Position and Methodology
This paper presents two primary positions: (1) changes in the tourism accommodation
sector in Vietnam since the beginning of the doi moi programme have been characterised
and, to a certain extent, driven by the dynamic interactions between state-owned
enterprises, foreign direct investment and domestic private operators in this sector, and
(2) these changes are linked to the political, social and economic changes occurring in
Vietnam within this period of transition. To articulate these positions in detail, the author
has divided the development of Vietnam’s accommodation market since the beginning of
doi moi in 1986 into five periods, each of which represents a distinct stage in the
development of the two above-mentioned historical narratives (“bracketed” in this paper
by the pre-1986 state preceding doi moi and the current developments and future
outlook).
This research incorporates a series of interviews conducted by the lead author
with administrative figures in two international hotel chains, seven state owned hotels
and three guesthouses at different locations in Vietnam. These were supplemented with
interviews with a senior expert in hotels from the Vietnam National Administration of
Tourism (VNAT) and a senior official of the Foreign Investment Agency, Ministry of
Planning and Investment (MPI).
Because the research aims at understanding change over a period of years, one
criterion for the identification of interviewees was the length of time that they had been
continuously operating in the Vietnamese tourism sector. Firms, organisations and
individuals that have been active in Vietnam tourism from before doi moi were the most
valuable sources of information in this respect, because of their ability to see patterns
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over a longer period of time, in some cases since before the beginning of doi moi. Since
the state had a monopoly on tourism businesses before 1986, the longest-established
hotels and firms are by nature government-owned. Thus, mostly state-owned hotels and
tour operators were targeted for interviews. For private and foreign actors, such as SMEs
(Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises) and FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) firms,
interviewees were chosen from firms that have been established since the early days of
doi moi and which have experienced the full history of the development of private and
FDI enterprises in Vietnam tourism. Interviews with representatives of government
bodies were sought in order to understand changes in tourism policy from the point of
view of those charged with its formulation and enforcement. While these criteria were
applied to the prioritisation of certain potential interviewees over others, it was not
always possible to gain access to the first-choice interviewees. Thus, a degree of
flexibility had to be exercised in replacing filling-in for desired but inaccessible
interviews.
The author strove to verify and corroborate interview results by addressing issues
through multiple lines of questioning aimed at different interviewees at different levels or
sectors, such as the interviewing of representatives of the VNAT as well as private, stateowned
and international operators in the accommodation sector. Interviews with
representatives of government bodies often served the purpose of verifying the findings
obtained from other primary sources such as interviews with representatives of tourism
businesses.
Significance of the study