Xây dựng mô hình du lịch tâm linh từ vốn xã hội tôn giáo: Trường hợp Phật giáo Hòa Hảo tại huyện Phú Tân, tỉnh An Giang

Abstract

Hoa Hao Buddhism is an indigenous religious tradition that has exerted a profound influence on the social, cultural, and economic life of the Mekong Delta region. As the birthplace of Hoa Hao Buddhism, Phu Tan District (An Giang Province) has witnessed the emergence of large-scale pilgrimage flows, providing a crucial foundation for the development of spiritual tourism. Drawing on the social capital framework developed by Robert Putnam and further elaborated by Michael Woolcock, this article identifies the rich reservoir of religious social capital embedded within the Hoa Hao Buddhist community. Through analytical methods and participant observation, the study demonstrates that although bonding social capital within the community is particularly strong, deficiencies in bridging social capital linking the community to external actors, as well as in linking social capital connecting it to policy and governance institutions, have hindered the formal emergence of spiritual tourism at the local level. On this basis, the article proposes a pathway for transforming these religious social capital resources in order to construct a community-based spiritual tourism model. The findings not only contribute to the formation of a sustainable heritage-based economy in Phu Tan but also offer a theoretical analytical framework for mobilizing religious resources in local development processes.