Any activity, any type of tourism requires an environment. Therefore, the top issue is to protect the environment, to build a really safe and healthy environment to be able to develop sustainable tourism. That is the view of Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pham Trung Luong, former Deputy Director of the Institute of Tourism Development Research (Vietnam Administration of Tourism) when talking to a reporter of Phu Yen Newspaper about the development of community-based tourism (CBT) on the province area.
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Dear Associate Professor, environmental factors are the most important for tourism, but the massive development, lack of depth and sustainability of tourism has put great pressure on the environment. How is the relationship between the environment and tourism reciprocal?
Tourism development activities and the construction of tourism products are always associated with the exploitation of tourism resources, including natural values such as natural landscapes, ecosystems, biodiversity and natural resources and historical and cultural values such as monuments, architectural works, art, festivals, craft villages... Tourism development activities will have certain effects on the environment. The increase in tourist arrivals requires increased development of infrastructure and services and increased demand for resources, which in turn leads to increased pressure on the environment.
However, tourism development activities also have positive contributions to environmental conservation and improvement with the development of types/products of green tourism, eco-tourism, CBT.. .; in which focusing on destination management activities on the principle of capacity, building green parks, artificial lakes, using waste recycling and reusing technology, saving energy and living water…
Thus, it can be seen that the development of tourism and the environment have mutual and reciprocal effects and if the tourism development is not reasonable, it will be the cause contributing to the decline in the values of the natural resources, environmental quality degradation.
As someone who has been associated with Phu Yen tourism since a relatively early age, what do you think is the potential for CBT development, the current state of the tourism environment and current problems?
Phu Yen is a potential destination with diverse and rich tourism resources, from outstanding natural values to unique cultural heritages... These are great tourism advantages for Phu Yen to develop tourism in general and CBT in particular.
Over the years, CBT in Phu Yen has made remarkable developments with many attractive CBT sites, but it is still not commensurate with its potential. This is due to many reasons, of which the important reason is that the tourism environment is not guaranteed and shows signs of degradation.
Some specific manifestations such as: Awareness of the role of the environment in tourism development is still limited. Lack of specific policies and resources for environmental protection in tourism; lack of integration of tourism environmental protection in socio-economic development plans in the province, especially in key areas with potential for CBT development. The natural landscape is degraded due to the impact of socio-economic development and the impact of climate change. Many traditional cultural values of the people have been lost due to awareness and impact of modern life and lack of resources for conservation. The standards on food hygiene and safety of agricultural products at CBT sites have not been focused on management…
So according to the Associate Professor, what is the solution for environmental protection for sustainable development of Phu Yen CBT?
On the basis of full awareness of the current situation and problems posed to the tourism environment of Phu Yen, in order to promote environmental protection activities for sustainable development of CBT, a number of solutions need to be focused as follows: Raising social awareness, especially at management levels, about the role of the environment in CBT development are the advantages and priorities of Phu Yen tourism. The study proposes to concretize the implementation of a number of current policies on environmental protection in the field of tourism in accordance with specific local conditions, encouraging the active participation of the community. Strengthening the effectiveness of state management of the environment and preserve cultural values. Building a "Green tourism label" with a system of policies to encourage the development of green, environmentally friendly CBT products with the core role of the community, meeting the standards of the natural and cultural environment protection at the national level, progressing to the regional and international level...
Translated by Hai Loan