According to calculations based on the results of waste audit at hotels in Phu Yen province conducted by GreenHub in 2020. After the first 9 months of 2020, the amount of plastic waste is generated from tourist accommodation establishments in Tuy Hoa city is about 79.27 tons of plastic waste (under the influence of Covid 19, the number of visitors welcomed by establishments in the first 9 months of 2020 has decreased by 43.3% over the same period). “If the number of tourists stabilized or increased over the same period last year, how much plastic waste would be emitted from this group?” – This is a question that made GreenHub and the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Phu Yen province join hands to conduct the Mission of implementing solutions to reduce the use of disposable plastic items in tourist accommodation in Phu Yen province.
After that, on December 14, 2020, in Tuy Hoa city, the training and guiding conference on the implementation of the “zero waste” tourism service model – say no to disposable plastic items was organized by GreenHub and the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Phu Yen province. The conference was attended by leaders, experts, leaders of Departments, agencies, and DONREs in districts, cities, towns, and more than 100 representatives from tourist accommodation establishments in Phu Yen province.
At the Conference, Ms. Tran Thi Hoa – Director of GreenHub reported on the results of survey and pilot models in the framework of the Mission and introduced the Handbook on solutions for minimizing the use of single-use plastic at service and accommodation establishments in the tourism sector in Phu Yen province; and a set of criteria for evaluating an environmentally friendly tourist accommodation establishment. Through the report, the conference has received many positive feedbacks and comments from local departments, agencies, experts and representatives of hotels in the province.
Next, people attended the Conference listened to the presentation on “Zero Waste Travel” by Ms. Quach Thi Xuan – Coordinator of Vietnam Zero Waste Alliance.
Bringing new perspectives on green tourism, Ms. Vu Thi My Hanh from the program FROM WASTE TO NATURAL RESOURCES – HOI AN shared “The potential to contribute and build a green destination of tourism businesses in Hoi An”.
The participants also listened to representatives of Sala and Kaya hotels to share their experiences and difficulties in the process of implementing green practice and minimizing disposable plastic items.
In the positive exchange atmosphere of the Conference, the representatives of enterprises had the opportunity to listen the information about current status and potential of Phu Yen’s Green Tourism development as well as lessons from other provinces in the country. The conference created a space for businesses to exchange and share experiences as well as difficulties in the practice of Green Tourism – Towards Green Phu Yen.
