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tour quality to meet the expectations
that the enterprises have for custom-
ers, from the brand, to the planning of
the tours and to advise customers on
responsible guidelines, including buying
insurance before their trip or using the
local suppliers. It is also crucial to pro-
tect the living environment, for example
by using less nylon bags or saving the
electricity,” says Nguyen Thuy Duong.
“Most people will want to do some-
thing good for our environment. It’s a
matter of degree and how much time
and effort one sets aside to promote en-
vironmental awareness that will eventu-
ally lead to environmental protection
and its perseverance. There will always
be some people who are a bit slower to
come on board the ‘green’ movement,
but we simply need to be patient and
try our best to do what is good and
important. We will lead by example,
share our knowledge and take in new
discoveries to improve our intellect. This
is a long journey and it will be fantastic
when more like-minded comrades join
in to make our world a better place,”
says Gary Leong, Principal of Cat Tien
Jungle Lodge.
“As a local travel company, Ac-
tive Travel aims to develop responsible
travel in Vietnam and other countries
by working with other travel compa-
nies and NGOs, the RTC, and with
tourism colleges to train local peo-
ple about responsible and sustainable
travel,” says Nguyen Ngoc Bich, chief
executive officer of Active Travel Asia.
“Besides, we always choose and sup-
port responsible travel partners such
as hotels, restaurants and transporta-
tion providers that support and share
benefits with local communities.
The Vietnam Mountain Marathon,
the biggest international marathon
event ever in Vietnam, is another effort
to promote local responsible tourism. Ac-
cordingly this event, set for September
20-21, will attract almost 500 runners
from around 40 different countries.
The Danish Embassy has again
joined forces with Topas Ecolodge to
organise it in the beautiful mountain
region of Sapa on small twisting, buffa-
lo-beaten trails, across bamboo bridges
and through small mountain villages.
Each runner joining the Vietnam
Mountain Marathon will donate $20
as part of their race entry fee to a lo-
cal charity organisation, Sapa O’Chau,
that provides education opportunities
to young local minority groups in the
Sapa region who did not finish school.
“This event showcases Vietnam’s
extraordinary beautiful nature and high-
lights the positive energy when people
from many countries and cultures meet.
At the same time we and our partners
highlight the importance of a healthy
lifestyle and last but not least we sup-
port the local community around Sapa,”
says Ambassador John Nielsen.
RESPONSIBLE TOURISM BOOST
According to industry experts, there
is little support from local government
and they face many difficulties when
they are working on responsible travel
products as they have to spend much
time and resources to train local people.
“We have more competitors who
do not work for responsible products so
their products are very cheap,” explains
Nguyen Ngoc Bich.
Despite the tough competition,
responsible travel agencies all believe
that as most international guests visit-
ing Vietnam travel a lot, they care about
the environmental protective measures.
Many of them already incorporate green
practices in their homes and appreciate
them when they are on holiday, as they
can still make a difference and continue
to protect the environment. In devel-
oped countries, enviromnemtal issues
have long been considered a top prior-
ity, so Vietnam should be involved more
in these matters.
“In order to attract more visitors, Vi-
etnam not only have to do conduct truly
responsible tourism, but it also has to do
a country campaign in promoting tour-
ism – this was done really well by our
competitors such as Thailand, Malaysia
and Singapore,” says Dang Xuan Son.
Responsible tourism can attract
more tourists to Vietnam because a lot
a people care about the environment
all around the world. For example,
many care about Halong’s environ-
ment and are really interested in green
activities there.
“We do not want to see the peo-
ple of Vietnam exploited, nor do we
want to see our country’s environment
suffer. Protecting destinations will in-
sure that you, your children and future
generations will also have the opportu-
nity to visit them and learn,” says Dang
Xuan Son.
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RESPONSIBLE TOURISM
Nguyen Ngoc Bich
Dang Xuan Son
Nguyen Thuy Duong