Standardizing criteria to promote green tourism

Hue strives to become one of Viet Nam's leading green tourism cities by 2030. Achieving this requires not only verbal commitments but also the transformation of slogans into disciplined action. The effort must be synchronized, from management agencies to individual service establishments and citizens, with a unified set of criteria as the backbone – criteria that are sufficiently rigorous to apply and clear enough to monitor.

It requires a great deal of perseverance.

During the recent April 30th - May 1st holiday, Hue was delighted to attract a large number of tourists. However, alongside these positive results, some concerns arose.

On May 1st, images circulated on social media showing tourists in a car with an out-of-province license plate carelessly littering the streets. This action caused outrage, especially given that Hue's roads are being continuously improved to maintain their cleanliness and greenness.

This might be an isolated, temporary act by a tourist. But the question is: As the number of tourists increases, can the goal of green tourism be achieved if businesses, tourism professionals, and many others remain uninvolved in the effort to reduce plastic waste and transition to green tourism?

It's easy to see that during the recent holiday, plastic water bottles and plastic bags were still being used by tourists traveling to and from tourist destinations. Even some tour guides – those directly involved in guiding tourists' behavior – were carrying single-use plastic items.

From the perspective of a business pursuing a green tourism strategy, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuy An, Director of An Du Tourism Co., Ltd., believes that achieving the goal of green tourism development requires immense determination and perseverance. There are many obstacles, including changing habits, including those of employees within the business, to ensure they understand the importance of reducing plastic waste and choosing a green tourism path. Besides awareness, the cost of transition is a major challenge. Businesses face numerous investments, while the costs of green transition are often not mandatory. When financial pressure is heavy, these expenses are easily delayed or overlooked.

For a long time, Hue lacked a specific set of criteria for businesses and tourism organizations to apply. Looking at some localities such as the former Quang Nam (now Da Nang City) and Hai Phong, which have issued criteria for green tourism, it will create a foundation to guide activities from accommodation and travel to tourist attractions towards environmentally friendly practices.

For green tourism to be implemented comprehensively.

Plan No. 168/KH-UBND, issued by the People's Committee of Hue City (dated March 27, 2026), outlines the implementation of the project "Improving the quality of the tourism environment in Hue City by 2030". The goal is for Hue City to become one of the leading green tourism cities in Viet Nam by 2030, moving towards a Net-zero tourism model by 2050.

The project also quantifies several key indicators such as: 100% of tourist destinations equipped with standard waste collection and sorting systems; 100% of public tourist areas, public beaches, rest stops, etc., are provided with sufficient trash bins to ensure waste sorting at source as regulated; 100% of tourist destinations develop and apply a Code of Conduct for Civilized Tourism linked to environmental protection criteria; and reduce the amount of plastic waste and plastic bags by at least 30% in heritage areas and tourist attractions.

Following a research process, Hue City has developed and finalized a set of green tourism criteria to be implemented in 2026. This is considered a unified standard framework to guide, evaluate, and promote the sustainable and environmentally friendly development of tourism in Hue City.

Depending on the target audience, the criteria will focus on thematic groups such as: the general environment; control and use of electricity and water; waste management and recycling; air quality control and noise pollution; sustainable tourism product development; social responsibility and community.

Establishing a specific and feasible system of criteria will serve as a basis for evaluating, classifying, and recognizing the level of green tourism for accommodation establishments, tourist attractions, and food and beverage service businesses. This will encourage businesses and local communities to adopt environmentally friendly solutions, conserve resources and cultural heritage, minimize the negative impacts of tourism activities, and gradually foster civilized behavior and a lifestyle that is responsible towards the environment, culture, and society.

According to Ms. Tran Thi Hoai Tram, Director of the Department of Tourism, the tourism industry and relevant units and localities will strengthen the state's management role, linking it with the green tourism criteria as a tool to support inspection, monitoring, evaluation, and policy development to encourage green tourism models. In addition, they will develop incentive, support, and reward mechanisms to encourage businesses and stakeholders to actively participate in the transition to green tourism models and sustainable development.

Green tourism cannot be built on vague commitments. Once criteria are established, the next step is to implement them synchronously and decisively. And that begins with specific, even the smallest, changes, from the government and businesses to each individual citizen and tourist.

Sources: Vietnam.vn