At the seminar, the director of the Department of Science, Technology and Environment (MOCST) Tu Manh Luong, said that the tourism development plan up to 2020 with a vision to 2030 has identified 47 national tourism areas across the country. These are attractive destinations with rich and diverse tourist resources.
Overview of the meeting.
|
Tourism solid waste and waste water discharge that have not yet been dealt with thoroughly, leaving the environment damaged, especially in spots located downstream of rivers. The lack of restrooms is rampant in most of the tourism sites and failing to meet the demand of visitors. The existing restrooms are degrading, unable to ensure safety and satisfaction for tourists.
According to the Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Association for the Protection of Marine Environment Pham Trung Luong: “Many coastal attractions have been severely affected, even to the point of extinction such as Ana Madara (Thuan An, Thua Thien-Hue), Cua Dai (Hoi An, Quang Nam), Khai Long (Ca Mau). The impact of climate change on tourism development in Vietnam has become so serious that warnings have been issued.”
According to the Deputy Director of the Institute of Researching and Developing Tourism Truong Sy Vinh, the growing number of tourists discharge a growing number of garbage, especially in major tourism areas. The development of tourism also increases congestion and air, water and noise pollution. Tourism has also modified sceneries, ecosystems and animal habitats. Traditional values of the ethnic minority people have been changed through everyday interaction with tourists.
“Many tourist resorts are not fully aware of the connection between their businesses and the environment. As state regulator, the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism has not issued documents guiding the environment impact assessment and control for tourism businesses”, Vinh said.
In 2016, as assigned by the Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism (MCST), the Tourism Development Research (ITDR) has worked out a set of requirements and standardized procedures on environment protection for tourism businesses to apply.
After being approved, the set of standards has been piloted in Trang An, Tuan Chau and the ceramic village of Bat Trang. Those places have failed to meet some of the requirements such as restrooms which is only complied by Tuan Chau resort; or the non-smoking standard only observed by major hotels or high-end services.
Therefore, in order to ensure sustainable tourism development at national tourism attractions, experts at the seminar suggested consistent measures including finalizing regulations on environmental protection; focusing on efficient planning tourism attractions; improving environmental protection capabilities at tourism sites; increasing frequency of monitoring and environment inspection; creating incentives for people to protect the environment; increasing international cooperation in sustainable tourism development.
