On December 17, the Da Nang Department of Culture, Sports, and Tourism held a seminar titled “Raising awareness of environmental protection and training on sorting solid waste at source at tourism service establishments”.

In his opening remarks, Van Ba Son, Deputy Director of the Da Nang Department of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, said that Da Nang is positioning green tourism development as a key pillar, with investment in sustainable infrastructure, public transport, and the restructuring of visitor flows as the foundation. At the same time, it is promoting ecotourism, community-based tourism, and agricultural tourism linked to OCOP to ease pressure on central attractions and increase value for local communities.

Da Nang is currently continuing to refine and adjust its Green Tourism Criteria Set, bringing it closer to the standards of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council, in order to unify green practices citywide and facilitate businesses’ access to international sustainability certifications.

Practical implementation in recent years has shown that green accommodation models and sustainable tourism businesses in Da Nang have delivered clear results.

Accommodation providers such as Furama, Four Seasons, Silksense Riverside Resort, La Siesta, Almanity, as well as homestays and villas with sustainability certification, have recorded average room booking growth of around 30%, revenue increases of 40%, and about a 20% reduction in operating costs – particularly energy and waste treatment costs. This is clear evidence that green development not only protects the environment but also increases economic value for businesses.

Van Ba Son also noted that the tourism sector is currently facing a range of challenges in the green transition, such as the use of single-use plastics, inconsistent implementation of waste sorting at source, and waste treatment infrastructure, low-emission transport, and renewable energy failing to keep pace with the growth of tourism.

At the seminar, experts provided guidance and shared important content to help state management agencies, units, and businesses keep abreast of new legal provisions on environmental protection under the two-tier local government model.