Quang Ninh province is the first unit in the country to invite foreign experts to assess the carrying capacity of the World Natural Heritage Ha Long Bay to have a plan for sustainable heritage tourism management. This is a new step, approaching scientific management, controlling the most negative impacts of humans and also Quang Ninh's commitment to developing sustainable tourism associated with heritage conservation in accordance with the spirit of the first international convention on the protection of the world's cultural and natural heritage, born exactly half a century ago in Paris in 1972.
Ha Long Bay, a heritage that has existed for millions of years, was twice recognized by UNESCO as a world natural heritage in 1994 and 2000. With its own unique landscape values, Ha Long Bay is a highlight of the tourism industry, one of the growth drivers of Quang Ninh's economy .
Ha Long Bay - the first heritage of the country to have its carrying capacity assessed, to have fundamental solutions in future management work.
Every year, Ha Long Bay welcomes more than 4 million visitors, contributing 1/3 of the local tourism revenue. This development also causes Ha Long Bay to face negative impacts arising from industrial development, mining, urbanization, services and tourism activities...
Associate Professor, Dr. Luu The Anh, Director of the Institute of Natural Resources and Environment - Hanoi National University, said: "The most obvious problem in Ha Long Bay is domestic wastewater. We have only treated 38% of the total of more than 60,000 m3 of domestic wastewater discharged daily, with about 12% of the wastewater on shore, most of which is discharged into the bay. The current water environment is interconnected, so pollution in the coastal currents can move into the core area. This is an issue that needs attention when we develop sustainably."
On average, the carrying capacity of Ha Long Bay is not high, but there is often an overload of some tourist attractions such as Thien Cung Cave, Dau Go Cave, Cho Da Islet, Ga Choi Islet....
Faced with this reality, the Ha Long Bay Management Board invited experts from Kiran Consulting Group - a unit with more than 20 years of experience in the field of analysis, calculation, and assessment of carrying capacity at heritage sites, commercial centers, and major tourist destinations in the world to survey and develop a project to review the carrying capacity of Ha Long Bay, helping managers make appropriate adjustments and develop sustainable tourism in the future.
Research shows that the average carrying capacity of Ha Long Bay is not high, but there is often an overload of some tourist attractions such as Thien Cung Cave, Dau Go Cave, Cho Da Islet, Ga Choi Islet... with 2,000 visitors in 1 hour. This not only puts pressure on the destination, increases waste and brings dissatisfaction to tourists, affecting sustainable, long-term development.
Every year, Ha Long Bay welcomes more than 4 million visitors, contributing one-third of Quang Ninh's tourism revenue.
Dr. Celal Kaplan, Kiran Consulting Group (USA) wishes: "The most important thing is that there needs to be policy changes. Management needs to be more centralized to be able to come up with optimal implementation solutions. In addition, there must also be technological solutions, there must be online integrated platforms to better manage the flow of visitors to Ha Long Bay. In the immediate future, we propose to coordinate the number of visitors to tourist attractions and caves in Ha Long Bay, avoiding the situation of overloading visitors that not only damages the heritage but also gives visitors a bad experience."
With its unique landscape value, Ha Long Bay has been recognized twice as a world natural heritage.
Finding bottlenecks, experts proposed 5 groups of solutions including: Developing a system to manage tourist ship schedules; Organizing time to visit tourist attractions, zoning areas on the bay, developing a seaport system, applying a ceiling limit on the number of boats on Ha Long Bay; Applying smart tourism management and propaganda to raise tourists' awareness of protecting the heritage environment...; Aiming for the goal of sustainable environmental development, satisfying tourists' needs and ensuring harmonious interests for all relevant parties.
Mr. Christian Manhart - Chief Representative of UNESCO in Vietnam said that there is no standard formula for managing heritage, but each heritage needs its own strategy and management method suitable for each locality. Assessing the carrying capacity will help state management agencies, relevant parties such as businesses and people to be more aware of protecting common heritage.
Mr. Pham Dinh Huynh, Deputy Head of Ha Long Bay Management Board, answered VOV's interview.
"In Vietnam, this is the first heritage site to have its carrying capacity assessed. I think you should be a model for other heritage management localities across Vietnam to learn from. I think we need to pursue more sustainable approaches to tourism development at world natural heritage sites. We should limit mass tourism and focus more on environmentally friendly tourism activities," said Mr. Christian Manhart.
Mr. Pham Dinh Huynh, Deputy Head of Ha Long Bay Management Board, said that there is still much to do to manage the heritage scientifically. However, when there are fundamental assessments, it will help the management system come up with solutions and action plans suitable for preserving and promoting the heritage value to integrate with the world in sustainable development.
Mr. Huynh said: "We will build a number of outputs of this strategy. This is the basis, the foundation, the orientation for us to build a strategy to regulate the number of visitors to tourist attractions, tourist activities and build scenarios to respond, implement strategies on sustainable tourism including planning, building appropriate infrastructure, having a management and monitoring mechanism, and properly implementing Resolution 44 of UNSECO."
Hiring foreign consultants to assess the carrying capacity of Ha Long Bay heritage is a straightforward and comprehensive view and a step forward to improve the scientific and practical basis, serving the work of heritage conservation management and exploitation, sustainable cultural and tourism development, especially when Quang Ninh is implementing the economic transformation from brown to green, taking tourism as the driving force and the main field for future development./.
Source: https://vov.vn/van-hoa/di-san/vinh-ha-long-di-san-dau-tien-cua-ca-nuoc-duoc-danh-gia-suc-tai-post947836.vov
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