First Trip Complete. Needs Assessment. Outcomes.

Chris Bottrill (Dean, Faculty of Tourism, Capilano University) and Chris Carnovale (Capilano Tourism Graduate) completed the first of seven trips to Sapa early July. Along with Tran Nu Ngoc Anh (Vice Head of Tourism Lecturer) and student Bich, from Hanoi Open University, the team conducted a needs assessment and secured partnerships with the Sapa Authority, Sapa Sport Culture and Tourism, and the Taphin Community.

Among the activities on our first trip, meetings, discussions, interviews and workshops were held with:

• Regional and local governments;
• Local women / street-sellers;
• Small local business owners;
• School teachers;
• Women's Union;
• Local youth;
• Sapa tour guides;
• Sapa tour operators.

The key issues that arose in the meetings, discussions, interviews, workshops, and observations included:

Positive Results

• Tourists' homestay experiences have been generally positive for tourists;
• All stakeholder groups are aware of problems associated with aggressive street-sellers;
• Street-sellers and community members see the benefit of setting up a type of stall/market for selling to tourists;
• Community groups have expressed a willingness to learn;
• Local community members have recommended topics for possible training areas;
• Community has shown an increase in self-confidence;
  

Challenges

• Street-sellers are hurting the tourist experience in Taphin village, especially on half-day trips from Sapa;
• Street-sellers do not understand the negative impact they are having and how to change;
• There are communication gaps between the tourism networks (government, community, private sector);
• The community does not yet know how to get together to solve their tourism-related problems;
• Individual people and stakeholder groups work separately from each other;
• A lack of capacity (skills, knowledge, and resources) for business development exists in the community;
• Village is looking increasingly dirty and locals do not know how to manage the environment;
• Villagers are discontent about the current outdoor market (opened the weekend we arrived) for various reasons.
  

Training Plan

• Training for local community members of Taphin in: business development, understanding the tourist, better selling skills, looking after the environment, and developing events;
• Training for local government on community based tourism planning;
• Planning for a Taphin community house that is a central place for community members and tourists, and designed by locals for locals.