Quang Nam (VNA) – A conferenceon sustainable tourism development of the central province of Quang Nam, themed“Zero plastic waste tourism”, took place in the locality on September 9.
At the event, participants discussed theimportance of sustainable tourism development in the province, solutions todevelop green and accessible tourism in tourism value chain and ways to createa start-up and innovation ecosystem in tourism, among others.
They noted that plastic waste has been aglobal issue, especially in major tourist attractions. In particular, about240,000 tonnes of garbage is generated in Quang Nam each year, equivalent tonearly 660 tonnes a day.
Quang Nam is currently home to about 630accommodation establishments, mostly in the ancient city of Hoi An. The provinceis expected to welcome 8 million visitors by 2020.
However, the fast-growing tourism sectoralso poses a challenge due to increasing usage of products which take a longtime to decompose such as plastic bottles and containers.
Hoi An city has been a pioneer in reducingplastic waste and building environmentally friendly tourism. In the past fiveyears, about 300 litres of used cooking oil collected from restaurants in thecity were used to make kitchen soap.
Besides, about 300 kg of single-use soapbars and 1.5 tonnes of used white cloth have been recycled since late 2018.
President of the Quang Nam TourismAssociation Phan Xuan Thanh said tourism agencies in Hoi An city have paid dueattention to and taken measures to reduce plastic waste.
To make a breakthrough in the campaign,there is a need for alternatives at reasonable prices for local people andaccommodation establishments, he added.-VNA