participate in a few chains such as tour-booking, homestay and restaurant.

However, the ethnic group's lifestyle is to both participate in tourism service provision based on

their assets and still maintain agricultural activities for self-sufficiency, it helps them to make a

better response to pandemic; and social distancing is not an issue for them. Meanwhile, the Kinh

participate in some links of the value chain as external investors, using leverage of loans or other

external assets to make large investments. They are heavily affected by the pandemic and will

need more time and resources to recover than ethnic groups.

In the context of unpredictable economic shocks, research shows that, in order to ensure

sustainable livelihoods for ethnic minorities, livelihood strategies should be based on available

resources in the community. Ethnic minorities and themselves must truly master such

livelihoods on a basis to better meet market demand. That requires the state to perform well in

the role of creating an investment and business environment. At the same time, the government

together with non-state organizations (such as businesses, NGOs), supports and connects

resources and markets to maximize the potential of ethnic minorities. This is a condition to

ensure the development of sustainable tourism models among the ethnic minority community.

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