Green tourism in Con Dao

Con Dao, a cultural, historical, and spiritual tourism destination in Ba Ria - Vung Tau province, is undergoing significant transformation as it pursues the goal of building and developing a green, circular economy model based on leveraging its natural resources and system of special national historical relics.

Con Dao Island boasts many tree-lined roads with trees hundreds of years old. Photo: N. Lien

One of the most impressive aspects for tourists, especially those who have visited Con Dao in previous years, is the widespread "Green Offering Basket" campaign, which has significantly reduced plastic waste and discouraged the burning of votive paper at tourist destinations in Con Dao.

Many environmental protection programs

For a long time, the main purpose of most tourists visiting Con Dao was to offer prayers at the tomb of Vo Thi Sau, a heroine of the People's Armed Forces. In previous years, in addition to fruits and flowers, offerings to Vo Thi Sau included items such as clothing, shoes, and paper money, which were heavily decorated on the offerings. However, Con Dao has undergone many changes recently as part of a campaign to build a green, clean, and beautiful environment.

Ms. Bui Thi Hong, a tourist from Go Vap District, Ho Chi Minh City, shared that every year she goes to Con Dao to offer prayers to Co Sau. This year, when buying offerings, she was quite surprised to find that the offerings did not include votive paper, but instead consisted of real items. Explaining this change, the sales staff said that currently, cemeteries and historical sites in Con Dao implement a "Green Offering Basket" system throughout the year. Accordingly, pilgrims are not allowed to offer votive paper, write prayers, burn or incinerate paper, use disposable plastic items, or use floral foam in the offering trays. Customers are only allowed to offer fresh flowers and fruit, and the "Green Offering Basket" models do not use floral foam or the offering trays use 100% real offerings.

Many visitors have noted that Con Dao still retains its pristine natural forests, and the island boasts a particularly good level of environmental hygiene. Con Dao is made up of 16 islands of varying sizes, with the main central island housing the administrative offices, residents, and the entire infrastructure serving the lives of the people and tourists.

According to Ms. Bui Thi Hong, this change will contribute to raising awareness and improving environmental quality. After two days of sightseeing, Ms. Hong felt that Con Dao has become greener and more beautiful.

In fact, since 2023, Ba Ria - Vung Tau province has had a project on researching and applying a circular economy model to serve the sustainable socio-economic development of Con Dao district for the period 2022-2025, with a vision to 2030. The tasks and strategies set out aim to address existing environmental and energy challenges in Con Dao, thereby building a foundation, infrastructure, and social resources, towards the goal of sustainable economic development for Con Dao.

Based on that, environmental protection programs in Con Dao have been implemented, such as: developing a plan to say no to the burning of votive offerings, the "Green Offering Basket" campaign, minimizing plastic waste, etc., with the aim of greening Con Dao.

Pilgrims visiting the tomb of Co Sau bring offerings made of green paper, without any gold or silver paper money.

Alongside environmental protection programs, Con Dao also invests in building self-managed roads and sections to ensure environmental hygiene, urban aesthetics and order, planting flowers and trees along roadsides, cleaning the environment, equipping three-colored trash cans for waste sorting at source, and replacing single-use plastic materials with durable, eco-friendly alternatives. These programs have contributed to gradually greening Con Dao.

For a green Con Dao

The majority of tourists are increasingly interested in civilized and sustainable tourism, minimizing environmental impact and respecting local culture. Besides spiritual tourism, experiences and explorations of nature in Con Dao are also popular with tourists.

Furthermore, Con Dao also boasts a special national historical site, including a system of prisons, forced labor camps, and cemeteries established by the French and Americans to exile tens of thousands of revolutionary soldiers. For patriotic Vietnamese people, Con Dao is a "sacred altar" of the Fatherland, bearing many significant marks from the war.

A billboard promoting the "Green Offering Basket" program in Con Dao.

In early May 2025, Con Dao solemnly celebrated the 50th anniversary of its liberation. After 50 years of independence, Con Dao has left many beautiful impressions in the hearts of visitors.

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Sang, Director of Golden Trip Tourism Company Limited (Bien Hoa City), said that since the beginning of the year, Golden Trip has brought many tourist groups to Con Dao. Witnessing the strong changes in Con Dao, Mr. Sang hopes that Con Dao tourism will continue to develop in a sustainable direction, achieving impressive results.

In 2024, Ba Ria - Vung Tau province organized a Famtrip program to survey and connect tourist destinations in Con Dao and other provinces and cities in the Southeast region, held in Con Dao district. Delegates participating in the program surveyed and assessed the potential and advantages for tourism development and proposed and introduced tours linking the Southeast region with Con Dao. Through the famtrip program, several new tourism programs were formed, such as: a tour of Con Dao by speedboat; and the collaboration to provide a list and information on 10 beautiful and unique destinations in the province to promote to localities in the Southeast region.

At the ceremony commemorating the 50th anniversary of the liberation of Con Dao, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasized that Con Dao holds a crucial position in terms of national security and defense. Con Dao needs to maximize its advantages to develop its marine economy, spiritual tourism, and ecotourism; and to plan and build a bright, green, clean, beautiful, modern, and internationally-standard Con Dao.

Regarding infrastructure development, the Prime Minister requested a focus on addressing infrastructure bottlenecks, especially air transport, and tasked Ba Ria - Vung Tau province with attracting businesses to invest in the construction of Con Dao International Airport. Alongside this, he called for the development of healthcare, education, culture, and social infrastructure; as well as infrastructure for electricity supply, telecommunications, clean water, and waste treatment.

Ngoc Lien

Source: https://baodongnai.com.vn/dong-nai-cuoi-tuan/202505/du-lich-xanh-o-con-dao-5d61f23/