Handspan Travel Indochina will run a non-profit Ha Long clean up tour targeted at environmentally conscious travelers late this June.
The tour will bring some 30 visitors to the remotest parts of Halong Bay where they will kayak to collect floating refuse and other garbage on their way.
This is the seventh consecutive year this tour will be organised on Lan Ha and Ha Long bays.
According to the company's products & marketing manager, Guilhem Cavaill, tourists will use non-carbon emitting means of transport to visit the lagoons and sandy beaches which few tourists to these bays get a chance to see. The purpose, he said, is not only to have fun, but to clean up the environment and spread environmental awareness among locals and authorities.
"The increasing volume of tourism to Halong and the recent surge of litter, such as plastic and styrofoam products and soap, among floating communities is a great risk to the environment," he said. The maritime biosphere has a lack of environmental consciousness among residents and visitors and inadequate conservation efforts. Important and irreversible damages has already been done, and now is the time to change this."
This year, this tour will be hosted on Treasure Junk and supported by several companies and organistions. The tour will be held on the 22nd and 23rd of June, and will include a barbecue dinner party and an overnight stay on boat. The tour costs USD 90 per participant.