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T
he Responsible Tourism Club of
Vietnam (RTC) is an informal
association of different travel
agencies, NGOs and individuals
dedicated to building, practicing and
developing responsible travel for the
sustainable growth of tourism in all re-
gions of Vietnam. It was established in
2009. It is not a training association or a
marketing agency, but the 22 members
share concerns for the consequences
of mass tourism. They each commit to
responsible travel practices.
“Responsible tourism is still quite
new for many people in Vietnam and
Asia, but this has been well known in
the developed countries for many years.
Therefore, RTC hopes to influence other
stakeholders in tourism and make re-
sponsible travel a comparative advantage
here, “ says Dang Xuan Son, director of
Footprint Travel and the RTC president.
Dang Xuan Son stresses that re-
sponsible tourism in Vietnam is a must
if one seeks sustainable growth. “Viet-
nam has exploited so much and it’s time
to concentrate on making it better for
the future,” he says.
The RTC aims to encourage its
members to protect the environment
and to respect people, their commu-
nities, and their cultures. The socio-
economic benefits of responsible travel
should contribute to improving the
quality of life in host communities in-
stead of creating the negative impacts
that we see so often.
THE RESPONSIBILITY OF ALL
“Responsible travel should be un-
derstood as a concept involving all
stakeholders, from government level
to tour operators, customers, suppliers
and others,” says Nguyen Thuy Duong,
vice director of Eviva Tour Vietnam.
“Responsible travel is not only
about one sector’s efforts. On a macro
level, there should be a central board
coordinating all the involved sectors
to implement a consistent action plan.
On a micro level, the travel enterpris-
es should join the efforts like being a
member of RTC to learn, to practice, to
share experience and together develop
responsible travel tourism of Vietnam,”
Duong adds.
It is great news for responsible en-
terprises that the developed world tends
to seek responsible destination manage-
ment compaies (DMCs). Furthermore,
the 2013 study from WYSE Travel Con-
federation showed that young people
prefer to find DMCs on the internet and
travel more responsibly by using less
internationally owned hotels and more
locally-owned accommodation
“To be a responsible enterprise,
for Eviva Tour, it does not mean just
to follow the guidelines, but to deeply
understand and practice from work to
daily life. For work, it is important to
implement the workflows to ensure the
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The idea of responsible travel has evolved out of concern about the negative
impacts of mass tourism. Leading Vietnam travel agencies are now working
hard to minimize their impacts while not compromising on the customer ex-
perience.
Que Chi
reports.
MISSION
responsible