Thuy Bieu Village, Thuy Bieu Ward, is implementing a pilot model as the first plastic-reduction tourism destination in Hue City (Thua Thien Hue Province). The village currently has 15 community-based organizations participating and implementing plastic reduction solutions. Tourists are encouraged to bring personal items; if they don't bring their own water bottles, they will be provided with bottles and refilled at 5 free water refill points.
Additionally, raincoats and umbrellas are provided on the bicycles. For tours that include cooking classes, shopping bags and food containers are provided so that guests can shop without using plastic bags. In the accommodation rooms, glass water bottles replace plastic bottles, and reusable shampoo dispensers replace reusable sachets. Thuy Bieu Village has increased the number of trash cans to ensure guests dispose of waste properly and to facilitate collection.
According to Mr. Tran Quang Hao, Head of the Community Tourism Branch of the Thua Thien Hue Tourism Association, the changes at Thuy Bieu are the initial results of the agreement and support from the "Hue - A Plastic-Free City in Central Vietnam" project, contributing to making Hue a plastic-free city by 2024.
"It is the tourists who have a need for this plastic-reduction tour. From there, the local people participate wholeheartedly and with anticipation. These two responses meet, so the people feel enthusiastic and determined to work together," said Mr. Tran Quang Hao.
With the support of the "Hue - A Plastic-Reducing City in Central Vietnam" Project, the Thua Thien Hue Tourism Association has implemented numerous activities to reduce the use of single-use plastics in tourism activities from hotels, travel companies, and community tourism destinations in Hue city. After a year of implementation, many hotels, travel companies, and communities have developed plans to reduce the use of single-use plastics in their business operations based on the 6R principles (Refuse - Reduce - Reuse - Replace - Recycle - Collect).
Ms. Do Thi Ai My, a service staff member at the Imperial Hue Hotel, said that the awareness of tourism businesses and individuals in the service industry has changed significantly. “Because I work in the service industry and interact with many customers, I am also conscious of reducing plastic waste for the environment. For example, the spa uses reusable items like straw slippers and woven mats. The hotel also uses rice straws to reduce plastic waste.”
To date, in Thua Thien Hue province, 22 hotels and establishments, accounting for 70% of the members of the Thua Thien Hue Provincial Hotel Association, have committed to implementing at least one practice to reduce the use of single-use plastic products. Many environmentally friendly products are being used, such as bamboo charcoal pens, bottled water made from recycled plastic, biodegradable plastic, and waste collection and sorting points.
Ms. Chau Thi Hoang Mai, CEO of Alba Hue Hotel, said: “We hope that these initiatives will spread further, making the tourism community of Thua Thien Hue increasingly focus on reducing single-use plastic waste.”
Since August 2023, the Thua Thien Hue Provincial Tourism Association has organized training sessions to raise awareness about plastic waste reduction for 120 affiliated members, including hotels, travel companies, and community tourism destinations. Association members agreed on the urgency of implementing activities to reduce plastic use; identified the types of plastic products currently in use at their respective units; discussed some basic methods that can be applied to implement plastic reduction activities; and committed to organizing and implementing plastic reduction activities at their units in accordance with the overall plan of the Thua Thien Hue provincial tourism industry in the near future.
Ms. Nguyen Hoang Thuy Vy, Vice President of the Thua Thien Hue Tourism Association, stated: "We hope that in the next stages, other units, in addition to the pioneering ones, will have even better models and initiatives and will replicate these activities, not only in a small field but across all operational activities."
Possessing UNESCO-recognized heritage sites, Hue is also an ASEAN Cultural City, an ASEAN Sustainable City, and was awarded the ASEAN Green City designation by WWF in 2024. The tourism industry in Thua Thien Hue province is striving to build an increasingly green, clean, bright, environmentally friendly, and attractive tourism environment in Hue, drawing in tourists.
VOV.VN - Quang Nam province is the first locality in the country to issue and implement the Green Tourism Criteria. Many specific models aimed at developing green tourism have been applied in Hoi An and other localities in the province.
Source: https://vov.vn/du-lich/dua-hue-tro-thanh-diem-den-du-lich-xanh-post1115842.vov
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