Promoting The Role of Fishing Communities in Developing Fishing Village Cultural Tourism in Thanh Hoa Province

The article examines the contribution of the fishing communities to the development of fishing-village cultural tourism in Thanh Hoa Province. The research indicates that the fishing communities of Thanh Hoi have unique cultural values (the whale-worshipping ritual festival and traditional crafts)-a strength of the sustainable tourism development based on a review of the community-based tourism theory and a field survey conducted on the community. Nevertheless, the extent of fishermen involvement in tourism activities is low and mostly passive or drawn in in the presence of a dependency on state, and deficiency of professional skills and poor connections with the stakeholders. To address these issues, the article proposes that the position of fishing communities should be enhanced as significant actors-no only to enhance livelihoods but also to preserve the culture of fishing-villages. Lastly, it suggests some of the solutions: strengthening of fishermen tourism-skills training; the development of community-based tourism models in the Thanh Hoa region associated with fishery villages; policy and resource-based provision to strengthen the engagement of the community in the tourism value chain; and the coordination of the actions of the government, enterprises, and communities towards sustainable fishing-village cultural tourism.