ASSESSMENT OF SOCIAL CARRYING CAPACITY FOR SUSTAINABLE TOURISM DEVELOPMENT AND MANAGEMENT OF HA LONG BAY WORLD NATURAL HERITAGE SITE

Abstract

World Natural Heritage Ha Long Bay has diverse resources and outstanding universal values in terms of landscape, geology and geomorphology, have created huge advantages for tourism development of Quang Ninh province. However, rapid tourism development has created many negative impacts on the environment, and the heritage conservation, as well as putting pressure on the ability of the heritage site to meet social needs of visitors. UNESCO has recommended that countries should assess carrying capacity for managing tourism activities and heritage value preservation. This study focuses on the social capacity of Ha Long Bay based on resident's and visitor's perception of crowding in order to estimate the maximum acceptable number of visitors. The total social capacity for tourism activities in Ha Long Bay is about 172.150 visitors per day. This capacity depends heavily on the social awareness, directly local people and tourists. The study result is the basis for Quang Ninh to have solutions to manage and develop sustainable tourism in Ha Long Bay