With the theme: “Developing green tourism in Ninh Binh : From natural and cultural heritage to sustainable values”, the seminar brought together representatives of local tourism management agencies, experts, researchers, and many tourism businesses from Ninh Binh and across the country.
Greening for sustainable development
According to the Chairman of the Vietnam Tourism Association, green tourism is not only about protecting the environment, reducing emissions, or saving resources, but also about preserving cultural values, safeguarding heritage, and creating a more responsible, attractive, and sustainable image of destinations in the future. To promote green tourism, the Association has focused on developing the VITA GREEN Green Tourism Criteria, which serves as the official basis for tourism businesses, destinations, and localities to implement and become green businesses, green destinations, and localities with green tourism.
Mr. Vu The Binh assessed that Ninh Binh is one of the exemplary localities that fully possesses the conditions to become a model for green tourism development in Vietnam. With the Trang An Scenic Landscape Complex - a World Cultural and Natural Heritage site, along with its limestone mountain ecosystem, mangrove forests, traditional craft villages, spiritual culture, long coastline, and unique landscapes, Ninh Binh not only has advantages in resources but also a favorable foundation for developing green tourism products, ecotourism, community tourism, and experiential tourism associated with the preservation of heritage values.
In recent years, Ninh Binh has made many efforts to build an image of a safe, friendly, and high-quality tourist destination, gradually shaping tourism development towards a green and sustainable direction. Many tourism businesses in the area have actively participated in green transformation, applying the VITA GREEN criteria and initially forming typical green tourism models.
"Today's seminar is an important opportunity for management agencies, associations, businesses, experts, and the community to exchange experiences, identify difficulties and challenges, and propose solutions to promote green tourism development in Ninh Binh in the coming time," emphasized the Chairman of the Vietnam Tourism Association.
Speaking at the seminar, Mr. Bui Van Manh, Director of the Ninh Binh Department of Tourism, highly appreciated the initiative of the Vietnam Tourism Association in developing a set of criteria for green tourism. The Association's proposal to allow businesses to self-monitor and implement these criteria is a suitable and proactive approach in the context of Vietnam's move towards responsible tourism.
Mr. Manh stated that from the late 1990s and early 2000s, Ninh Binh had clearly defined its direction for sustainable tourism development linked to heritage preservation. Thanks to persistent efforts over the years, destinations such as Trang An and Tam Coc-Bich Dong have become top international destinations, affirming the correctness of the strategy of the provincial Party Committee and government.
The Director of the Ninh Binh Department of Tourism affirmed that the success of Ninh Binh tourism is based on the close relationship between three key stakeholders: the State, which plays a role in developing strategies, planning, policies, and monitoring implementation; businesses, which are active partners; and the local community, which is the owner of heritage sites and tourist attractions. Only when all three parties work together can the destination's standing be comprehensively enhanced, from the environment and society to business.
Building a green tourism ecosystem.
Commenting on the results of green tourism development in Ninh Binh, Ms. Duong Thi Thanh, President of the Ninh Binh Tourism Association, said: Green tourism, linked to the exploitation and preservation of the diversity of natural ecosystems and tangible and intangible cultural heritage values, is the main goal in Ninh Binh's tourism development.
Over the past period, the implementation of the VITA GREEN tourism criteria has created an important foundation and framework to help businesses and destinations in Ninh Binh gradually standardize their operations towards greening and sustainable development. Many specific activities have been implemented by businesses, such as: minimizing plastic waste; increasing the use of environmentally friendly products; saving electricity, water, and energy; encouraging the use of OCOP products; and developing experiential tourism products associated with community ecology and traditional culture…
To date, Ninh Binh has had many establishments awarded the VITA GREEN green tourism label. Some models have initially shown positive results, notably Ninh Binh Legend Hotel, Thung Nham Eco-tourism Area, Thanh Nga Luxury Restaurant, Trang An Eco-tourism Area, Tam Coc-Bich Dong Tourist Area, Bai Dinh Cultural Area, Emeralda Ninh Binh Resort, Nam Cuong Hotel, etc.
However, according to Ms. Duong Thi Thanh, despite the initial achievements, the development of green tourism in Ninh Binh still faces many difficulties and challenges such as: uneven awareness of green tourism among different units; limited investment resources for green transformation; many small and medium-sized enterprises still face difficulties in changing technology, operating processes, and training human resources; the formation of distinctive, in-depth, and highly competitive green tourism products still requires more time, linkage, and synchronized support from many sides.
In the coming period, to promote the development of green tourism in Ninh Binh, the Ninh Binh Tourism Association has identified several key directions: strengthening communication and raising awareness about green tourism among businesses, communities, and tourism workers, considering this an important foundation for forming a green tourism culture throughout Ninh Binh province; extensively implementing the VITA GREEN criteria at tourist areas, destinations, and businesses in the province; prioritizing the development of Ninh Binh's distinctive green tourism products associated with heritage, ecology, agriculture, traditional crafts, and community culture; promoting linkages between businesses, communities, management agencies, and the Association to form a synchronized green tourism ecosystem; strengthening connections to promote the image of "Ninh Binh - A Green Tourism Destination" to domestic and international markets, gradually building a regional green destination brand.
At the seminar, experts and business representatives discussed the potential and experiences in developing green tourism, and offered numerous proposals and recommendations to promote green tourism development in Vietnam in general and Ninh Binh in particular, such as: creating a green tourism ecosystem; strengthening linkages between travel businesses and green-certified destinations to form a chain of products and themed tours; controlling carrying capacity at heritage sites and scenic spots; implementing policies to encourage and support businesses in green transition; enhancing the role of local communities in protecting resources, preserving cultural identity, and directly benefiting from tourism...
*On the same day, the Ninh Binh Green Tourism Branch, under the Ninh Binh Tourism Association, was officially launched.
The branch association has the following functions and responsibilities: To gather organizations, businesses, and individuals operating in the field of green tourism and sustainable development in the province; To promote and encourage members to implement green tourism criteria, protect the environment, minimize plastic waste, and develop responsible tourism; To coordinate and organize promotional activities, training, workshops, and collaborative partnerships for the development of green tourism; To represent and protect the legal rights and interests of members as prescribed; To perform other tasks assigned by the Ninh Binh Provincial Tourism Association.
This is a significant milestone, affirming the determination of the Ninh Binh tourism business community to collaborate, cooperate, and strongly promote the green transformation process in tourism activities.
Source: https://nhandan.vn/ninh-binh-tien-phong-phat-trien-du-lich-xanh-post963841.html
![[Video] Weather forecast for tonight and tomorrow, May 25, 2026: Widespread heatwave intensifies in Northern and Central Vietnam.](https://vphoto.vietnam.vn/thumb/402x226/vietnam/resource/IMAGE/2026/05/24/1779627756334_thumb-dem-png.webp)
Comment (0)