Is sustainable tourism the new mainstream?

Booking.com's 2023 Sustainable Travel Report found that globally, 80% of survey respondents "stated that sustainable travel is increasingly important to them."

Sustainable tourism trends

Tourism is one of the fastest growing industries in the world. It plays an extremely important role as a major source of income for many countries. According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization, sustainable tourism needs to: Protect and bring maximum value to the environment; Respect cultural and social identity by not damaging cultural values and contributing to promoting local culture; Ensure long-term economic development activities: sustainable tourism needs to contribute to creating stable income for local people.

A recent sociological survey report on tourism businesses in Vietnam on the readiness of international tourists in developing sustainable tourism, conducted by a research team from the Institute for Tourism Development Research (Vietnam National Administration of Tourism), also showed that: 76% are willing to reduce waste during their vacations; 62% are willing to consume local products; 45% are willing to use means of transport with less impact on the environment; 45% choose to take a vacation outside of peak season; 38% are willing to support the local community; 31% are willing to choose less popular destinations; 28% choose to reduce water use during their vacations.

More and more international tourists are interested in and choosing outdoor tourism activities in Vietnam such as: walking, climbing, swimming..., thereby, enjoying nature, improving health, contributing to reducing harmful impacts on natural resources. In fact, the trend of green and sustainable consumption is not only popular among international visitors but is gradually becoming a habit of Vietnamese tourists. According to a survey by the Booking.com platform, up to 88% of domestic tourists said that the Covid-19 epidemic has motivated them to want to travel in a sustainable way. Some typical green tours have been formed, attracting a large number of domestic and foreign tourists, such as the boat tour to collect trash in Hoi An; cave exploration tour in Phong Nha-Ke Bang (Quang Binh); tour to watch turtles lay eggs in Con Dao...

In Decision No. 882/QD-TTg dated July 22, 2022 on the National Action Plan on green growth for the period 2021-2030, the Prime Minister assigned the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to preside over two groups of tasks: "Improving institutions and policies for managing tourism development towards green and sustainable growth" and "Prioritizing the development of tourism types towards green growth (ecotourism, community tourism, agricultural and rural tourism, island resort tourism associated with the development of the blue sea economy, adventure sports tourism ensuring green standards and criteria...), developing green tourism products".

The Vietnam Tourism Development Strategy to 2030 has also determined to develop Vietnam tourism with a sustainable and inclusive orientation on the basis of green growth, maximizing the contribution of tourism to sustainable development goals. The strategy offers many solutions such as: Applying digital technology, green and clean technology in tourism business; improving pollution control capacity, ensuring prevention, reduction and effective handling of pollution sources from tourism activities; encouraging tourism service establishments to use clean energy, renewable energy, recycled and reused products, applying clean technology to limit environmental pollution and reduce greenhouse gas emissions...

Tourism must be sustainable to attract visitors

Sustainable tourism development associated with green growth. In the tourism sector, in 2012, the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) jointly researched and published a report related to tourism development towards green growth, pointing out 6 major challenges that world tourism must face: Energy and greenhouse effect; Water consumption; Waste management and water quality; Biodiversity; Biodiversity reduction; Construction management and cultural heritage.

These six challenges force world tourism to develop towards green growth with the goal of sustainable tourism development.

Vietnam has long affirmed its tourism strengths thanks to its beautiful landscapes, favorable climate, rich cultural heritages, hospitality and friendliness of its people. However, there are still many challenges that the tourism industry needs to address, including sustainable tourism development in all types of tourism, building and developing tourism culture. Promoting the participation of local communities in tourism activities with a fair benefit-sharing mechanism is of particular concern to develop tourism towards green growth, achieving sustainable goals.

In the current and future general development trend of the world, Vietnam cannot and has not stood outside the orientation of promoting green growth. The clearest and most specific orientation was on September 25, 2012, when the Prime Minister of Vietnam issued Decision No. 1393/QD-TTg approving the national strategy on green growth for the period 2011-2020 and vision to 2050. Vietnam is considered one of the countries with many advantages for sustainable tourism development. Specifically, Vietnam has 11 world biosphere reserves, 30 national parks, 6 heritage parks and a variety of outstanding values. Vietnam is ranked 27th out of 156 countries with sea, possessing more than 125 beautiful beaches.

Sustainable tourism is growing strongly and is forecast to become an important driving force of the global tourism industry, with a total market value of up to 336 billion USD by 2030. Southeast Asian countries also recognize the importance of sustainable development and make efforts to widely promote responsible, sustainable, inclusive and balanced tourism development, which contributes significantly to the socio-economic well-being of the people of Southeast Asia.

Green tourism – the “key” to sustainable tourism development!

According to the Communist Party of Vietnam Electronic Newspaper

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