Building a sustainable destination management model with no plastic waste

Chairman of the Vietnam Tourism Association Vu The Binh affirmed: From 2023 to 2024, with the support of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the Vietnam Tourism Association has implemented the Project "Reducing plastic waste in the tourism sector in Vietnam" and achieved good results. That is the foundation for the Association to continue to have action programs towards green tourism, typically the issuance of the VITA Green Criteria, Vietnam's first set of criteria on green tourism, meeting relatively fully international criteria.

According to Mr. Vu The Binh, Vietnam is behind many countries in the world in developing green tourism, so it is necessary to accelerate the transformation of tourism activities towards green and sustainable direction. The Vietnam Tourism Association's proposal to implement the Project "Building an effective tourism destination management model with the participation of relevant parties, towards a green tourism environment, no plastic waste and low carbon" with the support of UNDP continues to be a practical action to promote green tourism development in Vietnam. This project will also help to complete the necessary criteria to build green tourism destinations.

The project "Building an effective tourism destination management model with the participation of stakeholders, towards a green, plastic-free and low-carbon tourism environment" aims to build an integrated tourism destination management model with the participation of stakeholders, as a foundation for implementing, monitoring and evaluating green tourism development activities; conducting communication, raising awareness of stakeholders (state agencies, businesses and communities) on green transformation in the tourism industry associated with biodiversity conservation and climate change response; at the same time, building a mechanism to replicate the model, transfer knowledge, technical guidance, and lessons learned to other localities nationwide.

To implement, the Project will be piloted at Tay Yen Tu spiritual and ecological tourism area, Tay Yen Tu commune, Bac Ninh province, to serve as a basis for expansion across the country.

The project is expected to be implemented in 12 months, divided into 3 main phases. Phase 1 is preparation and model building (October-December 2025) with the goal of reporting and assessing the current status and level of destination management; designing a green destination management model; providing technical guidance on applying the VITA Green green tourism criteria set.

Phase 2: Pilot implementation and technical intervention (January 2026 - August 2026) includes establishing a local coordination board; training, communication, implementation of technical solutions; field monitoring and supervision. Phase 3: summary, evaluation and replication (September - October 2026).

Deputy Director of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism Pham Van Thuy affirmed: Tourists are now oriented towards green tourism, so the implementation of the Project is a practical activity to implement the National Strategy on Green Growth for the period 2021 - 2030, vision 2050; National Action Plan on Green Growth for the period 2021 - 2030. In addition, localities need to prioritize the development of environmentally friendly tourism types such as eco-tourism, community tourism, cultural tourism associated with conservation; integrate green elements into all activities at destinations; apply digital transformation in managing green tourism destinations, developing smart tourism destinations; deploy methods of assessment, forecasting and responding to risks in managing green tourism destinations.

In particular, it is necessary to improve the quality of tourism human resources and stakeholders, with awareness and deep understanding of the principles and goals of sustainable tourism development to orient, guide, and form a green production cycle, meeting the green tourism consumption needs of tourists. The model needs to include content related to propaganda and education on green and sustainable tourism, especially for the community, tourists and businesses, towards forming a green lifestyle and green tourism consumption.

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/du-lich/xay-dung-mo-hinh-quan-ly-diem-den-ben-vung-khong-rac-thai-nhua-20251031165834038.htm