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| Building a standard operating procedure to reduce plastic for travel agencies |
Sustainable transformation
Under the canopy of thanh tra pomelo trees at Thuy Bieu tourism site (Thuy Xuan Ward), German visitors were enjoying herbal foot soaks and savoring the juicy segments of the fruit. When a visitor took out a plastic water bottle from his backpack, a local person working in tourism there proactively offered to exchange it for a prepared glass bottle. With the explanation: “We hope you will join us in making this a tourism site that reduces plastic waste”. The visitor was then satisfied and agreed with a smile.
In recent years, with the positive coordination and support from the Department of Tourism, the Management Board of the project “Hue - A City to reduce plastics in Central Vietnam”, tourism and service businesses, and tourism sites in the city have paid more attention to environmental issues. The most notable of which include: reducing the use of single-use plastic, sorting waste at the source, increasing the use of environmentally friendly materials, and encouraging visitors to participate in green tourism activities. “Plastic-reduction tourism has been embraced by community-based tourism providers, and supported by visitors. This brings useful and long-term values to tourism development,” shared Mr. Tran Quang Hao, Director of Huetourist Service Corporation.
According to statistics from the Department of Tourism, Hue has 2 accommodations that have achieved the ASEAN Green Hotel Award: Pilgrimage Village Boutique Resort & Spa (in 2017), and Vedana Lagoon Resort & Spa (in 2022). To date, over 70% of hotels have implemented at least one plastic reduction measure. Among them, 12 pioneer hotels have registered, and deployed a plastic reduction plan with specific activities.
In addition, some hotels have new initiatives to further reduce plastic waste into the environment. A typical example is EMM Hotel Hue, which has replaced single-use hotel amenities made from recycled plastic with new products that reduce the plastic component by 30% (70% recycled plastic, and 30% corn starch). Similarly, Alba Spa Hotel Hue has replaced nylon laundry bags with reusable fabric baskets, planted more greenery, and applied separate sorting for milk cartons in the waste treatment process to support recycling and reduce plastic waste leakage into the environment.
According to Ms. Tran Thi Hoai Tram, Director of the Department of Tourism, currently, 4 travel agencies (Hue Vacation, Restour, An Phu Tour, and Long Ma Tourism) have implemented plastic-reduction tours. These agencies apply methods such as replacing takeaway styrofoam boxes with environmentally friendly ones; providing reusable umbrellas/raincoats for visitors on the tours to borrow instead of single-use raincoats; as well as lending water bottles to visitors (if they agree), and providing large water dispensers on the vehicles to refill their bottles, etc.
Continuing to promote
In his message on World Tourism Day 2025, United Nations Secretary-General António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres emphasized: Tourism is a powerful engine for sustainable transformation. The tourism sector creates jobs, boosts local economies, supports infrastructure development, and contributes to development that extends far beyond conventional GDP indicators.
The UN Secretary-General also noted that if not properly directed, tourism can also damage the localities and communities. As the world faces climate change and growing inequality, it is more urgent than ever to take decisive, swift, and sustainable actions that put people and the planet at the center of all development strategies. Promoting climate action by reducing emissions across the tourism sector, conserving biodiversity, and protecting fragile ecosystems are critical concerns.
According to Ms. Tran Thi Hoai Tram, the overarching goal is for Hue City to strive to become Vietnam's “Green heritage destination”, a tourism destination that offers sustainable experiences, while contributing to the conservation of nature and heritage for domestic and international visitors.
The city is simultaneously implementing many solution groups, such as planning infrastructure, transportation, and tourism spaces in the direction of reducing emissions, and increasing green areas, and developing a “smart heritage city”; encouraging businesses to adopt green tourism models, and community-based tourism associated with cultural and environmental conservation; promoting Net Zero tours, green cyclos, and lagoon-river tours linked to ecosystem preservation, along with waste management and limiting single-use plastic; at the same time, increasing community participation.
According to Ms. Tram, in the coming time, in addition to the requirement to review and complete mechanisms and policies to support tourism development, the Department of Tourism, together with department branches, units and localities, will continue to promote the application of technology in tourism management and promotion, develop a variety of unique green tourism products, and enhance local community participation for sustainable green tourism development. At the same time, plans are underway to strengthen regional linkages and cooperation for sustainable tourism development, boost promotion and communication of the green tourism destination image, and attract green investment…