Sharing heritage-related revenues with local communities for the long-term conservation of Hoi An Ancient Town, Vietnam

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by Nguyen Le Thuong, Hôi An Center for Cultural Heritage Management and Preservation

Installation of wooden structures for a traditional house

Hoi An Center for Cultural Heritage Management and Preservation

The restoration and maintenance of vernacular heritage and traditional houses can be financially demanding and many buildings inside the World Heritage site of Hoi An Ancient Town were in danger of collapse. To support local communities, the Hoi An city People’s Committee established a programme in which the revenues generated by the sale of entrance tickets are shared with local communities by providing financial support to restore heritage buildings, and generate income for the owners of houses and buildings that have been selected for tourist visitation. The programme also financially supports families living in Thanh Ha pottery village through monthly salaries for craftsman's families to ensure that they can continue working on local craftsmanship and contribute to the revitalization of local culture as well as participate in cultural events to raise awareness of local communities about values of their heritage and strengthen local sustainable tourism opportunities.

Last update: 22 Oct 2022

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Context

Challenges addressed

Conflicting uses / cumulative impacts

Changes in socio-cultural context

Poor governance and participation

Unemployment / poverty

Scale of implementation

Local

Ecosystems

Area-wide development

Buildings and facilities

Theme

Sustainable financing

Infrastructure maintenance

Local actors

Traditional knowledge

Outreach & communications

Culture

World Heritage

Location

Hội An, Quảng Nam, Vietnam

Southeast Asia

Impacts

Restorations are conducted and supervised by the Hoi An Center for Cultural Heritage Management and Preservation. They liaise with the homeowners, inform them of the budget needed, how much percent the government pays, and enquire them if they can pay the rest of the budget. If homeowners are not able to pay the remaining costs of the work, the Centre helps them to get 3 years no-interest loans from the bank.
Thanks to the financial support provided, house owners can fulfil conservation obligations and they are willing to stay in their ancient houses. They follow heritage conservation regulations and duties and at the same time this allows them to receive better incomes.
The programme helps to maintain the values of the site and the intangible traditions of communities living inside and outside the World Heritage property of Hoi An Ancient Town.
The participation of the Center and the support financial for restoration of houses help to safeguard the contact and authenticity of OUV of Hoi An
Supports provides to craftsman has also led to a diversification of the local tourism offer and it has helped reduce the concentration of large number of tourists in one place.