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F
or hotels and resorts, responsible
tourism includes energy manage-
ment, waste management and wa-
ter conservation.
Environmental studies show that
the hotel sector has a large impact on
the environment. Hotels consume a
vast amount of energy and water and
create a lot of waste. Hence, the indus-
try has a large environmental footprint.
In Vietnam, tourism is a major
source of income and employment. It
depends heavily on environmental re-
sources such as the pristine beaches
and forests.To minimise any negative
impacts that may arise as the result
of tourism activities, efforts are now
geared towards alternative forms of
tourism. That’s why the implementa-
tion of green practices in hotels and
resorts around Vietnam has been so
important. This will help decrease con-
cerns of guests about the environmen-
tal problems.
Two years ago the Ministry of Cul-
tures, Sports and Tourism established
the Tourism Sustainable Label for Ac-
commodation – the Green Lotus Label.
The Green Lotus label aims to support
the sustainable development of tourist
accommodation and lay the groundwork
for other systems of sustainable criteria.
With the Green Lotus program, Vietnam’s
local hotel sector has a set of officially
recognised standards in sustainability
that provide a clear definition of what
green means and practical steps that op-
erators should implement in order to
meet varying levels of sustainability.
A recent Vietnam hotel survey re-
vealed signs of progress within 3-5 star
hotels becoming more aware of sustain-
ability issues and showing more inter-
est in the implementation of the Green
Lotus. However, many hotels have not
yet taken the opportunity of Green Lo-
tus labeling and are therefore losing the
benefits of marketing and distribution
and are not meeting the requirements of
many international operators.
“In
Vietnam,
environmentally
friendly practices are becoming popular
and it seems to be the new trend in re-
cent years. However, the implementing
of green practices only happens in big
hotels and resorts as they have enough
capacity to do so,” said Nguyen Duc
Quynh at Furama resort Danang.
TRAINING FIRST
Big hoteliers often have plans to
operate more green businesses. They
encourage staff and guests to recycle
plastic bottles, use cloth bags when
shopping, re-use linens and towels,
switch off electrical appliances, air-
conditioning and lights when not in
use and much more. In addition, they
separate waste and use biodegradable
cleaners and packaging.
“Green initiatives are still relatively
new in Vietnam. Thus, it is very im-
portant to continuously educate our
staff on the importance of saving the
timeout
38
RESPONSIBLE TOURISM
GREEN
LODGINGS
The public tends to
believe that hotel op-
erations consume a
large amount of wa-
ter and energy while
hoteliers feel the
need to demonstrate
social and environ-
mental responsibility.
Ha Anh
reports