Ethnic minority communities in north Vietnam will spend a year recording the impact of outdoor tourism on their lives for an international study led by the University of Cumbria.

The project will seek to find ways that tourism companies can operate so they benefit local ethnic communities and the environment.

Dr Jamie McPhie, associate professor of environmental humanities and social science at the university and principal investigator on the project, says outdoor tourism is a growing market in Vietnam.

It can involve everything from activities such as trekking, and other outdoor pursuits, to ecological and ethnic tourism.

"When performed as a vehicle for colonialist activities it can have a devastating impact on vulnerable communities,” said Jamie.

The negative effects can include marginalising people - particularly women - for behaviour which may be seen as inauthentic by their peers.

(Image: Dr Lisa Fenton)

However, Jamie says there is other evidence which points to a positive impact, including increased self-advocacy for women who act as guides.

It is hoped the study can reveal the true positive and negative impacts of outdoor tourism by getting a firsthand perspective.

The study will use a method named Participatory Action Research, which will involve 30 people from Hmong and Tay ethnic minority groups spending a year documenting the effect of outdoor tourism on their lives and environment using digital Polaroid cameras.

These will include female guides who make money leading visitors on treks.
The study will also carry out a series of focus group meetings to discuss the photographs and the issues they raise.

Jamie will fly out to Vietnam in November to carry out focus groups with the communities and distribute the cameras.

More focus groups will be carried out a year later and the photographs will be collated and exhibited at Kendal Mountain Festival in November next year, as well as used to produce academic papers and potentially a book.

Jamie will be joined in the project by co-investigator, Dr Lisa Fenton, from University of Cumbria, an expert in ethnobotany and ethnobiology.

They will be working with Dr David Clarke, a lecturer in outdoor and environmental education at the University of Edinburgh and academics based in Vietnam.