Supporting environmentally and socially responsible tourism – The experience of Vietnam

Tourism in Vietnam, like in many other countries, is heavily dependent on natural and environmental resources.

It is essential that these resources are preserved and both visitors and hosts must be fully aware of the importance of protecting them, while operators must plan tourism investments and itineraries as not to “consume” resources.

The rapid growth of international tourism brought some challenges that the sector was not fully prepared to tackle.

Both private tourism operators and the Government of Vietnam (GoV) have realised the importance of addressing these challenges in order to offer a better product and ensure the sustainability in the process of tourism development.

The most pressing needs have been identified in the following areas:

• Better tourism promotion;
• Diversification of services and products;
• Increasing quality of services;
• Improvement in capacity building of human resources;
• Conservation of natural, cultural and historic heritage.

There was a strong need for expert advice and technical assistance in these areas, which is why the Environmentally and Socially Responsible Tourism Capacity Development Programme (ESRT) was put in place: a five-year initiative co-funded by the EU (11 m€) and the Government of Vietnam (GoV), the ESRT aimed at building the institutional capacity and skills needed for achieving the substantial socio-economic development benefits available from the tourism sector. In doing so, ESRT sought to pay special attention to protect and enhance the natural and cultural resources that are the basis of Vietnamese tourism.

• Provision of qualified technical assistance with local know-how in order to promote the delivery of environmentally and socially responsible tourism services.
• Worked in close cooperation with the Programme Implementation Unit to support the ESRT Programme, providing a highly qualified pool of Vietnamese experts with strong background in Responsible Tourism, VTOS, ToT and other relevant topics, required to implement ESRT activities in line with the Programme.
• Developed VTOS manuals and the occupational certification system that were well received by the tourism enterprises, training institutions and other stakeholders alike thus ensuring its sustainability in the future.

• Supported the capacity building process of teachers from tourism schools and universities in order to prepare the tourism training and education sector in Vietnam for regional and global integration and standardization of tourism services that enhance the competitiveness of the Vietnamese Tourism sector.
• Technical and didactic training delivered along with onsite coaching to teachers from tourism schools.

Budget: 646,409.00 euros
Trainees: 9,644
Training: 280 training sessions delivered covering over 28 different topics

“Take only photos, leave only footprints”.

This was the mantra of “ecotourism”, an “environment-friendly” movement which started to grow – in opposition to “mass tourism” – at the beginning of the 70s. Although ecotourism has brought a more sustainable perspective on tourism, it has mostly focused on nature, without fully considering local people and their cultures.

Since the 90s, a new wave of “sensitive travelers” has been developing the movement of “responsible tourism”, encompassing all types of tourism (not just nature based) with the aim of delivering “better places to live in and to visit”.

The focus of “responsible tourism” has consequently moved on the creation of better places firstly for local people, and secondly for tourists. People belonging to this movement define themselves as “travelers within cultures” and not just simply “tourists”.

When Eurecna took the challenge of building capacity for the development of “responsible tourism” in Vietnam, the implementation of an approach enhancing the “travel within” and not the “mass exploitation of” Vietnamese culture just came naturally.

Since being founded at the end of the 80s, Eurecna has been based in Venice, an island whose territorial sustainability and overseas expansion over the centuries has been built on travelling.

From the time when Marco Polo, a Venetian merchant traveler, visited China and Indochina in the 13th century, the concept of “travel” in Venice is still synonym of “source of knowledge”, “openness towards the different” and “cultural richness”.

This Venetian philosophy of constantly “re-focussing” and “adapting” to the other, has been capitalized in Vietnam where a balance between limits and usage has been found in developing a “responsible cultural approach” so that continuous changing, monitoring and planning has ensured the management of tourism in a sustainable way.