VietNamNet Bridge – Viet Nam’s sea tourism industry has immense potential for development, yet the sector faces a number of challenges due to increasing environmental pollution.

People power: Local people and volunteers collect rubbish along the beaches of Son Tra Peninsula in central Da Nang City. Photo danang.vn

The Viet Nam Tourism Administration’s Institute for Tourism Development Research (ITDR) recently reported that Viet Nam’s coastal areas annually welcome around 80 per cent of international visitors and 50 per cent of domestic tourists, bringing in 70 per cent of revenue for the national tourism industry.

The country’s more than 1 million square kilometres of sea surface, over 2,770 islands, and a range of beaches from north to south with different characteristics promise vast benefits for the maritime economy.

Among the large number of beauty spots are some world-famous beaches and bays that attract foreign visitors every year. Sites such as Ha Long Bay in the northern province of Quang Ninh - a World Natural Heritage recognised by United Nations cultural agency UNESCO since 1994 and one of New Seven Natural Wonders of the world since 2012, Nha Trang Bay in the central province of Khanh Hoa, and Da Nang Beach in Quang Nam Province, are all consistent hotspots for tourists.

However, the ITDR report warned that a rapid increase in marine pollution was hindering the development of the vastly lucrative industry.

The report said the situation could get worse if there were not intensive and immediate solutions put forward.

Sources of pollution

Professor Phan Trung Luong, an ITDR expert on sea tourism development told Viet Nam News that it was extremely important to identify the sources of pollution before taking any measures to cope with them.

Luong stressed the sea’s natural function of self-cleaning, saying that if pollution stood at a certain level, the sea itself could clean it up.

However, the professor added, such a function only worked on a limited level, and if the pollution becomes too much, the sea would be unable to solve it.

Luong said sea pollution may have taken place for many years in Viet Nam, until the case of mass fish death was revealed in April stirring public angers. Caused by a toxic spill from Taiwanese Hung Nghiep Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Co. Ltd, the pollution became a hot topic of debate at many government and scientific meetings and workshops.

Coastal attraction: A view of Son Tra Peninsula in central Da Nang City - a Vietnamese beauty spot that has attracted a large number of visitors over the years. VNA/VNS Photo Quoc Khanh

According to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE), the main reasons for the increased marine pollution are unsustainable industrial development and uncontrolled aquaculture production.

Consistent increases in population, along with inadequate education and shortcomings in legal system and policies were also added to the sea pollution.

The ministry revealed in its recent investigation that between 70 and 80 per cent of waste at sea was derived from land-based sources, while untreated wastewater and solid waste from factories, industrial parks, and residential areas were discharged into rivers near coastal areas or directly into the sea.

The use of explosives or toxic chemicals in offshore fishing was quickly depleting fishery resources, leading to severe consequences for the marine eco-system.

Moreover, the MoNRE blamed the spontaneous spread of tourism for impacting the ecological environment and natural landscapes of the sea.

The ministry presented an example by citing what happened to Cat Ba National Park in Cat Ba Island off Quang Ninh Province.

The island, with a total of 5,400ha of water surface, had turned from a very clean and clear environment into a heavily polluted island since it opened the national park for tourism activities and planned to boost aquaculture breeding there.

Thousands of tonnes of waste from the island’s tourist resorts, hotels, and motels were directly discharged into the sea every day, the MoNRE investigators said.

One more major cause of marine pollution, last but not least, was oil spills resulting from incidents of wrecked ships sailing offshore, or those in exploratory drilling activities of oil and gas at sea.

Notably, the ministry said, serious oil spills in recent years tended to be increasing, causing serious damage to the marine environment, especially fisheries.

While the operation of hundreds of oil and gas wells was releasing a large amount of waste water with oil, it was also generating 5,600 tonnes of waste oil, of which about 20 to 30 per cent was hazardous solid waste.

Every year, more than 100 rivers across the country not only bring about 880 cubic kilometres of water, and some 270-300 million tonnes of alluvia to the sea, but also brought huge amounts of heavy metals and toxic chemical substances discharged from industrial zones and urban areas that can pollute the marine environment and damage aquaculture and agricultural production.

As the sea tourism industry depends entirely on the environment, any changes directly impact the quality of tourism products and the efficiency of the tourism economy.

According to the Institute of Fisheries Economics and Planning, untreated waste continuously discharged into the river basin and sea would harm the sea environment and negatively influence the development of the tourism sector.

The institute revealed an estimated increase of nitrogen and ammonia respectively, from 26 tonnes at present to 52 tonnes, and 15 to 30 tonnes daily accumulating at sea by 2020.

This was very dangerous for the sea environment, it said.

Local potential

Nguyen Tuan Dung, an expert from the Military Academy of Logistics, under the Ministry of Defence, said marine tourism had brought opportunities to localities, improving the lives of people in coastal areas and helping to implement hunger elimination and poverty reduction programmes.

Statistics from the Viet Nam Tourism Administration recently showed a total of 1,400 guest houses and three-star hotels located near the coastline, creating jobs for nearly 60,000 local labourers.

Viet Nam’s sea tourism can be divided into two parts: the first from Sam Son beach in the northern province of Thanh Hoa to Thua Thien-Hue, and the second from Da Nang City in central Quang Nam Province to southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province.

Each part has its own characteristics, and thus needs distinct priorities to develop local tourism products based on its local natural geological potential and resources.

Based on the overall orientation of tourism development from now to 2020, Viet Nam targets to develop five key areas with high regional competitiveness. The five areas are Ha Long - Cat Ba in Quang Ninh Province; Lang Co-Son Tra-Hoi An in Thua Thien-Hue Province, Da Nang City and Quang Nam Province; Nha Trang - Cam Ranh in Khanh Hoa Province; Phan Thiet - Mui Ne in Binh Thuan Province and Phu Quoc Resort Island in Kien Giang Province.

The country will also focus investment on other high potential sea tourism areas, including Van Don – Co To in Quang Ninh Province and the Truong Sa (Spratly) Archipelago in the East Sea.

Adventure spot: Beaches in Da Nang City welcomed more than 45,000 foreign tourists on Labour Day alone, an increase of 2 per cent compared to the same period last year. VNA/VNS Photo Tran Le Lam

Urgent solutions

According to Dung, to achieve sustainable development for the tourism industry, Viet Nam needs to immediately solve the issue of pollution, both in coastal areas and at sea.

“Only by doing that will the country be able to improve the attractiveness of its sea tourism products,” he said.

Dung said the immediate targets should include a focus on market research to set up relevant market-orientated plans for the development of sea tourism products.

Ministries, departments and authorised agencies should intensify a close collaboration with provincial authorities, take effective and timely measures to cope with any pollution emergencies such as the mass fish deaths, oil spills, and discharge of untreated industrial waste so that the impact on sea tourism is limited.

Authorities and local residents along coastal areas should collaborate in organising regular activities to clean the beach, and collect and treat waste on shore.

They should mobilise all forces in supervising the sea environment and preventing all violations of the law on sea protection, including the dumping of solid waste, and use of explosives in fishing.

A boost to develop all types of local eco-tourism should also be among the key targets of local socio-economic development as a way to improve awareness on the importance of sea environment protection, the expert said.

Day at the beach: A crowded day on Quy Nhon beach, central Binh Dinh Province. The tourist spot was among the most popular places for visitors from Ha Noi, HCM City and the Central Highlands region this summer. VNA/VNS Photo Viet Y

More surveys should be conducted in the north central region, with the aim to promote local tourism products including spiritual, discovery, and adventure tourism, and to replace sea tourism as a way to limit the impact of tourism on the sea environment.

Financial aid including credit loans and debt freezing should be offered to local people who suffer because of environmental damage, to help them stabilise their livelihoods and production.

“This is considered the basis for the maintenance of local security and political stability to help attract more tourists,” said Dung

Meanwhile, Prof. Luong said resolving sea pollution in Viet Nam completely depended on the determination of the authorities at all levels particularly local people.

"We should not just say, but act immediately," said Luong.

The expert suggested authorities of all sectors should "sit down together" and clarify which were the priorities and key tasks in solving environmental pollution.

"Task forces should be set up for each sector to confront sea pollution, and they should keep in close contact with each other in any emergency cases," said Luong.

VNS

Nhat Minh and Mai Phuong