Entrepreneurialism and Tourism in Contemporary Vietnam examines the intersection of entrepreneurialism and the tourism industry in modern-day Vietnam and uses case studies from tourism operators in Ho Chi Minh City to understand the effects of market reforms on Vietnam’s society. The primary argument undertaken in this study is that in order to understand changes to the Vietnamese economy, one must take an approach that combines the “cultural” with the “economic.” The tourism case studies presented here collectively demonstrate that there is no easy analytic distinction between the cultural and economic dimensions of the Vietnamese tourism industry. The empirical material is primarily drawn from interviews with private tour operators and participant observation on tours. This book also examines the collaboration between the private sector and the Vietnamese government in the tourism industry. These coordinative entrepreneurial relationships between two unlikely bedfellows are shaped by the interpersonal exchanges that produce the tourism cultural-economy. Lastly, there are links between entrepreneurialism, tourism, and other case studies in urban Southeast Asia illustrated in the conclusion.

Vietnam has experienced rapid growth within its tourism industry during the past decades. This growth is part of Vietnam's opening economy allowing a wide range of forms of tourism. Vietnam Tourism: Policies and Practices provides a comprehensive review of tourism development in Vietnam. Part I outlines the history of tourism, the role and involvement of public and private sectors in governance and planning, and the markets for tourism. Part II offers analysis and assessment of various types of tourism in Vietnam, including marine and island, eco, heritage, dark and community-based tourism. Part III centres on current operational issues of tourism, hotels and events. Written by scholars with extensive research experience on tourism in Vietnam this book is a reliable source of reference for students, researchers and industry practitioners who are interested modern tourism specifically in Vietnam and Southeast Asia.

This book studies the dramatic changes in consumption patterns in Vietnam over the past decades, combining a focus on everyday practices and societal transformations. Zooming in on the new urban middle classes, and through in-depth case studies in the realms of mobility, food and energy, the book brings new insights to some of the most urgent global sustainability challenges. Based on a decade of research in Vietnam, the book aims to contribute to better understanding one of the most fascinating ‘development success stories’ in the world. It introduces the term ‘consumer socialism’ to analyse some of the contradictions embedded in the socialist market economy. Simultaneously, the book aims to contribute to strengthening consumption research in and on emerging economies, and for this purpose develops a theoretical approach focusing on social practices and the political economy of consumption.

Focusing on the practices and politics of heritage-making at the individual and the local level, this book uses a wide array of international case studies to argue for their potential not only to disrupt but also to complement formal heritage-making in public spaces. Providing a much-needed clarion call to reinsert the individual as well as the transient into more collective heritage processes and practices, this strong contribution to the field of Critical Heritage Studies offers insight into benefits of the ‘heritage from below approach’ for researchers, policy makers and practitioners.

This book is intended for policy-makers, academics and students of development studies, area studies, political economy, geography and political science. Three of the best global performers in terms of economic growth are authoritarian states led by communist parties. The ‘socialist market economy’ model employed in China, Vietnam and Laos performs better than the economic systems in countries at a similar level of income per capita on a wide range of development indicators, yet market reforms and governance failures have led to highly unequal societies and significant environmental problems. This book presents the first comparative study of development in these three countries. Written by country experts and scholars of development studies, it explores the ongoing quest for market versus state within their model, and the coherence of their development. Chapter 5 is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

In Experiments in Skin Thuy Linh Nguyen Tu examines the ongoing influence of the Vietnam War on contemporary ideas about race and beauty. Framing skin as the site around which these ideas have been formed, Tu foregrounds the histories of militarism in the production of US biomedical knowledge and commercial cosmetics. She uncovers the efforts of wartime scientists in the US Military Dermatology Research Program to alleviate the environmental and chemical risks to soldiers' skin. These dermatologists sought relief for white soldiers while denying that African American soldiers and Vietnamese civilians were also vulnerable to harm. Their experiments led to the development of pharmaceutical cosmetics, now used by women in Ho Chi Minh City to tend to their skin, and to grapple with the damage caused by the war's lingering toxicity. In showing how the US military laid the foundations for contemporary Vietnamese consumption of cosmetics and practices of beauty, Tu shows how the intersecting histories of militarism, biomedicine, race, and aesthetics become materially and metaphorically visible on skin.

This open access book seeks to understand why we consume as we do, how consumption changes, and why we keep consuming more and more, despite the visible damage we are doing to the planet. The chapters cover both the stubbornness of unsustainable consumption patterns in affluent societies and the drivers of rapidly increasing consumption in emerging economies. They focus on consumption patterns with the largest environmental footprints, including energy, housing, and mobility and engage in sophisticated ways with the theoretical frontiers of the field of consumption research, in particular on the ‘practice turn’ that has come to dominate the field in recent decades. This book maps out what we know about consumption, questions what we take for granted, and points us in new directions for better understanding—and changing—unsustainable consumption patterns.

This book makes general considerations regarding global changes and contemporary economic issues in Asian countries in real terms. It offers a collection of original conference papers from the annual international conferences on “Contemporary economic issues in Asian countries” (CEIAC Conference) commenced in 2022 in collaboration with CIFOR-ICRAF, Sungkyunkwan University (Korea), and Tamkang University (Taiwan). The theme of the CEIAC Conference 2022 deals with broad aspects of the contemporary economic issues in Asian countries. It covers topics such as economics and business (economic theory, national and international income distribution, macroeconomic policies, sectors of economy, productivity developments, financial market, business governance, bank financing, etc.), green economy and sustainable development (developing process, development policy, public policy, sustainable growth, green growth, etc.), and international trade and investment (international trade theory, free trade agreements, tariffs, intellectual property, international law, etc.). The book would interest a wide array of professors, researchers, lecturers, students in fields of economics, consultants, and decision makers interested in the issues related to economic issues in Asia.

While there have been numerous books and articles written on the popular topic of microfinance , few books have been written on the business model behind it: the microenterprise . Due to its diversity of thought and high quality of chapter contributions, this book is poised to be the book on microenterprises . Contemporary Microenterprise is a collage of the latest research and viewpoints on the subject by recognized academics and experts from around the globe. Through the confluence of diverse and profound voices from around the world, very small (micro) businesses have proven to be the most prevalent and fastest-growing business form, and a suitable model for enterprise survival and success in a challenging global economy. Joseph Mark Munoz has brought together an international cast of contributors, and draws insights from concepts and cases from locations such as Vietnam, the United States, Latin America and Africa. The chapters include conceptual frameworks and research that yield valuable lessons and practical business solutions. The broad scope of this compendium, coupled with its careful attention to detail, will be of critical value to business students and their professors, industry executives, government officials, policymakers, consultants and entrepreneurs.

The Handbook of Tourism Entrepreneurship outlines the foundations of success in the tourism sector, examining the ways in which small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) can become economic engines for tourism destinations by boosting regional growth and prosperity.