Interaction between tourism and environment
Currently, environmental issues have been having a great impact on the country's economic development, including the development of the tourism industry. The tourism industry is being most affected by climate change, ecological environment...
Therefore, tourism and environment are two inseparable parts, if the environment is good, tourism will develop sustainably. When developing tourism, the tourism industry itself is aware of environmental issues. How to build and design attractions and tours to protect the environment sustainably, stick with nature, be friendly with nature. We would like to ask for opinions of tourism businesses and senior experts in the field of environment.
(Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Van Phuoc, Director of the Institute of Natural Resources and Environment of Ho Chi Minh City): “Vietnam has a length of more than 3,260 km by sea, with 125 large and small beaches. About 2,273 coastal islands, 44 small gulfs, 1,120 coral reefs, 252,500 ha of mangroves and seagrass beds distributed from North to South. Therefore, Vietnam's sea tourism is considered to have a lot of potential and strengths.
Today, there are many accommodation facilities and tourist services built on islands without planning, which has increased the risk of shoreline erosion and degraded marine and island ecosystems. Untreated wastewater from accommodation facilities and tourism services is discharged directly into the environment, increasing the organic level of coastal seawater.
In addition to oil pollution in coastal sea water caused by tourist transport boats, recreational facilities, water sports, coral exploitation to serve the needs of souvenirs... also contribute to the degradation. tropical ecosystem. As a result, the famous beaches of Vietnam are facing the risk of serious sea water pollution. In coastal areas of Ha Long Bay, there have been signs of local pollution due to an increase in suspended solids, a decrease in dissolved oxygen, nitrite and coliform bacteria...
According to statistics from the Ha Long Bay Management Board, at present, the Ha Long - Cam Pha area has 21 projects to encroach on the sea and 17 projects to dump sludge, posing a serious direct threat to the heritage area. According to the Management Board of Nha Trang Bay Marine Protected Area, every day, about 10 tons waste, from touring activities plus domestic waste from residents, are dumped into the sea. Onshore tourism service activities are not strictly managed. Toilets on cruise ships discharge waste directly into the sea. According to the results of annual environmental monitoring on the current state of the environment in Ba Ria - Vung Tau province, the quality of sea water at beaches, such as Long Hai, Ho Coc, Back Beach, Front Beach, and Bai Dau, has been marked some environmental pollution.
In order to help strengthen the state management capacity on environmental protection in tourism activities, it is necessary to organize the collection and investigation of information on the tourism environment in the system of tourism enterprises as a basis for construction, and implementation of the provisions of the Law on Environmental Protection.
It is necessary to develop a sanctioning regulation for acts of discharging waste causing environmental pollution. Statistical investigation of waste sources, wastewater and application of waste treatment technology in the tourism industry. Research and develop waste standards, pollution control procedures and waste management.
Research and propose to apply cleaner production in tourism business activities, rationally use resources and reduce waste. Make a plan to thoroughly deal with tourism business establishments that cause serious environmental pollution, according to Decision 64 of the Government.
(Mr. Trinh Quang Dung, Physics Sub-Institute of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology): “Vietnam's electricity demand by 2010 must be 150 billion KWh or more. According to statistics of the Ministry of Science and Technology, Vietnam annually produces about 30 million tons of coal, 20 million tons of crude oil and 35 billion KWh of electricity, 10 times higher than the electricity output in 1985.
Vietnam is a country with a relatively high average number of sunny hours, which is very suitable for solar power development. In the southern provinces, the average number of sunny hours is about 6.5 hours/day, in the northern provinces, the average number of sunny hours is only 4.1 hours/day, and the average radiation intensity is about 4 KWh/m2. day. Southern provinces and cities. In Ho Chi Minh City, the sun shines all year round, stable even in the rainy season. Solar radiation is a great resource for the central and southern provinces and Ho Chi Minh City. Ho Chi Minh City in the process of developing solar power network.
The local solar power network (Madicub) opens up great competitiveness for solar power and especially makes a mark in the field of supporting tourism development, eco-tourism and environmental protection. The outstanding advantage of the Madicub network is to take advantage of all available energy sources on-site to establish a local power network at "anytime, anywhere" and well serve all needs. At the end of November 2000, the first solar-powered cultural tourist boat in Vietnam and Southeast Asia was installed in Hoi An town. This project is funded by SIDA Sweden within the framework of the "New Energy Technology Program in Asia".
The solar power source on the yacht also serves to pump water and drain water in the basement, especially the pressure pump solution to supply domestic water for guests on the deck, a regular urgent need on every voyage. submit. Operating since November 2000, up to now, the solar power system has generated 12,800 KWh of electricity, reducing 11,520 tons of CO2 emitted into the atmosphere. The 5-star Sao Viet-Nui Thom solar power resort in Phu Yen province, becomes the first resort in Vietnam to apply solar power technology to support tourism development.
Solar power to support tourism development and environmental protection has initially been deployed in Vietnam, but has not yet met the needs of the market and is still too small compared to its potential. In the face of a catastrophe about the risk of global climate change that Vietnam will suffer many severe consequences, we need to strongly deploy the use of renewable energy to protect the environment and reduce the greenhouse effect. ...".
(Mr. Trinh Quang Man, General Director of Victoria Chau Doc): “Recently Victoria Chau Doc has its own environmental logo. The logo with the green circle represents the regeneration of the environment, and at the same time shows our commitment to protect the environment. Every quarter, Victoria Chau Doc has a day to work on environmental protection, and invites students to directly join the hotel staff in collecting garbage around the park area on April 30. , the hotel has created a sense of environmental protection among the staff and the local community.
In addition, according to the group's plan, in September every year, all staffs of the hotel will clean the road to the top of Sam mountain, place trash cans along the way to the top of Sam mountain. This activity has been carried out from 2003 to present. Victoria is a foreign hotel, so the environmental standards that Victoria is aiming for are international standards, which are compatible with Vietnam's standards. Up to now, all the world travel agencies come from countries with international insurance. With good environmental protection, they set environmental standards and are completely consistent with the environmental standards that the hotel is implementing.
I think, for serious tourism business people, when building works, it is necessary to build a wastewater treatment area from the beginning, and must invest properly, because this investment is very meaningful, will for profit, not for profit as people often think.
Therefore, Victoria Group did not hesitate to invest in a modern wastewater treatment system from the very beginning. Besides the cultural environment needs the help of local authorities, the working environment also needs proper investment. If we know how to appreciate the natural environment, we must also respect people, because this is a relatively complex environment that needs to be expressed, otherwise we have not done all our views on environmental protection." .
(Mr. Lionel Valla, General Director of Evason Ana Mandara & Six Senses Spa Nha Trang): “Currently, worldwide Six Senses Group has 17 resorts in 13 countries, the main development is in Southeast Asian countries: Vietnam,Thailand and the Maldives. The vision of Six Senses is to create new trends with many creative changes, making visitors feel for the environment, with the surrounding community. The purpose of the Group is the environment, how to create a landscape in harmony with the environment, reducing carbon emissions. Regarding environmental responsibility, Six Senses is divided into 4 main parts: Environmental, social - cultural, economic and at the same time health.
In the environment section, Six Senses is divided into the following sections: energy management; water management; waste management; manage chemicals and be responsible in the purchase and sale, do not buy too much and then dump it to pollute the environment; manage emissions in the region and at the same time have the responsibility to protect and regenerate the ecological environment. A safe and healthy environment must be created in the resort. The Six Senses Group is already a member of Green Globe, Nordic “Swan” or the Environmental Association International Tourism Partnership, ITP-US Leed.
To achieve the purpose of protecting the environment, when investing in a new resort, it does not mean that you have to cut down trees and destroy the environment. Six Senses with its architecture in harmony with nature, should only build according to what nature already has. Therefore, the resorts are built under the forest canopy, mountain rocks, so the forest trees in nature are still preserved, the natural landscape is not destroyed.
Doing so will take advantage of the coolness from the trees for the living room, only the bedroom must have air conditioning. The style of Six Senses is a harmonious combination with nature, taking advantage of the available advantages of nature. All of the corporation's halls and meeting rooms are built with an "over air" style, the spa rooms are also not equipped with air conditioning, designed with ventilation holes, walls are built of clay mixed with very thick rice husk, There are ventilation holes, so the temperature inside the room is always 5-6 degrees Celsius lower than outside.
At all resorts of the group, there are private vegetable gardens, especially at the resort in Nha Trang, we have a green, clean vegetable garden grown on site, which is sufficient for the kitchen. Currently, Six Senses is creating a "green balance" in the menu, by using fresh, green vegetables combined with tofu and some necessary fish meat to change the daily dishes for guests, and the food is prepared. Cook at 44oC, at this temperature the nutrients in the food will not be evaporated. And guests can have dinner right in the vegetable garden, which makes visitors very interested, especially visitors from Japan."
(Mr. Hanno Stamm, former General Director of Victoria Phan Thiet Beach Resort & Spa): “Mui Ne has transformed itself from a small peaceful village into a crowded and bustling beach where a lot of revenue is generated for the business. local economy. However, the reality is that many of the efforts to build more resorts, restaurants and spas do not go hand in hand with infrastructure development, as it should be.
There is not yet a wastewater treatment plant, although it is regulated by law. There are very few resorts that have a wastewater treatment unit and certainly no small business has one. “Eco” and “green” are the most talked about words in Vietnam in recent years. Unfortunately, efforts in this area have yielded only superficial results. When I first came to Vietnam, I found very little plastic wrap, but today Vietnam is one of the few countries where every apple, banana... comes in a separate nylon bag and all the bags. put it together in a big bag.
As hotel and restaurant managers, we can ask our suppliers to deliver baskets, and they will certainly answer that they are not used to doing so because they are used nylon bags. Nylon bags are something that I hate because they damage the landscape of Phan Thiet, in addition to affecting the beauty, they often make my heart flutter when I swim in the sea and touch a nylon bag. It is clear that we live in an ideal world, where we would have both water and waste treatment plants, various energy sources to run the machines, employees and authorities committed to environmental protection.
There are many measures that we can take with almost no or very little effort and money. All it takes is that we consider a program to help our abused environment. Letting the grass grow a little longer is free but saves a considerable amount of water. Banning all plastic bags at most hotels won't cost you anything, on the contrary, it will save you money... Although I will be leaving Vietnam, I would like to see Vietnam continue to attract tourists and I look forward to it. would love to see you all continue to do well in the years to come.”
Improve coastal ecosystems
(Mr. Boris Fabres, Senior Advisor of the Center for Marine Life Conservation and Community Development - MCD): “Tourism, especially coastal tourism, has made great contributions to Vietnam's economy. The tourism industry attracts foreign direct investment (FDI), supports local industry and creates many jobs for coastal and island residents. With economic and coastal planning to contribute more than 50% of the total national income by 2022, the tourism industry is set to grow even further.
Meanwhile, there are many natural environment areas with outstanding biodiversity for tourists to visit such as: sandy sea, mangroves, rivers and coral reefs... are under great pressure due to pollution. pollution and destruction caused by man-made, has affected the natural environment and ecosystems. Coral reefs in Vietnam are at high risk of pollution, eight times higher than the average in other Asian countries. Coastal erosion is also increasing, and chemical pollution from industry, agriculture, and human sewage is getting worse.
A 2008 World Bank study estimated that each year Vietnam is losing at least $69 million in income from the tourism industry, due to facilities with poor sanitation systems. Environmental pollution also reduces the attractiveness of the tourism industry. Changing natural biodiversity and increasing amounts of solid waste, especially plastics, have made beaches and coastal areas less and less touristy. Financial losses due to poor environmental quality in Vietnam were estimated at US$2.5 billion in 2004.
Businesses operating in the field of tourism and hotel are the agents that affect the quality of the environment, they are also affected by the pollution and development of different fields.
Environmental quality also reduces the international competitiveness of Vietnam's tourism industry.
The World Economic Forum in 2007 and 2008 dropped Vietnam from 93rd place to 122 out of 133 countries ranked in terms of environmental quality, management and tourism business. Due to these major challenges, business and the Government must work together to address them, especially in the tourism sector, where private investment accounts for the majority. It is also very worthwhile for hotels and businesses in the tourism sector, supporting local communities to develop sustainably, and using the “Green” supply chain. These will have a positive and spillover effect on other businesses. These actions need to be based on accurate information about the environment.
At the same time, responsible actions need to be taken such as using the principle of “Polluter pays” to prevent environmental damage, and this needs to be done continuously. Due to the rapid development of tourism and tourism-hotel businesses in Vietnam, we need to simultaneously focus on the impacts of tourism on the environment, and use the national environmental resources in a sustainable way. responsibility. What we do today affects not only the present generation, but many generations to come. In this campaign, the management of the tourism business can benefit both the business and the environment.”
Respontravel was born as a effort to balance benefit between enterprise and environment protection.
These are our business rules
- The key to the success of Responsible Tourism Company is first and foremost the responsibility of all stakeholders.
- Every single decision we make every day can have an impact on people and the environment around us.
- To practice responsible tourism requires that we be guided by our own consciences, ethics and the laws of our society, to make decisions when both tourism suppliers and consumers will has the most positive net benefit to people and the surrounding environment.
- In short, the tourism industry requires us to take responsibility for our own actions (and shortcomings), to be able to act, and to make a positive difference.
Benefit
The benefits of Responsible Tourism include:
- Minimize negative impacts on the economy, environment and society;
- Create many economic benefits and improve the welfare of local people;
- Improve working conditions and participation in tourism;
- Encourage local people to participate in decisions that affect their own lives;
- Contribute actively to the conservation of natural and cultural heritage;
- Provide interesting experiences for visitors through the link between tourists and local people;
- Create understanding of local cultural, social and environmental issues;
- Encourage mutual respect between tourists and locals;
- Building trust and national pride for the community.