Seminar discusses environmental protection at national tourist sites

The seminar was organised by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MOCST) under the theme 'Protecting the environment at national tourist sites'.

Addressing the event, Tu Manh Luong, Head of MOCST's Department of Science, Technology and Environment, outlined Vietnam's master plan for tourism development by 2020, with a vision towards 2030, with priority placed on advertising 46 national tourist sites across the country.

However, one of the huge challenges facing tourist sites in Vietnam is environmental protection. At many tourist attractions, the discharge of solid waste, a lack of water closets and out-dated facilities pose a high risk of environment pollution.

Therefore, he stressed that protecting the environment and ecological diversity must be key tasks at tourist sites in order to attain sustainable development and green growth in the tourism sector.

Regarding the solutions to the issue, Nguyen Thi Thanh Huong, Deputy Head of Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, said that it is necessary to compete the legal system and regulations on environmental protection at tourist sites, to tighten the management over tourist activities which have created certain impacts on the environment, increase the inspection of environmental situations at tourist attractions and strengthen international cooperation on sustainable tourism development.

Participants at the seminar listened to reports on environmental protection by the managing boards of Trang An tourist complex (Ninh Binh province), Ha Long Bay (Quang Ninh province), Nui Coc Lake (Thai Nguyen province) and Ban Gioc Waterfall (Cao Bang province).

According to the Director of Ninh Binh provincial Department of Tourism, after being honoured as the World Cultural and Natural Heritage Site, the Trang An Tourism complex has attained an annual growth rate of 13.7% in the number of visitors. The site welcomed 6.44 million visitors last year and the provincial tourism sector earned total revenue of VND 1.76 trillion.

However, the high growth of tourist activities has placed intense pressures on the environment there.

Being aware of the threat, the local authorities in Ninh Binh have taken drastic measures to preserve the natural landscape and environment and protect the natural resources at Trang An tourism complex, while raising the awareness of local residents on the importance of environmental protection.