All tourism makes a difference. Sadly,
all too often the difference is negative.
The 'long haul'
revolution
Many people living in the developed world
feel drawn to visit the world’s great wildernesses and cultures.
They look for unspoilt lands to view the wildlife, experience
traditional cultures or simply savour the peace and beauty of
wide-open spaces. They seek new experiences and a wider
understanding of the world we share, and are prepared to travel the
world to find them.
Unfortunately, the growth of tourism threatens
the fragile beauty of these areas. All things remaining more or less
equal, it’s estimated that more than a billion tourists will be
travelling the planet in search of paradise by the year 2010.
Such explosive growth will have a profound
impact upon on environments and cultures. Unless we can protect
delicate eco-systems and civilisations that are already struggling
for survival, paradise will be lost forever.
Vietnam tourism
At present,
the direct impact of Vietnam tourism has been
limited to a few areas, but indirectly, the presence of large
numbers of visitors is causing damage. In a poor country, the
obvious wealth of people from developed countries is a powerful
lure. Unsustainable use of natural areas and exploitation of natural
resources is a growing concern.
In common with most undeveloped countries,
Vietnam’s problem is not obtaining income from tourism activities:
it’s keeping the money in the country and directing it towards the
impoverished communities who live in the areas that attract
tourists.
Our responsibilities
As a
responsible Vietnam tour operator, we do our best to minimise the
amount of money that leaves the country via international hotel
chains and similar routes by using Vietnam hotels and service
providers wherever practical.
Unlike many Vietnam tour companies, we take our
responsibility towards protecting the culture and environment of the
countries in which we work very seriously. We work with our Tourism
Association, NGOs and local communities to support initiatives to
use Vietnam tourism as a means of improving the income of local
people.
Apart from building in visits to worthy
undertakings of one kind and another into a Vietnam travel package,
we also collaborate with specific social and environmental projects.
The pages in this section of our web site describe some of the
enterprises we support. We hope you will feel like helping them
too!
Related information:
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