Vietnam aims for green, sustainable tourism

Travelers are increasingly looking for green tours in recent times. Photo: Minh Man

The trend of net zero tourism

Green tourism, also known as Net Zero tourism, is an inevitable trend. Booking.com's 2023 Travel Confidence Index survey shows that 90% of consumers are looking for sustainable options when traveling. Experts from the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) emphasize that destinations need to adjust their marketing strategies to suit the values ​​of this emerging traveler segment. Destinations that integrate sustainability into their marketing activities can see up to a 20% increase in visitors thanks to environmentally conscious travelers.

Mr. Pavnesh Kumar, Director of Research and Sustainable Development PATA, said that destinations can differentiate themselves by stepping up their commitment to sustainability and net zero emissions targets. This is a golden time for conscious tourism. Surveys show that tourists from Japan, Hong Kong (China)... are willing to spend more on sustainable tourism options. At the same time, in India, Vietnam and China, tourists are the ones who want to prioritize sustainable tourism the most.

In the Southeast Asia region, countries have also started implementing net zero tourism 2-3 years ago.

At the recent ITE HCMC 2024 Fair, Mr. So Mara, Secretary of State, Ministry of Tourism of the Kingdom of Cambodia, said that Cambodia is promoting the development of eco-tourism and culture in mountainous and remote areas, promoting the use of renewable energy in tourism development, sustainable and environmentally friendly tourism infrastructure. Cambodia has implemented a number of tourism development initiatives in parallel with environmental protection. In November 2023, Cambodia launched the "Blue sky and net zero" campaign to raise awareness about climate change, to achieve the goal of Net Zero by 2050.

In response to the requirement of developing green tourism, many localities and Vietnamese tourism businesses are gradually taking specific actions to practice Net Zero tourism. At the end of August 2024, the Department of Culture - Sports and Tourism of Quang Nam province for the first time approved a set of common criteria for practicing Net Zero tourism locally. Co To district in Quang Ninh and Con Dao district in Ba Ria - Vung Tau are also gradually researching and applying green tourism practices and piloting Net Zero tourism.

Currently, to develop green tourism, Ho Chi Minh City has implemented tourism development activities associated with 17 sustainable development criteria of UNESCO and aiming to reduce emissions, protect the natural environment and culture in each activity. Accordingly, Ho Chi Minh City will quickly, resolutely and effectively develop and implement sustainable tourism development plans from human resource training to development, calling on people to participate in protecting natural resources, calling on tourism businesses to protect the living environment and cultural environment, deploying tourism products associated with nature, etc.

Building a digital database

The advantages of green tourism and the transition towards sustainable development are inevitable, but one of the obstacles pointed out by experts is the high initial cost and the need for clear criteria for businesses to implement.

Ms. Tran Huong Giang, Director of Tam Viet Research and Training Institute, an expert on sustainable tourism, admitted that tourism is a very difficult industry to consult because it is a complex industry in terms of value chain. If tourism wants to be sustainable, towards Net Zero, every link in that supply chain must also be sustainable, not just tourism businesses practicing.

From the perspective of a data manager, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Hoa, representative of the Department of Information and Communications of Ho Chi Minh City, said that digital data is playing an increasingly important role in promoting sustainable tourism. Specifically, data analysis and application allows for route optimization, reducing fuel consumption, encouraging the use of public transport and green forms of transportation. In addition, mobile applications also help users track emissions during their journey and choose more reasonable travel options when traveling to reduce emissions into the environment... Or when businesses and tourists integrate carbon offset options into their online booking systems, it also helps tourists easily minimize environmental impacts. However, the source of data on sustainable tourism is still limited in both database and human resources development. Therefore, to build data to practice Net Zero tourism, it is necessary to first build a complete database system specifically for the tourism industry to support research, policy planning and development of green tourism products in Vietnam in general, and Ho Chi Minh City in particular. For the Government, there should be policies to encourage the development of big data, creating opportunities for the tourism industry to build a data ecosystem to serve the Net Zero goal in the future. For tourism businesses, it is necessary to provide green tourism product background data to build and form an official data source for tourists...

From the perspective of tourism businesses, Mr. Pham Anh Vu, Director of Vietnam Tourism Communications, said that with diverse natural resources and ecosystems, Vietnam has many favorable conditions to develop green and sustainable tourism. Creating green tourism products will bring memorable experiences and interactions for tourists with local people.

However, according to Mr. Pham Anh Vu, businesses are currently in dire need of detailed and unified criteria for green tourism products, from which travel businesses can grasp and respond by building more green tourism products. At the same time, it is also necessary to build mechanisms to encourage businesses, thereby stimulating the community's demand for green tourism, contributing to the protection of nature, sustainable tourism resources and towards protecting public health.