These challenges force world tourism to move towards green growth to ensure sustainable development goals. Trip Advisor's survey also shows that up to 34% of tourists are willing to pay more to stay at environmentally friendly hotels; 50% of tourists do not mind paying more for companies that benefit local communities and conservation activities.
This confirms that green tourism development is not only a trend to meet practical requirements, but also a solution to help increase the number of tourists with high spending ability and civilized behavior when traveling.
Some localities and Vietnamese tourism businesses have pioneered "green" transformation to reduce harm to the environment. A typical example is Silk Sense Hoi An River Resort (Quang Nam province) - the first hotel to announce no more plastic waste.
Silk Sense has researched and consulted many domestic and foreign documents to develop a set of criteria for hotels without plastic waste (including 60 criteria) with many specific requirements and regulations in implementing waste classification at source. , handling plastic packaging that is required to be used, calling for the companionship and responsibility of tourists...
The hotel also organizes training sessions to share the meaning of not using single-use plastic with workers; Investing money to find suitable solutions and replacement products for plastic products and disposable plastic products...
Thanks to that, over the past year, Silk Sense has had no plastic waste in the environment. In 2023, the hotel will reduce more than 80.000 single-use plastic bottles and more than 10 tons of plastic waste.
Recently, Co To island district (Quang Ninh province) has also become a bright spot for green tourism on the tourism map.
Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Co To district Do Huy Thong said that there was a period, during the peak tourist season, every day Co To had to collect 20 to 30 tons of waste, of which only the amount of waste was collected. Plastic accounts for 1-2 tons/day.
Determined to change the current situation, in the 2020-2025 term, the district Party Committee approved the project "Co To island district without plastic waste".
After a year of piloting the regulation "tourists do not bring plastic bottles, nylon bags, or materials that are at risk of causing environmental pollution to the island", from September 9, the island district has officially applied this regulation to all visitors. traveler; At the same time, we call on people, business households, and tourism businesses in the district to change their habits, say no to single-use plastic products, and participate in collecting and treating ocean waste; Build models of "Plastic waste-free street", "Model residential area on waste separation at source", install a two-compartment trash system to classify waste at public places...
To date, all 5/5 travel companies in the area have registered to organize "green" tours; 100% of restaurants, hotels, and small businesses in Co To commit to not using single-use plastic products...
Along with Hoi An and Co To, many "green" destinations, "green" accommodation facilities, and "green" tourism products are being formed in other localities across the country such as Ninh Binh, Ninh Thuan, and Con Dao. Islands,... However, the number of "green" conversion units in Vietnamese tourism is still very small, compared to all tourism establishments, accommodation businesses, and food services across the country.
Sharing at the Vietnam Tourism Forum - "Green" transformation for sustainable development that just took place in Hanoi, Dr. Vo Tri Thanh, Director of the Institute for Brand Strategy and Competitiveness Research, said that there are two The big challenge that "green" tourism in Vietnam is facing.
First of all is the difficulty in changing, transforming from awareness into action of stakeholders (businesses, tourists, people at the destination...) in the tourism ecosystem.
Second is the story of competition, because "green" is now not only a political commitment but also a national action strategy, and more importantly, a demand of the market itself and of modern tourists. with new lifestyles, new ways of consuming.
"If we do not keep up with this pace, the competitiveness of Vietnamese tourism compared to other countries will have a large gap, especially with countries with attractive tourism in the region" - Mr. Vo Tri Thanh commented.
Faced with the fact that many businesses are still hesitant in converting "green" due to funding barriers, Dr. Nguyen Anh Tuan - Director of the Institute of Tourism Development Research said that the State needs to have preferential policies, Financial support to encourage investors and businesses to invest in responsible tourism, create green tourism products and services to promote green consumption trends; promote the spirit of the state and people working together, calling on international organizations to participate in support.
According to Mr. Patrick Haverman, Deputy Representative of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Vietnam, "green" transformation in Vietnamese tourism needs to focus on four factors: "green" planning; effective destination management; promote plastic-free and low-carbon tourism; Deploying sustainable tourism based on nature.
Recently, the Vietnam Tourism Association and UNDP have coordinated to implement the project "Reducing plastic waste in tourism in Vietnam". UNDP also accompanies Vietnamese partners in the project "Promoting wildlife conservation and responsible nature-based tourism for sustainable development in Vietnam".
