Developing green tourism in coastal towns

In recent years, tourists who have the opportunity to visit Cua Lo and go to the beach early in the morning will see many volunteers picking up trash on the beach. They are not paid, but they do their work responsibly. A typical example is Mr. Che Dinh Phuong in Thu Thuy ward who has been doing this work for more than 5 years.

Many young people participated in cleaning Cua Lo beach. Photo: PV

Mr. Phuong shared: "Thanks to tourism, thousands of people, including my wife and children, have stable jobs, so I contribute my small efforts with the hope that the beach will always be clean and beautiful so that more tourists can come here."

To make Mr. Phuong and many people realize their responsibility and join hands to protect the marine environment is a big step forward in the propaganda and mobilization work of all levels and sectors of Cua Lo town. In 1994, when the town was established, the goal was to make tourism a key economic sector and create a breakthrough to develop the town.

Cua Lo beach. Photo: PV

But in order to not affect the environment during the exploitation of resources, there must be a clear plan. From residential land, public land, land for planting trees, land for security and defense, traffic systems to business locations, all must be arranged scientifically to ensure sustainable and effective development without causing harm to the natural environment.

For example, when building a coastal restaurant system, the town did not destroy the coastal protective casuarina forests but also directed and encouraged people to plant more trees, contributing to protecting the natural environment.

Mr. Duong Cong Son - Restaurant owner in Cua Lo said: "To be able to do business here, in addition to preparing human resources, communication culture, and facilities, we also have to commit to strictly implementing the policies set forth by the town, for example 5 no's, including not causing damage to the landscape environment and keeping the area around the restaurant clean."

Workers of Cua Lo Urban Environment and Tourism Services Joint Stock Company collect waste on the beach. Photo: Lam Tung

In addition to the above, restaurants must also commit to not selling products that pollute the environment. At the same time, they must strictly follow regulations on garbage disposal hours and areas to keep the tourist area clean and beautiful.

Wastewater from restaurants and hotels must also be connected to the town's collection pipeline system to be transferred to a treatment plant before being discharged into the environment. When building motels and hotels, businesses must reserve a land area for planting trees.

In attracting investment, Cua Lo has prioritized businesses that produce less greenhouse gas emissions to invest in the town. At the same time, it encourages the development of tourism services combining medical treatment, eco-tourism, experience, shopping; and implements projects on clean agriculture, production, and safe livestock raising to serve tourism.

Cua Lo is green - clean - beautiful. Photo: Xuan Nhuong

Focus on developing traditional seafood processing villages to both limit pollution and ensure people’s health while creating tourist attractions. These are solid steps when traditional tourism reaches the threshold of stable growth, while eco-tourism, heritage, cultural and discovery tourism are growing rapidly.

“Cua Lo town is re-planning the entire system of trees and grass in the whole town and in the future, the east side of Binh Minh street will mainly be an entertainment and sports area. In the planning and investment attraction of projects as well as when building hotels for tourism, we pay attention to the ratio of trees. As for industry and agriculture, we only attract clean projects.”

Mr. Vo Van Hung - Vice Chairman of Cua Lo Town People's Committee.

Actual results have proven the right direction. After 25 years of construction and development, Cua Lo town has made remarkable progress, many spacious, clean and beautiful constructions have been invested in and built, the number of tourists has increased every year.

In 2018 alone, the number of tourists coming to Cua Lo reached nearly 2.8 million, an increase of 13.4% compared to 2017 and reaching 103% of the yearly plan. Of which, the number of overnight guests reached 1 million 566 thousand, an increase of 11.2% compared to 2017, reaching 101% of the yearly plan; Foreign visitors reached: 6,953. Revenue from service and tourism activities reached 2,851 billion VND, an increase of 25.4% compared to 2017, reaching 106% of the yearly plan. More importantly, Cua Lo has become a destination chosen and highly appreciated by many people.

Boat racing on Cua Lo beach. Photo: PV

Ms. Lan Anh - a tourist from Hanoi commented: “When choosing a tourist destination for my family, we prioritize Cua Lo. This place has beautiful beaches, a clean environment, friendly people…”. Such recognition is adding motivation for Cua Lo town to continue developing tourism in the direction of green and sustainable growth.