Volunteers pick up trash on Son Tra Peninsula in an effort to clean up local environment. (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - The emerging masstourism in coastal provinces in recent years has destroyed natural beauty spotsat a furious pace. And in the next five years, Vietnam may lose all tourismresources.
The stark warning came from Vu The Binh, ViceChairman of the Vietnam Tourism Association, at a recent conference.
Cua Dai beach in Hoi An town, the centralprovince of Quang Nam, for example, has gradually lost its attraction toWestern tourists due to salt intrusion.
Many now choose An Bang beach or Ha My beachinstead, but that beach is also showing signs of subsidence.
Cua Dai beach erosion is caused by the lack ofmud and soil running from the upstream.
Professor Nguyen Kim Dan said that theconstruction of hydropower plant dams and illegal sand mining on Thu Bon river,the mother river of Quang Nam province, also contributes to the shortage ofmud.
Too many resorts built on the shore block thesupply of sand to the beach, making Cua Dai gradually disappear.
Mui Ne beach in the southern central province ofNinh Thuan, once featured in top ten beautiful beaches in Asia-Pacific, is nowfacing similar problems.
From fully booked years ago, “the resort land”of Mui Ne has seen a decline in the number of visitors.
On most popular booking sites like, Agoda orTripadvisor, many travelers have left negative feedbacks for the beach sayingit has lost its original charm.
At present, according to Binh, only two southerncentral provinces of Ninh Thuan and Phu Yen still have tourism resources.
“These provinces should take time and not rushto invest into beach tourism. As a follower, Ninh Thuan province needs to beaware of other localities’ failures and be careful in planning and choosinginvestors,” he said.
Right after Bai Kem in Phu Quoc Island was namedin top 100 most beautiful beaches in the world by the Canada-based FlightNetwork and the island aimed to become Vietnam’s special economic zone, localbeaches have started being divided into areas to build tourism spots.
However, many of these constructions areillegal. Earlier this year, Phu Quoc Island Urban Security Surveillance Teamfound 650 cases of violating regulations of construction.
According to Vietnam Association of Realtors, inthe first three months of 2018, the price for one sq.m of land on Phu QuocIsland’s central street of Tran Hung Dao rose almost threefold, set at 100 millionVND (4,300 USD).
Nguyen Tan Phong, deputy director of Phu QuocDistrict Land Registration Office, said they received 1,000 dossiers asking foracquiring land use right certificates each month.
Binh Chau commune in Xuyen Moc district, BaRia-Vung Tau province, which has been long considered as the “green lung” ofthe southeast region is now being targeted by investors.
The land price has been rising dramatically from400-500 million VND (17,200-21,500 USD) for 100sq.m to 600-700 million VND (25,800-30,100USD) in the past few months.
Tran Van Nguyen, a Canadian-Vietnamese investor,said it was easy to earn huge profits after a short period of time by investinginto real estate projects in Vietnam’s new tourism spots.
He quoted by Tien Phong (Vanguard)newspaper, as saying: “Local authorities roll out the red carpets for investorsand we almost reserve all rights on the areas we buy. In other countries, notto mention projects affecting environment, even a normal construction needs authorities’approvals of structure, functions and environmental impacts.”
Beautiful landscapes, convenient services andflocks of visitors have become a common formula of Vietnam tourism for years.
Only until many natural landscapes started beingdestroyed, did people realise their impacts on environment and discusssustainable tourism.
Dao Dang Cong Trung, 40, in the coastal city of DaNang, who has picked up trash on Son Tra Peninsula, said mass tourism isaffecting the local ecosystem.
Some monkeys living in the peninsula have formeda habit of finding food in the trash tourists throw away and not in the forestanymore.
He warned that without tighter management, SonTra may become the second Cua Dai beach in the near future, suffering thesevere damage and never restoring its original beauty.
“It is impossible to say the national tourism isdeveloping when only referring to the number of tourists. Most of tourismagencies have not paid much attention in preserving and protecting the nature’sgifts. The doomed future for our tourism is foreseen if this situation iscontinued,” said Binh.-VNS/VNA
VNA
