Ecological gardens offer HCM City the opportunity to promote eco-tourism, but according to Sai Gon Giai Phong (Liberated Sai Gon) newspaper, their development leaves much to be desired. The City holds an Ecological Gardens Festival annually, drawing a large number of participants.
The most recent, held late last year, attracted managers and owners of 90 gardens, mostly located in suburban districts like Nha Be, Can Gio, Hoc Mon, and Binh Chanh.
However, the festivals just serve to get people to know about this ecological model and do not help develop it, according to the general secretary of the HCM City Tourism Association, Huynh Van Qui.
There have been many calls for combining development of the model with development of eco-tourism.
The Hoc Mon-based Villa H2O Eco-Tourism, which won the first prize, is an example of the success achieved by combining the two.
But there are many other gardens in the City that have failed to develop as eco-tourism destinations.
Some experts believe that for long-term development, it is necessary to group the eco-gardens into eco-villages based on different themes that promote specific characteristics.
That would help promote their trademark and sustainably develop eco-tourism in the City, they said.
Tourism is a key industry for the country and has brought great benefits to the economy but has also contributed to degradation of the environment, especially bio-diversity, according to the experts.
Sustainable development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs, is reflected in ecological or environmental tourism which takes responsibility for nature.
For this reason, the Government has prioritised eco-tourism in its strategy for tourism development to ensure both sustainability and economic benefit.
HCM City has focused on eco-tourism development with plans to develop gardens along the Sai Gon River. The 20-year-old plan has received widespread support but has remained on paper.
The City has urged the Government to have consistent policies that promote links between eco-gardens and eco-tourism.
One of the measures for developing eco-gardens is the development of wholesale markets where garden owners and farmers can sell their flowers.
The City has just one market, Ho Thi Ky in District 10, selling flowers. It does not have the capacity to distribute a million flowers everyday from the increasing number of gardens.