The 4-day April 30 and May 1 holiday this year, along with hot and humid weather in most provinces and cities, has caused a large number of people to flock to the beaches for sightseeing and entertainment.

Famous beaches across the country such as Quat Lam (Nam Dinh), Con Vanh (Thai Binh), Cua Lo (Nghe An), Sam Son (Thanh Hoa), Nha Trang (Khanh Hoa)… are packed with people swimming. Hotels and motels near these beaches are all fully booked.

The beach along the ruined church in Hai Ly commune (Hai Hau, Nam Dinh) after the April 30 and May 1 holidays.

Along with the huge number of tourists, a large amount of garbage is also discharged into the environment. Most beaches have signs prohibiting street vendors and tourists from bringing food into the sea, however, this situation is still very common. The beaches are no different from garbage dumps after tourists leave.

Even on May 4, Vung Tau City authorities collected information and made a record to fine three tourist areas: New Wave, San Ho Xanh and Long Cung for allowing tourists to eat, drink and litter on the beach.

Beach turns into garbage dump because of tourists' littering.

Speaking to reporters, Mr. Nguyen Van Tuan - General Director of the General Department of Tourism (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) said that littering on beaches did not only appear during the recent April 30 and May 1 holidays, but this behavior has existed for a long time.

“This is a very reprehensible habit of tourists. It has been and is damaging the image of Vietnam’s tourism industry to domestic and foreign tourists,” said Mr. Tuan.

According to Mr. Tuan, the General Department of Tourism is working with the Vietnam Tourism Association to launch a program on civilized behavior when traveling. The program aims to encourage tourists to be more aware, especially in protecting the environment.

Mr. Tuan said that, in addition to the efforts of the General Department, authorities at all levels and relevant local departments also need to properly manage local tourist attractions and call for contributions from the whole society for the common goal.

“No matter how hard we try to promote our image, if the destination is not well managed, especially in ensuring environmental hygiene, the image left in the hearts of tourists will not be complete,” Mr. Tuan shared.

According to Mr. Tuan, we cannot let travel companies work hard to clean up the trash because of the consequences of uncivilized behavior of tourists. Developing tourism in parallel with environmental protection is the goal that the tourism industry must pursue. However, the first thing that needs to be done is to change tourists' behavior in protecting the environment when traveling.

According to danviet