Economic Assessment of Sanitation Interventions in Vietnam - WSP

Economic Assessment of Sanitation Interventions in Vietnam | Methodsdemonstrate it. Poor sanitation and hygiene may affecttourists in two ways:1. Short-term welfare loss and expenses. Tourists getailments such as diarrhea, intestinal worms and hepatitis,which entail direct healthcare costs, and whentourists are exposed to environments with poor sanitationtheir enjoyment is affected.2. Reduced tourist numbers. In the longer term, touristsstay away from tourist locations that are deemedto be unsafe (from a health perspective) or unpleasant,such as those with unclean water, a smelly environmentor no proper toilets. Tourists may stayaway from Vietnam, either because they have alreadyhad an unpleasant experience and have chosen notto come back, or because they have been advised toavoid a location due, among other things, to poorsanitation.The present study attempts to explore these two impacts viaa survey of non-resident foreign visitors. As well as holidaytourists, business visitors were also included to enable animportant link to be made with the business survey (seesection 3.5.2). A total of 300 tourists and business visitorswere interviewed across the country. It was planned thatthe survey would be conducted at international airports asthe visitors were leaving Vietnam. However, due to strictairport control during avian influenza and other diseaseoutbreaks, this was not possible. Instead, the team, with theagreement of WSP, interviewed tourists during their toursin Vietnam. The study was supported by number of touragencies.Table 13 shows the sample size by type of visitor, majorcategories of nationality, and whether they were return visitorsor not. Among the 300 respondents, more than 60%were from Australia/New Zealand, North America and Europe,less than 30% were from Asia, and only 10% werefrom South America. Although Asian tourists account forthe largest proportion of overall tourists to Vietnam, it wasmuch easier for the survey to approach Western tourists becausethey could speak English and were more familiar withquestionnaire surveys. An approximately equal number ofmen and women answered the questionnaire. The averagenumber of previous trips made by respondents was 1.5,indicating previous experience of Vietnam and suggestingthat the answers given were reliable.The survey form included questions on the following topics:• Length of trip, places stayed and price category ofhotel.• Level of enjoyment of different locations visited, andreasons.• Sanitary condition of places visited, and availabilityof toilets.• Water and sanitation-related sicknesses suffered, perceivedsources, days of sickness, and type and cost oftreatment sought.• Major sources of concern during the holiday stay inVietnam.• Intention to return to Vietnam, recommendation tofriends, and reasons.TABLE 13: BASIC INFORMATION ABOUT THE TOURISTS SURVEYEDVariableAsiaAustralia/NewZealandNorth America andEuropeSouth AmericaNo. of tourists interviewed 76 45 146 33 300Gender (%)Average no. of previous trips tocountry (time)Average length of stay for this trip(day)Purpose of visit (%)Male 53% 42% 61% 39% 54%Female 47% 58% 39% 61% 46%2.4 0.8 1.6 0.2 1.5Total129.6 20.2 40.3 - 58.6Tourism 49% 78% 78% 100% 73%Business 51% 22% 22% 0% 27%28Economic Assessment of Sanitation Interventions