Tourism, social networks, and community development: a case study of a coastal Vietnamese village.

This article investigates how tourism employment is integrated into the rural Vietnamese community of Viet Hai, emphasizing the role of social networks in shaping local involvement. Based on forty in-depth interviews, it finds that villagers with dense external networks linking them to tourism operators and strong kinship ties are more likely to access tourism-related jobs and resources, while those with weaker networks face exclusion and rely on traditional agriculture or aquaculture. Tourism has diversified local incomes and contributed to community development but has also intensified income disparities among villagers. The study suggests that local governments should facilitate connections between villagers and tourism operators and highlights the potential of social media and agritourism to support more inclusive and sustainable rural development.