To implement sustainable development strategies, Viet Nam tourism requires policies and measures to manage and protect the environment as well as create advantage conditions for tourism development.
Be aware of its vital role, Viet Nam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) has been researching and building set of criteria to assess the environmental management and protection of accommodations in Viet Nam, called the sustainable tourism label of Green Lotus. It is considered as the essential condition for sustainable development of tourist accommodations and the first important link to build other systems of sustainable criteria for Viet Nam tourism.
A conference was held in Hanoi on July 19, 2011 to seek opinions to finalize the set of criteria and related documents for the certification of sustainable tourism label of Green Lotus.
The sustainable tourism label of Green Lotus has five levels: from the lowest level with 1 green lotus to the highest level with 5 green lotuses and is conferred on accommodations that make efforts to protect the environment, use natural resources and energy efficiently, preserve the country's heritage, develop the local economy, culture and society, and pursue sustainable tourism development. The number of green lotuses that an accommodation obtains will only depend on the points that it reaches according to the criteria of the sustainable tourism label of green lotus.
Set of criteria for the sustainable tourism label of Green Lotus include 80 criteria divided into four groups, including sustainable management; maximizing economic and social benefits for local communities; minimizing negative impacts on cultural heritage; minimizing negative impacts on the environment.
Established by the Hotel Department (VNAT) and the Science, Technology and Environment Department (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism – MOCST), the above criteria are based on the documents, experiences of some European and Asian countries and the Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria (GSTC); sampling survey on over 130 accommodations in provinces and cities in Viet Nam, suggestions of domestic and international organizations, experts…
After completing and promulgating by the MOCST at the end of 2011, the set of criteria will be sample applied to 3-star to 5-star hotels and then applied to all accommodations in Viet Nam.
Phuong Anh (TITC)