Hospitality and tourism development through coffee shop experiences in a leading coffee-producing nation

The present study empirically explores the potential development of coffee shop tourism in Vietnam, a leading coffee producer and home to a vibrant coffee shop scene, focusing on the supply side. Semi-structured, face-to-face, and online interviews were conducted with 47 coffee shop owners/managers, complemented by observations and archival information. The analysis identifies various insightful dimensions. One of these, the ‘resource-based, image-related potential’, underscores the importance of intangible elements, including Vietnam’s existing coffee culture, and the experiential element supporting the potential for the nation’s coffee shop industry to become a tourist drawcard. The ‘resource-based involvement’ dimension highlights the need for stakeholder-based actions for the industry to develop further, while the ‘upstream-based issues’ dimension suggests factors currently preventing coffee shop tourism from achieving its full potential. The study discusses several theoretical and practical implications that emerge from the findings; in addition, a conceptual framework is developed. • Explores coffee shops’ potential as a leisure/tourism activity. • Investigates the supply side in a leading coffee producing nation. • Considers and expands the conceptual realms of the resource-based view. • Develops propositions and proposes a conceptual framework. • Addresses extant research gaps and informs future research.