A/HRC/28/57/Add.1 tantamount to land grabbing and exposes farming communities to grave violations of their rights. 89. The Special Rapporteur notes with interest the State responsibility to adopt policies to provide ethnic minorities with land for residences and community activities, in accordance with their customs, practices and cultural identities and the practical conditions of each region; and to facilitate the acquisition of agricultural land by ethnic minorities directly engaged in rural agricultural production. 90. Government support for development programmes, for example in the Central Highlands, is welcome, but would be more effective with the participation of local communities and the use of their knowledge, including their traditional knowledge. In villages that experience regular floods, for instance, traditional houses elevated on pillars are more appropriate than those constructed on the ground under government schemes. The Special Rapporteur appreciates the promotion of traditional architecture in the construction of communal houses for community gatherings, but regrets that the concept was not integrated into the building or upgrading of residential housing: flooding causes greater damage in the new houses. (b) Development of the tourism industry 91. Like all countries eager to develop their tourism industry, Viet Nam is confronted with important challenges in ensuring that serious harm is not done to the environment and cultural heritage. 92. The authorities see culture as a resource for developing tourism, which creates new job opportunities and sources of income for local communities, and simultaneously enables them to showcase their culture and develop their own identities through various festivals and performances. Training programmes have been established to build the capacity of local communities with respect to the tourism industry so as to ensure that they, too, access and benefit from this new market. Villages receive support to develop their traditional products and crafts for markets. That has enabled communities to participate in the economic development of their region, while enabling the Government to promote a more multicultural image of the country. 93. Many challenges remain, however. In Sa Pa and surrounding villages, the Special Rapporteur noted that, although tourism has provided a supplementary source of livelihood for the local people, unfortunately, they are not the primary beneficiaries of tourismgenerated revenue. It is difficult for local people to run their own businesses and preserve the specificity of their landscape and environment. The Special Rapporteur was informed that the Montagnards in the Central Highlands face similar problems. Another example is the Dragon Boat Festival organized by the Mekong Delta Khmer people, which has become a tourist attraction but which reportedly does not financially benefit the Khmer community. 94. It is encouraging that schemes have been proposed or put in place to ensure that the benefits of tourism are redistributed, for example, selling tickets to enter old towns and market places, the proceeds of which are redistributed amongst all stakeholders. Another idea under discussion is that local people not participating in the tourism industry should still receive at least 50 per cent of the income generated by tourists wishing to experience their ways of life. Other proposals include identifying circles of stakeholders, in particular individual artists and the wider local community or village, to share in the benefits, and establishing a tourism committee as a representative organization responsible for negotiating and signing contracts with tourism entrepreneurs. 95. The Special Rapporteur is concerned by situations that may push people to perform, rather than live their own cultures, either by artificially retaining specific aspects of cultural practices or modifying those practices to satisfy tourist demand, such as altering food or 18