For the 3rd time in a row, Hue City won the ASEAN Clean Tourism City Award - an opportunity for Hue's tourism sector to effectively market its tourism business activities. With many solutions adopted by the province, maintaining the clean tourism city brand is also synonymous with strong growth in harmony with sustainable criteria.
Tourism units and businesses in Hue devote attention to green tourism and environment-friendly tourism activities
Quick yet sustainable development
To continue to be recognized as an ASEAN Clean Tourism City, Hue City must meet 7 criteria relevant to general environmental management activities, clean and hygienic streets; good management and treatment of waste and wastewater; the authorities and community aware of protecting the environment and keeping streets clean; a lot of green space; good conditions to ensure health safety and urban security for tourists; infrastructure and facilities for tourism that are suitable and up to standard...
Environmental factors are grabbing growing attention and are closely associated with tourism development. Survey results commissioned by Booking.com for 27,730 tourists in 33 countries and territories show that sustainable tourism is one of the seven main trends favored by tourists for their tours in 2024.
According to tourism experts, Southeast Asia tourism, including Vietnam, has developed by leaps and bounds, becoming one of the important destinations on the world tourism map. The objective of economic development is not simply to increase the growth rate, but to improve and raise both the standard and quality of people's lives. The growth rate is strong but still in harmony with the criteria of sustainability and stability.
Thuy Bieu tourist destination arranges water bottles to replace single-use plastic bottles for tourists
Thua Thien Hue lays special emphasis on sustainable tourism development. In recent years, Hue has made a powerful impression with the Green Sunday movement with the involvement of all branches, organizations, and people in all localities.
Mr. Nguyen Van Phuc, Director of the Department of Tourism affirmed that tourism development should be sustainable and responsible, and the environmental protection issue is receiving special attention from the local authorities and tourism sector. With the function of state management in the local tourism sector, the Department of Tourism has issued a plan to minimize plastic waste in the province's tourism industry in 2023 - 2025.
Recently, in a bid to reduce plastic waste in tourism activities and contribute to building Hue City's image with its green - clean - bright environment as an ideal tourist destination, the Department in coordination with the Tourism Association and the Project “Hue - Plastic Reduction City in Central Vietnam (WWF) has carried out many contents such as the seminars on reducing plastic waste in tourism activities; training courses on plastic waste reduction in the tourism industry for managers of accommodation facilities.
The survey and installation of free waiting houses were made in Bao Vinh Ancient Town and Thanh Toan Tile-Roofed Bridge. Tourists can use drinking water directly from the tap or bring a water bottle to get water from the tap instead of buying disposable plastic water bottles.
The city constructed 4 waiting houses and water supply stations at the monuments such as Gia Long Mausoleum, Minh Mang Mausoleum, and Dong Khanh Mausoleum in order to propagate and spread awareness of plastic waste reduction among the community and tourists to Hue.
The tourism sector mounts the campaigns for cleaning the environment, calling for not using single-use plastic bags, and bottled drinking water…, involving tourists in propaganda. Thuy Bieu tourist destination in Hue City in particular is the first model to pilot a tourist destination that minimizes plastic waste.
Mr. Tran Quang Hao, Director of Huetourist, said that the story of plastic waste reduction tourism is enjoying very positive support from people and tourists in Thuy Bieu. This model can be scaled up at other tourist destinations to develop tourism in a sustainable way.
Joint involvement and accompaniment
The recent spread of the Green Sunday movement lays a very good environmental foundation for both residents and tourists to jointly protect a clean tourism city. According to a tourism sector representative, many activities are done such as the SUP tour to clean up the Huong River, the "trash picking" tourism model organized by the Clean Up Hue group, and the activities to join hands for the environment protection at tourist destinations. These models need to be spread and scaled up, creating strong changes to build and maintain the brand of a clean tourism city.
Thua Thien Hue is implementing the plan to reduce plastic waste in the tourism industry in 2023 - 2025. The plan includes mobilizing businesses in written commitment and implementing their commitment to reduce plastic waste in different ways. To maintain the clean tourism city brand, the accompaniment of the sectors, business community, residents, and tourists is sorely needed to jointly spread awareness of environmental protection.
The tourism sector is continuing to spread and scale up tourist destination models that reduce plastic waste, encouraging businesses to build tours combined with environmental protection. Simultaneously, many propaganda activities will be done for tourism workers and tourists to jointly take action.
Story and photos: Huu Phuc