1. Full name of the doctoral student:Phan Thi Hong Giang 2. Gender: Female
3. Date of birth:25/09/1989 4. Place of birth: Phu Tho
5. Decision to admit doctoral studentsDecision No.Decision No. 4055/2022/QD-XHNV dated December 28, 2022, of the Rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities on the recognition of doctoral students in 2022..
6. Changes in the training process:
7.Name topic talent essay case:Linkages in tourism development in Phu Tho province
8. Specialization branch: Tourism 9. Code number: 9810101.01
10. Instructor:Assoc. Prof. Dr.Nguyen Pham Hung
11. Summary of the new findings of the thesis:
11.1. In theory:
This thesis supplements the approach of linkage in intra-provincial tourism development as a level of analysis with its own operating mechanism, distinct from inter-provincial, inter-regional, or international linkages. At this level, linkage is not merely administrative coordination within a province, but a system of relationships between tourism supply-side entities, in which local authorities play a facilitating and coordinating role; businesses, households, and supporting organizations are the direct operators of the linkage network.
This thesis clarifies the concept of "results of linkages within the intra-provincial tourism network of enterprises." These linkage results are not equated with the overall tourism development results of the locality, but are approached at the level of the enterprises participating in the network. This is demonstrated through their ability to access resources, expand cooperative relationships, coordinate value chains, enhance adaptability, improve operational efficiency, and strengthen their position within the intra-provincial tourism network.
This thesis proposes an integrated approach framework based on a combination of stakeholder theory, network theory, business ecosystem theory, resource dependency theory, value chain theory, and competitiveness theory. This approach allows for the simultaneous explanation of three issues: which entities participate in the linkage, how the entities are connected within the network structure, and what factors influence the results of the business linkage.
Methodologically, the thesis combines SNA and PLS-SEM in a complementary interpretive approach. SNA helps identify network structure, subject location, level of cohesion, and fragmentation; PLS-SEM helps examine the impact of internal and external factors on the linkage outcome. Therefore, the thesis not only identifies "which factors have an impact," but also clarifies how those impacts occur within the network context.
11.2.In practical terms
This thesis provides empirical evidence on intra-provincial tourism linkages in Phu Tho province. The research results show that linkages have formed in many aspects such as policies, spatial planning, product development, promotion, human resource training, infrastructure investment, business environment improvement, and environmental protection; however, these linkages are still unstable, with many activities still leaning towards administrative coordination, short-term programs, or events, while market linkages between businesses are not yet truly sustainable.
Through social network analysis, the thesis points out that the core bottleneck of Phu Tho's tourism linkage is the fragmented network, low connectivity density, many isolated entities, and low level of mutual support. This shows that the limitations of Phu Tho's tourism lie not only in resources, products, or markets, but also in the capacity to organize, connect, and operate cooperative relationships within the provincial tourism network.
The thesis clearly identifies the roles of various stakeholders in the network: local authorities and state management agencies play a coordinating role in institutional management; businesses are the direct operators of market linkages; associations, training institutions, craft villages, destination management units, and support organizations act as intermediaries, supplementing resources and connecting information. This result provides a practical basis for designing a mechanism to coordinate intra-provincial tourism linkages in a way that reduces fragmentation, increases connectivity, and promotes the proactive role of businesses.
The model validation results show that both internal and external factors positively impact the results of the linkage, with external factors having a stronger impact. This finding suggests that improving the linkage results of tourism businesses in Phu Tho needs to be done simultaneously in two directions: strengthening the management capacity and internal resources of the businesses, and improving the external linkage environment, especially local policies, infrastructure, resources, support systems, and market conditions.
Based on this, the thesis proposes policy and governance implications to improve the institutional framework for coordinating intra-provincial tourism linkages, develop tourism spaces based on functional clusters, promote public-private partnerships, strengthen the role of intermediary organizations, and enhance the management capacity, cooperation strategies, and network position of local tourism businesses.
12. Thenext research direction
The thesis suggests several directions for further research. First, the research could be extended to other localities to compare models of intra-provincial tourism linkages, thereby testing the universality of the research framework and clarifying the differences in network structure, coordinating role, and level of business participation in different contexts.
Further studies could further develop the relationship between SNA and SEM by designing the data from the outset to incorporate enterprise-level network indicators, such as centrality, mediating role, core-peripheral position, or proximity, into the analytical model as independent variables, moderating variables, or control variables.
Furthermore, the analytical unit can be extended to the tourism demand side to assess the impact of intra-provincial linkages on tourist experience, satisfaction, intention to return, and intention to recommend. This approach helps connect linkage results from the supply side with perceived market value.
Furthermore, further research could examine the role of digital transformation, digital platforms, and digital communication in the formation, maintenance, and expansion of intra-provincial tourism linkage networks; and investigate the transformation of these networks over time under the influence of policies, markets, infrastructure investment, changes in administrative boundaries, and the adaptability of businesses.
13. Related published works
(1). Phan Thi Hong Giang (2025), “Social network analysis of linkages among travel enterprises in Phu Tho province”,Proceedings of the 3rd PUBEC International Conference “Operations Management and Supply Chain in the New Era”, pp. 847–856.
(2). Nguyen Pham Hung, Phan Thi Hong Giang (2025), “The role of stakeholders in tourism human resource training and development linkages in Phu Tho province”,Proceedings of the international conference “Improving the effectiveness of training internationally qualified tourism human resources in the context of integration”, pp. 16–22.
(3). Phan Thi Hong Giang (2024), “Phu Tho (Vietnam) tourism development linkage toward sustainability”,Proceedings of the international conference “Promoting multidisciplinary research on trends and innovations in education to achieve sustainable development goals”, Volume 1, pp. 552–563.
(4). Phan Thi Hong Giang (2025), “Cooperation activities in Phu Tho tourism development”,Journal of Economics and Forecasting(5), pp. 239–242.
(5). Phan Thi Hong Giang, Pham Thi Phuong Loan, (2025), “Experiences of linkage in tourism development and orientation of tourism linkage in Phu Tho province”,Journal of Education and Society, Special Issue (5/2025), pp. 547–552.
(6). Phan Thi Hong Giang (2024), “Linking the development of cultural tourism products in Phu Tho province”,Proceedings of the international conference “Training and Utilization of Human Resources in Cultural Tourism in the Context of International Integration”, pp. 801–815.
INFORMATION ON DOCTORAL THESIS
1. Full name:Phan Thi Hong Giang
2. Sex: Female
3. Date of birth:September 25, 1989 4. Place of birth:Phu Tho
5. Admission decision number 4055/2022/QD-XHNV dated December 28, 2022 by the Rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities on the recognition of doctoral students in 2022.
6. Changes in academic process:
7.Collective tthesis title:Linkages in Tourism Development in Phu Tho Province
8.Wall:Tourism 9. Code: 9810101.01
10. Supervisor:Assoc. Prof. Dr.Nguyen Pham Hung
11. Summary of the new findings of the thesis:
11.1. In theory:
The thesis contributes to the theoretical understanding of intra-provincial linkages in tourism development by conceptualizing them as a distinct level of analysis, different from inter-provincial, regional, or transnational tourism linkages. At this level, linkages are not merely administrative coordination within a province, but a system of relationships among supply-side tourism actors. In this system, local authorities play an enabling and coordinating role, while tourism enterprises, household businesses, and supporting organizations directly operate and maintain the linkage network.
The thesis clarifies the concept of linkage outcomes within the intra-provincial tourism network of enterprises. Linkage outcomes are not equated with the overall tourism development performance of a locality, such as tourist arrivals, tourism revenue, or sectoral growth. Instead, they are examined at the enterprise level, reflecting the extent to which enterprises benefit from their participation in the network through access to resources, expansion of cooperative relationships, coordination within the tourism value chain, enhancement of adaptive capacity, improvement of business performance, and consolidation of their position in the intra-provincial tourism network.
The thesis proposes an integrated analytical framework based on the combination of Stakeholder Theory, Network Theory, Business Ecosystem Theory, Resource Dependence Theory, Value Chain Theory, and Competitive Advantage Theory. This integrated approach makes it possible to explain three interrelated issues: which actors participate in tourism linkages, how these actors are connected within the network structure, and which factors influence the linkage outcomes of enterprises.
Methodologically, the thesis combines Social Network Analysis (SNA) and Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) in a complementary explanatory manner. SNA is used to identify network structure, actor positions, levels of connectedness, and fragmentation, while PLS-SEM is employed to test the effects of internal and external enterprise-related factors on linkage outcomes. This approach enables the thesis not only to identify which factors affect linkage outcomes, but also to explain how such effects occur within a specific network context.
11.2. In practical terms:
The thesis provides empirical evidence on intra-provincial tourism linkages in Phu Tho province. The findings show that tourism linkages have been formed across several dimensions, including policy coordination, spatial planning, product development, tourism promotion, human resource training, infrastructure investment, business environment improvement, and environmental protection. However, these linkage relationships remain unstable. Many activities are still mainly administrative, event-based, or short-term program-oriented, while market-based linkages among enterprises have not yet become sufficiently sustainable.
Through Social Network Analysis, the thesis identifies the core bottleneck of tourism linkages in Phu Tho: the network remains fragmented, with low density, many isolated actors, and limited reciprocity among stakeholders. This indicates that the limitations of tourism development in Phu Tho do not lie only in tourism resources, products, or markets, but also in the capacity to organize, connect, and operate cooperative relationships within the intra-provincial tourism network.
The thesis clarifies the differentiated roles of actor groups in the network. Local authorities and state management agencies perform an institutional coordinated role; tourism enterprises operate directly market-based linkages; while associations, training institutions, craft villages, destination management units, and other supporting organizations act as intermediaries that provide additional resources and facilitate information exchange. These findings provide a practical basis for designing an intra-provincial tourism linkage coordination mechanism aimed at reducing fragmentation, strengthening connectivity, and enhancing the proactive role of enterprises.
The structural model results show that both internal and external enterprise-related factors have positive effects on linkage outcomes, with external factors exerting a stronger influence. This finding suggests that improving the linkage outcomes of tourism enterprises in Phu Tho requires two simultaneous directions: strengthening enterprises' management capacity and internal resources, while improving the external linkage environment, especially local policies, infrastructure, tourism resources, support systems, and market conditions.
On this basis, the thesis proposes policy and management implications for improving the institutional mechanism for intra-provincial tourism linkage coordination, developing tourism spaces based on functional linkage clusters, promoting public-private partnerships, strengthening the role of intermediary organizations, and enhancing enterprises' linkage management capacity, cooperative strategies, and network positions.
12. Further research directions
Firstly, future studies may expand the research scope to other localities in order to compare different models of intra-provincial tourism linkages. Such comparisons would help verify the generalizability of the proposed framework and clarify differences in network structure, coordinated roles, and enterprise participation across different development contexts.
Secondly, future research may further develop the relationship between SNA and SEM by designing data collection from the outset to incorporated enterprise-level network indicators, such as degree centrality, betweenness centrality, core-periphery position, or closeness, into analytical models as independent, moderating, or control variables.
Thirdly, future studies may extend the unit of analysis to the demand side of tourism in order to assess how intra-provincial linkages influence tourists' experiences, satisfaction, revisit intention, and recommendation intention. This direction would help connect linkage outcomes from the supply side with perceived value from the market side.
In addition, future research may examine the role of digital transformation, digital platforms, and digital communication in forming, maintaining, and expanding intra-provincial tourism linkage networks. Further studies may also investigate the evolution of tourism networks over time under the influence of policy changes, market fluctuations, infrastructure investment, administrative boundary changes, and the adaptive capacity of enterprises.
13. Thesis-related publication
(1). Phan Thi Hong Giang (2025), "Social network analysis of linkages among travel enterprises in Phu Tho province",Proceedings of the 3rd Phenikaa University's Business and Economics Conference"Managing Operations and Supply Chains in the New Era", pp. 847-856.
(2). Nguyen Pham Hung, Phan Thi Hong Giang (2025), "The role of stakeholders in tourism human resource training and development linkages in Phu Tho province",Proceedings of the International Conference "Enhancing the Effectiveness of International-Level Tourism Human Resource Training in the Context of Integration", pp. 16-22.
(3). Phan Thi Hong Giang (2024), "Phu Tho (Vietnam) tourism development linkage towards sustainability", Proceedings of the International Conference "Promoting Multidisciplinary Research on Trends and Innovations in Education to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals", Vol. 1, pp. 552-563.
(4). Phan Thi Hong Giang (2025), "Tourism linkage activities in Phu Tho tourism development", Vietnam Economic Forecast ReviewNo. 5, pp. 239-242.
(5). Phan Thi Hong Giang, Pham Thi Phuong Loan (2025), "Experiences in tourism development linkages and orientations for tourism linkages in Phu Tho province",Journal of Education and Society, Special Issue, May 2025, pp. 547-552.
(6). Phan Thi Hong Giang (2024), "Linkages in cultural tourism product development in Phu Tho province",Proceedings of the International Conference "Training and Utilization of Cultural Tourism Human Resources in the Context of International Integration", pp. 801-815.
Author:Department of Training and Non-profit Organization
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