INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF TOURISM RESEARCH

Int. J. Tourism Res. 2, 269280 (2000)

War as a Tourist Attraction: the Case of

Vietnam
Joan C. Henderson*
Lecturer in Marketing and Tourism Management, Nanyang Technological University, Nanyang Avenue,
Singapore 639798

ABSTRACT
This paper considers the challenges involved
in the presentation of war as a tourist
attraction, using the example of recent
conicts in Vietnam and a particular site
there to illustrate the issues which arise. It
begins with a general discussion about war
and tourism, and then moves on to examine
the development of tourism in Vietnam and
the place of wartime heritage. Various
aproaches to interpretation are identied and
the problems facing those responsible are
highlighted. The dilemma is one of achieving
a satisfactory balance between education and
entertainment while providing an
appropriate experience for visitors who come
with different needs and expectations.
Political circumstances represent an added
complication. Copyright # 2000 John Wiley
& Sons, Ltd.
Received 16 October 1998; Revised 10 April 1999; Accepted 5
May 1999

Keywords: interpretation and presentation;

tourist attractions; Vietnam; wartime heritage.
INTRODUCTION

artime events and sites represent

important tourist attractions, drawing visitors to a diversity of locations such as those related to the Napoleonic

* Correspondence to: Dr. Joan C. Henderson, Department

of Marketing and Tourism Management, Nanyang
Technological University, Nanyang Avenue, Singapore
639798.
E-mail: ahenderson@ntu.edu.sg

Wars, American Civil War, and First and

Second World Wars as well as more recent
conicts. However, they pose a series of
challenges with regard to presentation and
interpretation because of the sensitivity of the
subject matter. There is a potential conict
between the functions of education and entertainment and the problem is compounded
when those affected by the circumstances
depicted are still alive, leading Tunbridge
and Ashworth (1996) to comment that `living
memory must expire before the question can
be dispassionately weighed' (p. 115).
This paper considers the case of Vietnam,
which is making use of former wars in
developing its range of visitor attractions,
and raises questions about the appropriateness
of such an approach, responses to it and the
ethical dilemmas involved. The particular
example of the `Cu Chi Tunnels' site provides
an illustration of the difculties faced. The
study is an exploratory one, but aims to offer
an insight into the appeal and meaning of
wartime heritage attractions for both residents
and visitors, and the responsibilities of providers in achieving integrity with regard to
presentation and interpretation. The ndings
also have implications for Vietnam's efforts to
develop and market its wartime heritage
successfully to international tourists.
THE ACADEMIC FRAMEWORK
The central role occupied by attractions in the
tourism industry is apparent, Gunn (1994)
describing them as constituting `the most
powerful component on the supply side of
tourism . . . the energising power unit of the
tourism system' (p. 57) with purposes of
providing visitor satisfaction, enticement and
stimulating interest in travel. The size and
Copyright # 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

270
diversity of the sector makes classication
necessary (Cooper et al., 1996) and has also
generated a series of studies on different
aspects of attractions, including their distribution, appeal (Pearce, 1997) and management
(Swarbrooke, 1995). Historical resources of
various types emerge as of great signicance
world-wide, and the uses and abuses of history
by tourism have generated a literature of their
own.
Hewison (1987) describes a process of
commodication and trivialisation, where history has been replaced by a heritage industry
that presents a false view of the past. There is
more concern with providing opportunities
and settings to satisfy contemporary society
and commercial interests than accurately
portraying the realities and complexities of
historical gures, events and processess. A
major concern has been with authenticity and
its place in the tourist experience (MacCannell,
1976), recent commentators claiming that this
is rarely found in any objective form and
remains an articial construction or existential
concept (Wang, 1999).
These discussions touch on, and have
implications for, the choice of interpretation
and presentation techniques used at attractions, a subject explored by Nuryanti (1996),
Boniface (1995) and Hall and McArthur (1993).
The responses of visitors to sites and ways of
measuring and meeting their needs and
expectations also have been examined (Beeho
and Prentice, 1997; Moscardo, 1996), with
results suggesting the importance of providing
intellectual challenge and meaningful encounters while also offering an enjoyable and
entertaining time. How visitors experience
attractions is recognised as an area for further
investigation, especially those that deal with
difcult and controversial themes such as war,
and the whole question of war tourism can be
viewed as a subeld of the study of heritage
attractions. Seaton (1999) uses the term of
thanatourism to dene `travel to a location
wholly, or partially, motivated by the desire
for actual or symbolic encounters with death'
(p. 131), although other motivations such as a
search for knowledge or something different
may also result in visits to war-related sites.
Smith (1996) discusses anthropological studies of warfare and the tourist attractions
Copyright # 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

J. C. Henderson
based on it, dating attempts to `link war and
the pleasure periphery' to the mid-1990s and
identifying `warfare-tourism genres' as `the
heroic past', `remember the fallen', `lest we
forget', `when we were young' and `reliving
the past' (p. 205). Uzzell (1989) writes of the
dilemmas of the interpretation of war and
conict and Tunbridge and Ashworth (1996)
analyse the relationship between heritage
tourism and atrocities, including those taking
place during or as a result of war. The
difculties of dealing with war and its outcomes are highlighted, alongside the almost
inevitable tensions, with attention also given to
management decisions and options available.
More recent articles have looked at war and
tourism within the context of Paris during
World War Two (Gordon, 1998) and North
America (Smith, 1998), again in the context of
the Second World War and its aftermath.
Smith explains how war can stimulate tourism
as a consequence of technological advances
and demographic change, returning to the
argument that `despite the horrors of death
and destruction (and also because of them), the
memorabilia of warfare and allied products
probably constitutes the largest single category
of tourist attractions in the world' (p. 131).
To date, the emphasis has tended to be on
European and North American cases, but the
AsiaPacic is becoming a source of more
examples, with Peleggi (1996) commenting on
the Second World War attractions being
developed and promoted in North Thailand
and Henderson (1997) on those of Singapore.
The former uses the example of the bridge over
the River Kwai at Kanchanaburi, the construction of which caused an estimated 106 000
deaths in the Second World War, to illustrate
how a location that is `testimony of a tragic
past can be neutralised as a sort of mini-rail or
disguised as a picturesque element of the
landscape' (p. 443). The approach evades
many of the controversial issues arising from
interpreting the heritage of such a site, and also
may stand in the way of visitors making sense
of it. Smith (1996) cites the Vietnam War to
illustrate the difculties for societies of both
coming to terms with defeat and celebrating
victory, as represented by attractions and
reactions to them.
As more countries in the region, and SouthInt. J. Tourism Res. 2, 269280 (2000)

War as a Tourist Attraction

east Asia in particular, are turning to tourism
as a vehicle for reconstruction and economic
development and have identied periods of
turmoil and war as possible themes of appeal
to visitors, it would seem timely to extend the
debate to the Indochinese nations of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, which have been
seriously affected by violent conict in this
century. Here, circumstances in terms of stage
of development, state of the tourism industry,
and immediacy of the happenings commemorated are likely to be different to those of the
West and to yield a distinct set of challenges
and possible solutions. Vietnam, as one of the
countries severely damaged by a war from
which it is still struggling to recover, would
seem to be an appropriate location to focus on
in pursuit of a better understanding of the
subject.
The question of the attitudes of visitors and
residents to Asian wartime heritage sites has
been largely neglected to date and must be
taken into account by both academics and
practitioners. Although a comprehensive survey was beyond the scope of this preliminary
study, some comments are made and it seems
likely that improved appreciation of visitor
needs would help the effective presentation of
material and the successful management of
sites. These nations would thereby be assisted
in their marketing and development efforts
and a more sustainable use of resources
encouraged.
The case is based on eldwork conducted by
the author on a visit to Vietnam in 1998,
supplemented by desk research and information provided by ofcial authorities. It has
proved difcult to access data, either because
relevant statistics were not available or sources
were unwilling to release material. It has not
yet been possible to formally interview guides
or conduct a survey amongst visitors to the Cu
Chi Tunnels complex, the particular attraction
selected as an illustration. There is thus a
reliance on personal observation and informal
conversations, and the limitations of this
approach are acknowledged.
VIETNAM IN CONTEXT
Vietnam forms part of the Indochina peninsula
with Cambodia and Laos, running 1700 km
Copyright # 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

271
from north to south and 50 km from east to
west with a total area of 330 341 km2. It is
largely agricultural and forests and mountains
occupy about 75% of the country, offering
attractive landscapes of wild mountains and
tropical rainforests. Other natural features
include an extensive coastline, beaches, lagoons, marine islands, rivers and deltas as
well as a rich diversity of plants and animals.
The population of 75.1 million, a 1997 estimate,
is expected to rise to 90 million by 2000
(Jansen-Verbeke and Go, 1995) and most
reside in the Red River delta in the north and
Mekong River delta in the south. The climate
varies from north to south, but generally
conditions are hot, humid and dry except for
tropical monsoons, which occur from May to
October.
The country has been recognised as having
considerable tourism potential (Cooper 1997)
with its combination of natural resources and
cultural heritage, which includes historic sites,
colonial architecture, traditions and the way of
life of hill tribes in the remote north. Wartime
heritage and especially that relating to the
conict with the USA and its allies is also an
important component, with possibilities for
development identied in the current tourism
Master Plan.
The realisation of such potential has, however, been frustrated by what an Economist
Intelligence Unit Report (1993) describes as
`political instability, followed by partition,
followed nally by an isolationist government'
(p. 61). Circumstances began to change in 1986
when the Sixth Party Congress of the ruling
Communist Party approved a policy of `doi
moi' or economic restructuring, leading to a
lifting of private sector restrictions, new
foreign investment laws, devaluation and
banking reforms. As a consequence, foreign
visitors were actively encouraged and tourist
arrivals began to increase from the 1986 level
of 54 353. By the beginning of the 1990s,
international arrivals were growing by 40
50% on average each year (Nguyen Van Binh
and Le Van Minh, 1997).
Tourist arrivals crossed the million mark in
1994 and reached 1.6 million in 1996. Most
visitors travel for business and originate in the
East Asia and Pacic region, with France the
major long haul market, contributing about
Int. J. Tourism Res. 2, 269280 (2000)

272
10% of total arrivals, followed by the USA with
4.3% and UK with 4.1% (Travel and Tourism
Intelligence, 1997). The country is seeking to
develop a range of tourism products for the
leisure market relating to its culture and
heritage as well as introducing sporting
activities, health tourism and wildlife adventures. A promotion campaign currently underway aims to capitalise on both its ancient and
contemporary histories and includes the 2.7
million American war veterans as a target
market.
The government commitment to tourism is
reected in the 1995 Master Plan for Tourism
Development produced in collaboration with
the World Tourism Organisation, which sets
out a series of objectives and development
strategies. The country is divided into three
major regions and plans are outlined until the
year 2010, with the American war dened as a
principal development orientation and area of
tourist activities. Considerable growth is anticipated, with a target of 3.5 million international arrivals in 2000 and 9 million in 2010.
There is some doubt about whether such
targets are realistic, given the constraints in
operation that are outlined in the Travel and
Tourism Intelligence report. The costs associated with rapid expansion will also have to
be met, including those to the environment
(Vietnam National Administration of Tourism,
1997), but the country would appear to be
about to enter a new phase as a tourist
destination and eager to exploit its available
tourism resources.
VIETNAM'S WARTIME HISTORY
The Vietnam War with the USA has generated
continued debate since it ended in 1975 (Hess,
1994) and an extensive literature on its causes,
conduct and consequences, which it would be
inappropriate to elaborate on. There was
conict before the American involvement,
however, as Vietnam struggled to free itself
from French colonial rule, and some key dates
of the twentieth century (Hoskin, 1995) are
noted below to allow the subsequent account
of attractions to be placed in its historical
context.
1862 Cochinchina in the south created as a
Copyright # 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

J. C. Henderson
French colony
1883 Amman and Tonkin established as
French protectorates in central and north
Vietnam
1924 Ho Chi Minh founded the Association
of Revolutionary Youth, later known as the
Indochinese Communist Party, to oppose
colonial rule
1945 Ho Chi Minh declares himself president of an independent Vietnam and the
French refuse to give up their colonial possessions, leading to the First Indochina War
1954 French defeat at Dien Bien Phu ends
colonial rule. Geneva agreement provisionally
divides the country at the 17th parallel. Ngo
Dinh Diem takes power in South Vietnam,
ending hopes for peaceful reunication
1960 Formation of National Front for the
Liberation of South Vietnam (NLF) prompts
increased USA involvement and the start of
the Second Indochina War
1975 War ends with North victorious over
South. Reunication follows in 1976
A series of wars therefore has taken place in
Vietnam in the twentieth century, with the
French rstly seeking to re-establish their
authority at the end of the Second World War
and then facing resistance as a national
liberation movement developed. It became an
arena in which the Cold War powers of the
USA and the former USSR in an uneasy
alliance with Communist China fought their
battles, and nally was the scene of civil war
between rival Vietnamese factions. Although
there was an interruption between the war
with the French, fought from 1946 to 1954, and
that waged against the Americans and allied
troops such as Australians, lasting from 1965 to
1975, the period as a whole was one of
disturbance and uncertainty.
Thus when Vietnam was united as an
independent and Communist state after the
fall of Saigon in 1975, it had endured almost
three decades of violent conict, perhaps
unprecedented in the annals of warfare. Ruane
(1998) sums up the human cost as `an
estimated half-a-million Vietnamese died during the French war . . . and anywhere between
two and three million indigenous combatants
and non-combatants during the later American war; French and French Union losses
Int. J. Tourism Res. 2, 269280 (2000)

War as a Tourist Attraction

273
WARTIME HERITAGE ATTRACTIONS

Figure 1. Vietnam tourism centres

amounted to 75 000; and by 1975, United States

war-dead had added a further 59 000 to the
grim reckoning' (p. 107). The period between
1965 and 1968 saw over a million tons of
bombs dropped, after which Vietnam became
the most bombed country in history. Much of
the country was devastated by the bombing
and other offensive techniques such as the
widespread use of herbicides to destroy crops
and defoliants to remove jungle and forest
cover. The environmental, economic, political
and socio-cultural legacies of the war still
persist and continue to hinder Vietnam's
advancement.
The presentation of a war of such magnitude
as a tourist attraction and the ways in which it
is received involves and affects government,
the host community and visitors, and attention
now turns to some of these considerations after
a review of sites that take the wartime heritage
of the post-Second World War period as their
subject. A distinction is made between the war
against the French in the 1950s and against the
Americans in the 1960s and 1970s. Figure 1
provides a map of the major centres.
Copyright # 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

There are various approaches to classifying

Vietnam's wartime heritage attractions, including that based on geographical location
and this is the method used by the Vietnam
National Administration of Tourism (1995) in
its Master Plan, which presents the three zones
of Northern Part, Northern Central Part, and
South Central and Southern Part. Each of these
offers sites of signicance related to the
`heritage of standing up to USA and national
salvation' (p. 5). The pattern of distribution
might also be described in terms of nodes,
individually or clustered, and the routes that
connect them (Pearce, 1995). Both perspectives
are incorporated into the discussion below and
the three zones, which together represent a
network of attractions linked by the theme of
wartime heritage, are used as a framework.
Certain nodes, such as major cities, offer a
diversity of features of interest to tourists in
addition to those related to wartime heritage
and therefore exercise considerable power as
attractors.
The linking routes are clearly dened by air
and surface transport services and supporting
infrastructure, and determine the itineraries of
individual travellers and organised groups. It
should be noted, however, that poor communications is a critical problem in parts of
Vietnam and may impede progress towards
the discovery and development of these
attractions, both individually and collectively.
Shortages and standards of accommodation in
secondary nodal sites and along connecting
corridors are further points of weakness,
which the authorities are attempting to rectify.
Region of the Northern Part
The northern section comprises the major node
of Hanoi and the secondary one of Dien Bien
Phu with several war-related attractions to be
found on the route south to Hue, passing as it
does through the old NorthSouth Vietnam
border and Demilitarised Zone. Hanoi plays a
wider role as the capital city with an assortment of attractions, as well as a range of
services and facilities for tourists. It is also a
principal gateway city.
Hanoi was the capital of North Vietnam and
Int. J. Tourism Res. 2, 269280 (2000)

274
the Long Bien Bridge, which crosses the Red
River, was a strategic target during the American war and was attacked on about 200
occasions by bombers. The Vietnamese managed to keep the bridge open and it came to
symbolise the ghting spirit of the people.
Museums in Hanoi that give space to twentieth
century conicts include the Army Museum,
concerned with the resistance to foreign
invaders, the Museum of Independence,
where Ho Chi Minh wrote the Vietnamese
Declaration of Independence in 1945, and the
Museum of the Revolution, which describes
how the country gained its independence.
Another location is the Hao Lo Prison, which
was built by the French and then housed
American Prisoners of War. The site is likely to
be redeveloped, but the intention is to retain
parts of the original building as a heritage
centre.
Dien Bien Phu lies in the northeast of the
country, close to the Laos border, in a fairly
remote valley surrounded by mountains. It
was established as a French base in 1954 with
the purpose of denying the Viet Minh access to
Laos, and became the site of a decisive battle
that lasted for 57 days. The Viet Minh
surprised the French and laid seige to the
garrison, eventually forcing a French surrender. Although there were heavy losses on both
sides, the battle was a turning point and led to
the nal withdrawal of the French from IndoChina. There is now a small museum to mark
the battleeld and a French command post
was reconstructed in 1994 for the fortieth
anniversary. There are still some vestiges of
the engagement, such as bunkers and trenches,
and separate memorials commemorate the
French and Vietnamese who were killed.
The former border on the 17th parallel and
Demilitarised Zone is a unique feature and the
Hien Luong bridge marks the frontier, with the
Demilitarised Zone extending 5 km on either
side. Several American bases were located to
the south including Khe Sanh, which was
contested over for 77 days in a battle that left
500 Americans and 10 000 to 15 000 North
Vietnamese dead. Approximately 67 500 metric tons of bombs were dropped and there is
still a danger from those that lie buried and
unexploded. The area as a whole is now given
over to rubber plantations, but remains hazarCopyright # 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

J. C. Henderson
dous as a result of mines, artillery shells and
bombs.
Region of the Northern Central Part
This region comprises the principal nodes of
Hue and Da Nang, the former also an important historic centre and popular destination.
The legacy of the more recent conicts includes
a small Ho Chi Minh Museum and associations with the Tet Offensive. North Vietnamese
forces occupied the Citadel, the Imperial City
of the Nguyen emperors, and other parts of
Hue in 1968 and fought ercely with the
Americans and South Vietnamese for 26 days
before being defeated. Much of the ancient city
and its heritage was destroyed and the work of
repair and restoration is continuing. There
were also heavy casualties, with American
estimates of 142 Americans, 384 South Vietnamese and 5113 North Vietnamese plus approximately 3000 civilians, some of whom
were executed by the Communist forces.
Contributing to Hue's function as a nodal
centre is the nearby Pagoda of the Heavenly
Lady (Thien Mu Pagoda), which is said to date
from the seventeenth century and is a wellknown Vietnamese landmark. Thic Quang
Duc, a 73-year-old monk from the pagoda,
set himself alight in Saigon as a protest against
ofcial persecution of Buddhists in 1963. The
incident acted as a catalyst to the opposition
movement and became the subject of a press
photograph that was to become world famous.
The car in which the monk drove south can be
seen in the pagoda complex.
Da Nang was where the rst American
military personnel landed on Vietnamese soil
in 1965, transforming it into a large air and
naval base, which became an important enemy
target. Evidence of this period can be found in
the remains of military constructions, and the
nearby China Beach was used for rest and
relaxation by the American troops.
The hamlet of My Lai is situated in the
Central Highlands and was the scene of a
wartime massacre by American infantry units
on a search-and-destroy mission in 1968.
Approximately 504 villagers were killed in
the attack despite offering no resistance, and
they are remembered by a memorial, some
graves and a small museum. Another secondInt. J. Tourism Res. 2, 269280 (2000)

War as a Tourist Attraction

ary attraction is the Ho Chi Minh Trail, which
crosses part of this area. The Trail was a series
of secret supply lines from North to South
Vietnam passing through Laos, which allowed
the transportation of equipment and goods to
the Communists in the south, and was a
symbol of their determination to defeat the
enemy. Notable features along the route
include a Buddhist monastery with a fence
made of cluster bomb casings and the wreckage of a downed American helicopter.
These secondary locations do not t easily
into the node and route model because of their
small scale, relative inaccessibility and comparatively low visitor numbers. They do have
an important contribution to make and complement other primary nodes, although this
may be limited if they are excluded from
clearly dened clusters.
Region of South Central and Southern Part
The main node here is Ho Chi Minh City, or
Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, which
dominates the south of the country and is its
largest city. It contains a series of attractions
related to the war, such as the Ho Chi Minh
Museum located in the ofces of the shipping
company for which he worked, the Museum of
the Revolution depicting the Communist
struggle and the War Crimes Museum displaying photographs of victims and other
material. There is also a War Remnants
Museum, which presents an assortment of
wartime relics and considers the human costs
of the American war.
The Presidential Palace of 1975, made
famous by a photograph of a North Vietnamese tank at the main gate during their
takeover of Saigon, is now called Reunication
Hall. The Hall provides tours of the various
apartments as they were in 1975 and a video
presentation describing the history of the
independence movement. The site of the
former United States Embassy, another wellknown location from Press and television
photographs showing the nal days of South
Vietnam, is found near Reunication Hall. The
building has now been demolished and the
land is scheduled for redevelopment, but
visitors can still look into the compound and
a plinth on the pavement outside remembers
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275
some of the wartime events which took place
there.
Close enough to Ho Chi Minh City for a halfday visit are the Cu Chi Tunnels. The original
tunnels had been started by the Viet Minh in
the 1940s and then extended by the Viet Cong,
as the Communist forces operating in the
south came to be known, who excavated a
network of about 200 km of passages and
amenities to serve as an underground base
very near to the US Army's 25th Infantry
Division camp in the district. The Americans
were aware of the existence of the tunnels and
made every effort to destroy them, including
extensive ground bombing, but found it
impossible to do so. Short sections of the
complex have been opened to visitors and its
characteristics are commented on in greater
detail later in this paper.
Also making up this series of attractions is
Trang Bang, where a photograph of a young
girl running naked down the road after a
napalm attack was taken in the American War.
The image captured the attention of the media,
was circulated around the world and is still
recognised today. The settlement is included in
some organised tours of the region.
Further south lies the Mekong Delta, which
forms an extensive at plain crossed by the
eight mouths of the river and a series of canals.
It was a stronghold of the Viet Cong and the
scene of some of the ercest ghting in the war,
conducted under possibly the worst conditions. Little evidence of the conict survives
and the area has returned to being a major
agricultural producer. It cannot be considered
as a node and is relatively remote, but is still
associated with the war for many Vietnamese
and the international community.
WARTIME HERITAGE ATTRACTIONS: A
REVIEW
This discussion suggests the applicability of
the node and route model in analysing
wartime heritage attractions in Vietnam. It
does not, however, allow for the smaller scale
attractions, which have a more limited appeal
or are difcult to access, and this suggests that
nodes may be of varying scales and levels of
importance. However, if communications are
good and awareness exists, these minor sites
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276
can be packaged and promoted collectively to
establish extended clusters and encourage
development.
There are other possible models to apply in
any such analysis. For example, in terms of
Smith's classication of war tourism, attractions could be categorised as belonging to the
genres of heroic past, remembering the dead,
and reminding existing generations of the
horrors of war and heavy loss of life. The
genres entitled `when we were young' and
`reliving the past' appear less applicable,
although visits by former soldiers could t
into the former category. Battle re-enactments
would appear to have little place in a situation
where many participants are still living and
memories of pain, grief and suffering are
strong.
Attractions might also be assessed according
to presentation and interpretation, which tend
to be conned to conventional techniques, in
this case with museums, commemorative
stones, graves and military relics conveying
the history of the conict, which is also evident
in unmanaged forms such as battle sites,
earthworks, constructions, atmosphere and
sense of place, and environmental and social
damage. Condition is another distinguishing
feature and although many sites in Vietnam
are intact and in a fairly good state of repair, a
fuller inventory would provide a guide to
investment required and the degree of urgency
with regard to conservation and preservation.
Nevertheless, there is an argument that the
country should not dwell too much on its
turbulent past and look to the future, with
economic progress and commercial development taking priority in any decisions about
land use and changes to the built environment.
Heritage attractions in Vietnam and more
widely remain a highly political issue and the
inuence of government policy cannot be
ignored, with recent history being used to
promote a message of unity and solidarity,
directed as much at the resident population as
visitors. Themes of a heroic struggle against
outside invaders, the existence of a strong
national spirit and will to survive, the protection of independence and the importance of
reunication as well as a desire for peace and
happiness are communicated at many of the
sites. Wartime heritage can serve to legitimise
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J. C. Henderson
a government and suppress dissent, especially
important for a regime ruling a country that
has a relatively short history as a unied state,
and creating a further source of potential
conict over interpretation. This type of
agenda is not uncommon elsewhere and
decisions about heritage often remain rmly
in the hands of governments anxious to
present a version of the past that corresponds
with their own interests and agenda (Barthel,
1989). Wartime heritage attractions as propaganda represents perhaps another perspective
from which to approach their study, with a
categorisation based upon the degree of
manipulation and distortion.
There is a danger of overemphasising the
current place of wartime heritage attractions in
Vietnam's overall tourism product and the
tourism experience, but it has been identied
formally as a growth area. There is evidence of
a new enthusiasm for exploiting the war as a
tourist attraction, with ofcial interest as
expressed in the National Plan already discussed, and the possibility of greater commercial activity. Many of the sites have a place in
tours of a general nature, and there are several
companies based in Vietnam that offer trips
with a wartime theme or are especially
designed for veterans from America, Australia, France and Korea. The view of the Director
of the Tourism Department of Da Nang that
`war tourism is big business' (Gluckman, 1997)
would seem to be shared.
The Cu Chi Tunnel complex was selected
to illustrate this shift in policy, reecting a
willingness to invest and introduce more
modern tools of interpretation and presentation. Its rapid growth is recorded by Kelsey
(1994), who notes the change from 1992,
when `the Cu Chi Tunnels have turned into
a tourist attraction, complete with T shirts,
beer and soda, and video presentations', to
1994 when `the transformation of Cu Chi
Tunnels into an amusement park was virtually complete'. It serves as an example of a
new style heritage attraction or theme park in
miniature, which seeks to both educate
tourists and residents and entertain them,
and thus helps to illustrate the conicts and
confusions that can arise in such ventures
and determinants of successful presentation
and management.
Int. J. Tourism Res. 2, 269280 (2000)

War as a Tourist Attraction

277

THE CU CHI TUNNELS

diet of the original tunnel inhabitants. It is

possible, on request, to descend to the second
and third levels, where the tunnels remain
their original size, although the experience is
uncomfortable and requires a degree of agility
that not all visitors possess.
The tour ends at a gift shop, which has an
assortment of items for sale including war
souvenirs such as army helmets, dog tags,
bullets fashioned into key rings and Zippo
lighters (both fake and `genuine'). Postcards
depict daily life in the tunnels and the scenes of
devastation above ground, and there is a small
post ofce from which mail can be sent. There
is also an adjacent ring range where visitors
can shoot replica AK-47 ries at various
targets.
The approach is thus one that combines
education with entertainment and seeks to
serve both residents and international tourists,
the former given reduced entry charges and
often visiting in school parties. The site aims to
inform visitors about the construction, organisation and value of the tunnels as well as
promote understanding about the war and its
consequences for rural life. At the same time, it
offers the novelty of tunnel life at rst hand
and the excitement of using a gun. There are
also opportunities to purchase souvenirs and
refreshments. In addition, there is a strong
element of propaganda, with villagers portrayed as leading lives of bucolic charm before
the war and becoming noble ghters for
freedom during it. The Viet Cong are heroes
prepared to risk all for their country and the
enemy are villains who deserve the harshest of
punishments. This mix of propaganda, entertainment and education may prove an uneasy
and sometimes confusing combination for the
visitor.
There is little attempt to address the complexities of the military and political history of
the period and certain aspects of tunnel life
and warfare are neglected or ignored. For
example, questions might be asked about
fatalities in the tunnels, the risks to villagers
from booby traps and the fate of those who
were not Communist sympathisers. Also, it is
not always clear what is original at the site and
what has been reproduced or on what basis
any reconstruction has taken place.
Critics could claim that warfare has been

Reference has been made already to the

tunnels, and their history from an American
point of view is well documented by Mangold
and Penycate (1985). They provided an underground base for the Viet Cong and allowed
them to continue ghting the American forces,
despite the latter's superior air and land
power, and have now acquired a symbolic
status. In the words of the promotional
brochure, `The Cu Chi Tunnels represent the
will, intelligence and pride of the people of Cu
Chi and symbolize the revolutionary heroism
of Vietnam, Cu Chi has ofcially been cited as
Vietnam's land of steel and bastion of bronze.
Foreign visitors to Vietnam are welcomed to
Cu Chi to understand the hard and protracted
struggle of the Vietnamese people as well as
their keen desire for everlasting peace, independence and happiness'.
The excursion begins at the visitor centre,
which contains a small lecture theatre where
an introductory lm is shown, in a variety of
foreign languages, describing the way in
which the war disrupted traditional rural life,
the Viet Cong's ght against the Americans
and the important strategic role of the tunnels.
Although some of the footage is original,
certain sections depicting the rustic atmosphere and local heroes who were honoured
as `Number One American Killers' appear to
be especially created propaganda material.
The lm is followed by a brief lecture on the
structure of the tunnels, using a map and
model to illustrate the different levels and their
position near to the Saigon river which
afforded an escape route.
Small groups are then shown a display of
booby traps by a guide who explains their
function, followed by a short trail on welldened paths through tropical undergrowth
and passing the remains of an American M-48
tank destroyed by a landmine in 1972. The
staff, dressed in khaki outts of a quasimilitary nature, point out some tunnel entrances and features, leading the party along a
section of reconstructed tunnel, which has
been enlarged to accommodate tourists. The
group is shown a hospital, command post and
meeting room, where visitors are invited to
take tea and cassava, described as the staple
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Int. J. Tourism Res. 2, 269280 (2000)

278
turned into a game of hide and seek in a rustic
and sanitised setting with a failure to communicate effectively the horrors of the war years
and the sufferings of the soldiers of both sides
and the local community. There are photographs of victims on display by the booby
traps, but it is not always easy to make the
connection between the images and the contraptions on show, which were described in a
light-hearted and good humoured manner by
the guides during the author's visit.
Some visitors appear to regard the various
features of the site as a series of unusual
photographic opportunities, offering the
chance to capture friends and family disappearing down a tunnel, standing next to a
rusting plane or tank and nearly being impaled
on bamboo spikes. In such an atmosphere, it is
difcult to respond with the feelings of
solemnity and quiet reection, which it could
be argued the circumstances warrant. The state
of `mindfulness' described by Moscardo (1996)
as a measure of the effectiveness of the visitor
experience at a heritage site is perhaps in
danger of becoming one of `mindlessness'.
The appropriateness of the presentation
therefore can be queried in view of the
sensitivity of the subject matter and the need
to show respect for the dead and injured,
common concerns about the use of war as a
tourist attraction and especially a war where
many of those involved are still alive. Nevertheless, the guides failed to acknowledge any
such problems when asked, claiming that the
war was in the past and that vistors, including
American veterans, found the excursion interesting and enjoyable. As already stated, it was
not possible to conduct a proper survey of
tourists at the site, but those Westerners to
whom the author spoke concured in this view.
A few did nd the strident anti-American tone
of some of the material unconvincing and
refused to take photographs of the booby traps
because it `just did not seem right' to do so.
The subject of responses to the material and
its presentation is a priority for further
research, assessing the reaction of tourists
and especially American and other participants in the war, as well as considering local
perceptions. The author is not aware of any
heritage groups that oppose the development
of the tunnels, but freedom of expression
Copyright # 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

J. C. Henderson
remains constrained and political and cultural
barriers may frustrate an accurate assessment
of popular opinion.
SOME CONCLUSIONS
The Cu Chi Tunnels have established themselves as a destination for many tourists
visiting Vietnam, and their proximity to Ho
Chi Minh City means that they form part of its
nodal cluster of attractions. They also represent a test of the appropriateness of the style of
interpretation and presentation adopted and
its suitability for the international tourists,
which Vietnam must continue to attract if it
is to maintain the momentum of recent growth.
This paper has raised doubts about the effectiveness of the approach used, which is heavy
handed in its use of propaganda in the
introductory lecture and video, thus undermining its educative function, and concentrates on entertaining the audience during the
guided tour.
Here, and regarding Vietnam's wartime
heritage in general, there is considerable scope
for what Tunbridge and Ashworth (1996)
describe as heritage dissonance, with each
party having their own sets of values, attitudes
and experiences, which they bring to the sites.
Satisfying the demands of Vietnamese visitors
who lived through the war years, the younger
generation, returning veterans of various
nationalities and curious tourists from overseas while retaining authenticity and integrity
remains a difcult and perhaps impossible
challenge for the interpreter working within
the connes of a particular political system.
Establishing a form of communication that is
tting and acceptable remains problematic and
much depends upon the background, circumstances and viewpoint of participants. Uzell
writes of the need for `hot' interpretation in
certain cases, which will provide a type of
catharsis, shocking and moving, so that the
visitor is challenged and changed as a result of
exposure to the often harsh realities and
cruelties of past events. Such a method
demands courage and is not always in harmony with the commercial objectives of site
managers, and political imperatives may inuence messages and the ways in which these
are articulated.
Int. J. Tourism Res. 2, 269280 (2000)

War as a Tourist Attraction

Assuming that the pursuit of accuracy and
historical truth should not be sacriced, it can
be argued that there is rarely one single truth
and often many different ways of perceiving it.
Conditions of war and its aftermath compound the problem, as reected in the dictum
that truth is the rst casualty of war; the
danger is that wartime heritage becomes
another casualty vulnerable to exploitation
for economic and political gain as well as
other distortions arising from a confusion of
standpoints and meanings.
Given these difculties, the question of how
such sites should be managed and presented is
a topic for continuing debate, with disagreements likely amongst the various stakeholders.
What would seem important is the need for
honesty and veracity, avoiding the situation
where commercial imperatives or political
expediency dictate decisions. If handled with
care and sensitivity, atrocity and war sites can
play a vital role in improving understanding
and raising awareness of human cruelty and
suffering and perhaps help to avoid its repetition. In this way, wartime heritage attractions
can help tourism to pursue its often quoted,
but frequently derided, vision of being a force
for world peace. To achieve these objectives,
however, attractions require a degree of freedom from political interference and also the
necessary public funding, conditions that are
perhaps incompatible and unrealistic and
compromises might therefore have to be made
if wartime heritage attractions are to survive
and function effectively in the modern world.
This paper has thus attempted to explore
some of the key issues involved in turning war
into a tourist attraction and offers an insight
into both the pitfalls and opportunities of this
process. Clearly this is an area for continued
research, with important questions to be
addressed about whose history is being depicted, in what ways and how it is judged by
different visitors. The response of Vietnamese
nationals is of special interest, given the
concerns about tourism's power to colonise,
commercialise and trivialise the past, although
the collection of such information involves
overcoming several practical and political
problems. The attitudes of former combatants
is another area for study, as are operational
matters of site management, marketing and
Copyright # 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

279
funding. These represent a challenging research agenda, but the results will help to
inform decision making in the future, hopefully assisting Vietnam in its efforts to market
wartime heritage in an effective, appropriate
and sustainable manner.
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