Deputy General Director of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism Ha Van Sieu (Source: VNA)Sieu unveiled this information in an interview with the Vietnam News Agency’scorrespondents on the sidelines of a workshop on sustainable tourism hosted by the Tourism Working Group (TWG) as part of the first APEC Senior Officials’Meeting (SOM 1) in central Khanh Hoa province on February 23.
He said the planned conference is expected to put forth recommendations to policiesand commitments of the APEC member economies to realise sustainable tourism developmentgoals set for 2017 by the UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO).
According to the official, the UNWTO said tourism is both the mastermind andvictim of climate change. The tourism development causes many negative impactson the environment and climate change as it contributes 5 percent to greenhousegas emissions from the operation of travel vehicles and hospitality.
Besides, the tourism industry is vulnerable and sensitive to the changes innature and climate. Climate change affects the destination, tourism season and operatingexpenses, he stressed.
APECtourism is predicted to also bring negative effects to the environment and theglobal climate. Therefore, developing sustainable tourism is identified as animportant target of the global tourism and the member economies of APEC, Sieuadded.
Vietnam’s tourism sector has actively built policies and action programmes, andtaken many measures to deal with climate change, focusing on planningdevelopment investment and forecasting work, thus rolling out appropriatesolutions to the situation.
Vietnam’s master plan strategy on tourism development is considered as one of thecountry’s efforts to effectively cope with issues related to climate change andenvironmental pollution in tourism development, Sieu stated.
Thehosting of APEC Year 2017 will offer Vietnam a change to promote the country’s tourismpotential to international friends, especially representatives from APEC membereconomies, he said.
In2015, the APEC member economies welcomed over 396 million visitors, accountingfor 33 percent of total global tourist arrivals. Revenue from tourismactivities was 59 billion USD, making up 44.5 percent of global tourism revenue.The tourism sector generated 47.9 million direct jobs. APEC Tourism Ministershave set target of welcoming 800 million international arrivals in 2025./.
