Accomodating traditions of hospitality in a tourist region : the Mekong Delta, Vietnam

While there has been a significant focus on how hospitality was commodified, commercialised and standardised in the literature, less attention is given to the extent of which local traditions and hospitality change and adapt to the demand of tourists. Through an empirically grounded investigation, this thesis at micro-level gives an insight to how local hospitality and traditions in Mekong Delta (Vietnam) transform in homestay practice under the pressure of tourism development. Normally, the local traditions and hospitality are offered by the host and experienced by the guests. However by focusing on contact zone, the settings and decoration of homestays, this thesis shows this mechanism in Mekong Delta is not one way but a dynamic process. The guests do not only passively receive but also have influences on what the hosts can offer. In fact, the homestay providers have capitalised on what tourists want to see. As consequence, local traditions and hospitality are changing and subject to re-invention to adapt to legal requirements, tourists demands, and social context. Ironically, tourists are using homestay believing they are experiencing true Vietnamese culture, while actually the local Vietnamese people are changing their traditional home styles and behaviour to accommodate the tourists.