Sustainable Tourism in Vietnam: The Journey Begins with Reducing Plastic Waste

Plastic waste in tourism , a seemingly small but not small matter on the journey towards sustainability of the smokeless industry. Because the consequences of this "problem" of environmental pollution not only affect the image of the destination and national competitiveness, but the consequences are truly unpredictable. Regarding this story, General Secretary of the Vietnam Tourism Association, Mr. Vu Quoc Tri had an interview with reporters.

The arduous journey of sustainability

- Vietnam has implemented a number of projects to reduce plastic waste at destinations, so what are the results so far and what do you think the next steps should be to make Vietnam a green tourist destination on the tourism map?

Mr. Vu Quoc Tri: Vietnam has been supported by UNDP for 2023-2024 through a small-scale but meaningful project to pilot a program to reduce plastic waste in the tourism sector. The key to this project is action to move towards green and sustainable tourism. This is a global story, not just Vietnam's. The project has been implemented very successfully.

Some results can be mentioned, first of all, the very large set of research documents that the Institute of Environmental Strategy (formerly the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment ) has built with us is an important theoretical foundation. Second, the set of criteria for tourism businesses without plastic waste provides very detailed and specific requirements and mechanisms for businesses and units to have a basis for implementation.

Third, we have also built a pilot app to manage plastic waste at tourism businesses... In short, the biggest achievement is that we have built techniques and applied new technology, automation technology to effectively manage plastic waste. We have also issued an action plan on reducing plastic waste in the tourism industry developed by the Vietnam Tourism Association with the support of UNDP and will be implemented. The goal is to achieve all the requirements set by the Government and the State for the tourism industry in the field of sustainable tourism development. By 2030, we hope to have very specific results.

Mr. Vu Quoc Tri. (Photo: Mai Mai/Vietnam+)

The project has been implemented for the past 2 years and has proven effective in two places. Firstly, in Ninh Binh, Trang An including Tam Coc Bich Dong and Dam Van Long have truly become green destinations with no plastic waste. Then in Hoi An, thanks to the application of the project's techniques, accommodation establishments and service providers in Hoi An ancient town have reduced the amount of waste by 30-35% in 6 months.

We consider these results positive and hope to replicate the model.

- The challenges in building green businesses and green destinations are high costs and that hinders businesses when they want to participate in the circular economy. So how do you think we should solve that problem? How should the government support and accompany the tourism business community to become green businesses?

Mr. Vu Quoc Tri: In the project program, we also discussed, shared and in seminars and exchanges with tourism businesses in pilot areas, we all realized that a huge barrier is the lack of resources to implement green transformation and zero plastic waste.

Because as we all know, in serving tourists, we have to use a lot of items, materials, and many items made from plastic, and if we convert, we will have to replace everything. To be able to convert like that, first of all, we need financial resources, and in this context, tourism businesses are having a bit of a hard time. Because the nature of tourism businesses is mostly small and medium, even super small with only a few employees. But to survive in today's increasingly competitive environment, making new investments is really difficult for them.

The beach is clean of plastic waste in Ky Co.. (Illustration photo: Mai Mai/Vietnam+)

The second problem is that they also have a lot of technical knowledge. They want to change, but what to change, how to convert, and whether to find reliable sources to provide…? All of those stories have been discussed.

Third is the issue of policy and management mechanisms at a destination that are fair and encourage those who do well in green transformation. These are the difficulties we need to solve.

As for the Vietnam Tourism Association, we have no mechanism, no sanctions and no right to issue any regulations. As a professional social organization, we operate on a voluntary basis, calling for self-awareness and encouraging everyone.

With some of the difficulties mentioned above, we recommend that the state management system step in and also accompany. If tourism is considered a key industry, there should also be preferential policies on financial mechanisms, such as preferential loans from banks, tax reduction, support for training in management knowledge, etc.

Check out the green destinations

- Currently, if we consider the criteria, which destinations in Vietnam have become green destinations, sir?

Mr. Vu Quoc Tri: We have discovered many good examples such as Co To Island, Cu Lao Cham, Trang An. But there are many places in Sa Pa, Ha Giang, Bac Giang and many other provinces and cities that we have seen, but to make it concrete, we are starting a green destination program. Hopefully, with the participation of all localities and businesses, the system as I said, the green tourism destination map, will exist and that is also a huge resource for the Vietnamese tourism industry.

The mountain passes of the rocky plateau in Ha Giang offer visitors an emotional experience. (Illustration photo: Vuong Cong Nam/Vietnam+)

- How will green destinations contribute to enhancing tourism brands?

Mr. Vu Quoc Tri: This story will be very interesting, because we all think that Vietnamese tourism is at its peak with many international tourism awards.

However, in the market, we should not be subjective and complacent. We believe that we should look at the countries above us and not compare ourselves with countries below us. If we want to improve the competitiveness of Vietnamese tourism in the Southeast Asian region, we are still behind some countries in terms of the number of international tourists, economic contributions, and the preservation and promotion of traditional values.

We want to raise the bar in this sense, aiming to be in the top 30 countries in global tourism development by 2030. Of course, we are having very good achievements, but with the level we expect and desire, we still have to strive a lot, because in reality there are still many limitations.

Especially the story of the destination and the capacity of the destination. If it is continuously overloaded during the tourist season and then taken pictures and popularized to the world, no one will dare to come to Vietnam. To limit this, the Vietnam Tourism Association commits to accompany and deploy technical measures, bringing professionalism to businesses and business locations of the Vietnamese tourism industry.

- Thank you for sharing./.