Niche tourism development in an established tourism destination – feeding off each other or too complex to succeed?

In considering complexity theory as its conceptual lens, this study examined the potential for pepper farming to develop as a tourism activity on Phu Quoc Island, Vietnam. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with tourism stakeholders, including owners and managers of pepper farms, tour guides, and hotel managers. The applied content analysis and data structure helped reveal the indirect and reciprocal benefits between the existing conventional tourism and the development of niche tourism, with the former providing an existing baseline, including through infrastructure, for the latter to grow and become a viable proposition. Importantly, this natural alignment can motivate pepper farmers to preserve their industry, which is experiencing decline, while improving the quality of their products and contributing to the island’s tourism offerings. Nevertheless, while the uniqueness of the local pepper industry suggests potential opportunities, the findings also reveal various barriers at the industry level that undermine pepper tourism’s further growth. Conceptually, the analysis resulted in the identification of 11 dimensions. These dimensions illuminate the theoretical understanding of niche tourism development in two ways: as a standalone conceptual foundation and through strong alignments with complexity theory.