Developing green tourism: Not an easy task (Part 1)

In recent years, green tourism has received increasing attention and become an important development direction for many localities across the country, including Thanh Hoa. While some opinions say that green tourism is a post-COVID-19 development trend, others assert that promoting green tourism is building a sustainable future tourism model.

Cultural heritage - an endogenous resource promoting the development of green tourism in Thanh Hoa (In photo: Tourists visiting Lam Kinh Historical Relic Site). Photo: Hoai Anh

When tourism develops "hotly"

Considered as "Vietnam in miniature", Thanh Hoa has 102km of coastline, with many beautiful beaches such as Sam Son, Hai Tien, Hai Hoa, Bai Dong... Along with that are famous landscapes that have been and are being built to become "green destinations", attracting tourists such as: Ben En National Park (Nhu Thanh), Pu Luong Nature Reserve (Quan Hoa, Ba Thuoc), Cam Luong fish stream (Cam Thuy), Ham Rong - Ma River landscape (Thanh Hoa city)... Most notably, Thanh Hoa is a place where the colorful cultural space of 7 ethnic groups including Kinh, Muong, Thai, Tho, Dao, Mong, Kho Mu converge, with unique traditional cultural values ​​​​still preserved. All are valuable "materials", the internal driving force for Thanh Hoa province to develop diverse green tourism products and enhance the brand "Four Seasons of Fragrance".

In fact, in recent years, the province's tourism products such as: beach resorts, culture - history - spirituality, community ecology, agriculture, experience, sports - adventure... have increasingly affirmed their attraction to tourists thanks to the green space, green experiences of the destination and "green transformation" in business activities of enterprises. In just 9 months of 2024, the whole province welcomed nearly 14.5 million visitors, reaching 104.7% of the yearly plan; estimated revenue reached nearly 32 trillion VND. This is the first time in the history of the province's "smokeless industry" that the target of welcoming visitors for the whole year has been exceeded in just 9 months. However, the "hot" growth in some key tourist destinations of the province also shows the downside, when the number of visitors is overloaded in the peak summer tourist months, threatening the sustainability of the natural environment and biodiversity.

Currently, in most coastal areas, due to the strong development of tourism activities, there is a risk of threatening the natural environment, causing local pollution and environmental degradation. According to Sam Son Urban Environment and Tourism Services Joint Stock Company, during the peak tourist season (May to August), it is estimated that every day, people and tourists use 60 - 120 kg of plastic bags and are at risk of dumping them directly into coastal areas. At times, the total amount of waste reaches 150 tons/day. Meanwhile, the current solid waste collection rate is only about 80 - 90%, and even lower during the peak tourist season. Studies have shown that some types of plastic waste such as: plastic bags, foam boxes, plastic bottles, plastic straws, toothbrushes, combs... need at least 100 - 200 years to decompose...

With the advantage of a long coastline, increasingly synchronous infrastructure investment, and a convenient transportation system, the number of visitors to Thanh Hoa coastal tourist areas has increased dramatically in recent years, accounting for about 70% of the total number of visitors to the province each year. This situation is causing many localities such as Sam Son City, Hoang Hoa, and Nghi Son Town to face the risk of environmental pollution, especially water pollution due to large amounts of waste, and it is difficult to develop green tourism in the near future.

The “key” to sustainable tourism development

On July 22, 2022, the Prime Minister issued Decision No. 882/QD-TTg on the National Action Plan on Green Growth for the 2021-2030 period. Accordingly, for the tourism sector, the Prime Minister assigned the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to preside over two key groups of tasks, including: Completing institutions and policies for managing tourism development towards green and sustainable growth; 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 Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has issued policies and many activities related to green tourism such as: Issuing the set of criteria for "Green Lotus Sustainable Tourism Label"; Organize "Green Heritage Tourism Culture Week - A meeting place for people and nature"...

Sam Son Beach - the "hot" destination leading the number of visitors in the whole province.

In recent years, Thanh Hoa province has been exploiting its potential and strengths, promoting the development of green tourism, focusing on beach resort tourism products, community ecology, culture, adventure sports, agricultural tourism... With the consistent viewpoint of "not trading off the environment", tourism development must aim for sustainability, ensuring harmony between economic goals and social goals.

However, when asked “Is developing green tourism a trend or an inevitable requirement?”, some opinions said that it is a trend. A representative of a farm tourism destination in Dong Son district said that in the short term, they are developing green tourism to catch up with the trend and meet the needs of tourists. With limited capital, developing green tourism at the present time helps them take advantage of natural resources and existing landscapes to create a green destination, serving the needs of eating, sightseeing, and checking in. However, in the future, the destination can be invested in to build on a larger scale, more modernly and converted to a different form of tourism business to catch up with the new trend.

In fact, some green tourism models are currently emerging to catch up with the trend, with a not-so-clear strategic direction. However, according to Booking.com's 2023 sustainable tourism report, globally, up to 80% of survey participants affirmed that sustainable tourism is increasingly important to them. In Vietnam, 75% of tourists said they are willing to pay more for certified sustainable tourism options and 83% of tourists expressed their desire to help the places they visit become greener and cleaner after they leave.

According to tourism experts, green tourism is first and foremost an essential requirement from tourists themselves, because they are increasingly interested in improving the quality of life on each trip. And reality has also proven that green tourism products and green destinations are increasingly chosen and highly appreciated by tourists.

Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism Pham Nguyen Hong said: “With the potential and available strengths of natural resources and cultural heritage of the province, the development of green tourism is set as an important strategic content to enhance the competitiveness of the "smokeless industry" in the new situation. With the "green links", or "safe corridors to welcome guests" during the period of "closing - opening" tourism due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the recovery period, it has also been proven that "green tourism" has great attraction, is an essential requirement for sustainable tourism development in the future. Only when there is a "green tourism" foundation, can Thanh Hoa tourism both ensure the set goals and tasks of increasing the number of visitors and revenue, and on the other hand, minimize the impact on the environment, maximize the contribution of tourism to sustainable socio-economic development goals".

Hoai Anh

Lesson 2: Pressure on pioneering “green transformation” facilities

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/phat-trien-du-lich-xanh-chuyen-khong-de-bai-1-la-lua-chon-hay-yeu-cau-tat-yeu-228854.htm