Case Study Heritage, education and processes of change in Vietnamese rural tourism: A case study from Ho ˆ . i An Thu Thi Trinh Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, Vietnam Chris Ryan University of Waikato, New Zealand Hung Duc Bui Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, Vietnam Abstract While the notion of farm tourism is not new in tourism studies, it continues to evolve and take forms not previously examined. This article describes the development of this form of tourism on the out- skirts of Ho ˆ . i An (a World Heritage Site in Vietnam) as a farming sector seeks to build on a demand being created by visitors to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization gazette site. Based on 27 informants, the article examines the nature of the agritourism products and their move towards sustainable tourism in response to demand. The article highlights (a) the nature of the products, (b) the opportunity provided by proximity to a World Heritage Site and (c) the educa- tional background of the farmers and suggests that levels of education possess importance by enabling entrepreneurs to acquire business skills not previously available to earlier generations. In identifying this, the article contributes to a literature on how tourism products evolve in developing countries, for not only does education create skill sets but also creates an awareness of the commercial and social values of traditions and the need to retain this as expressions of cultural patterns of life. Keywords Agritourism, heritage, sustainable development, Vietnam Introduction Tourism brings with it both positive and negative impacts (McKercher, 1993) in changing relation- ships between host communities, visitors, natural environment and expressions of culture (Lind- berg et al., 2001). On the one hand, it can gen- erate a range of social and economic benefits but, on the other hand, it can also be a destroyer of tradition, undermining social norms and econo- mies, degrading social structures and stripping communities of individuality (Riasi and Pour- miri, 2016). The potential dangers posed by tour- ism to traditional and culturally rich patterns of life are particularly higher in rural destinations characterized by overdependence on agriculture and having relatively low incomes (Anabestani, 2014). Under these circumstances, the advan- tages of tourism in providing opportunities and economic benefits for the poor can yet reinforce more inequalities of income despite seeking to Corresponding author: Thu Thi Trinh, Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, Hanoi, Danang 550000, Vietnam. Email: trinhthudng@gmail.com Journal of Vacation Marketing 1–17 ª The Author(s) 2020 Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions DOI: 10.1177/1356766720904753 journals.sagepub.com/home/jvm