Viet Nam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) held a meeting with EU Delegation in Viet Nam for “Environmentally and Socially Responsible Tourism Capacity Development” Program on 08th December 2009 in Hanoi with General Director of VNAT, Mr. Nguyen Van Tuan as chairman.

Deputy General Director of VNAT, Ms. Hoang Thi Diep, and heads of Departments, Institute, representatives from agencies directly under VNAT attended the meeting. The EU Delegation in Viet Nam consisted of Mr. Johann Farnhammer, Head of Economic Cooperation and Governance, First Secretary (Cooperation), a number of experts and colleagues.

Recently, the concept of Responsible Tourism has emerged among Vietnamese stakeholders as a response to perceived lack of sustainability and competitiveness the sector is facing. The Responsible Tourism Approach aims to provide positive experiences for visitors and hosts while generating environmental and cultural awareness and respect. This pro-poor approach will aim to minimize the negative impacts of tourism by empowering local people, including ethnic minorities to maximise their income and employment from tourism services provision. The Vietnamese Government as well as VNAT fully supports this approach and are willing to mainstream responsible tourism to address environmental, ethical and social concerns into policy-making, planning and implementation.

The Responsible Tourism Capacity Development Programme will aim to strengthen institutional and human capacity in order to fully realize the substantial socio-economic development benefits available from the tourism sector while protecting and enhancing the resources (natural and cultural) on which the sector depends. It builds on the successful EU project for Human Resources Development in Tourism (HRD Tourism Project) and sustains and further expands on the Viet Nam Tourism Occupational Skills Standards System (VTOS). 

In the meeting, VNAT and the EU Delegation in Viet Nam discussed and exchanged views on supporting pilot actions of tourism plans in some specific localities. The chosen localities are particular areas where have typical tourism resources. They may be an attractive destination or tourist attractions in the future. Each of these localities must be evaluated benefits both directly and indirectly in the relationship as well as the ability of cooperation in developing tourism with other areas. The participants in the meeting agreed that it is necessary to study carefully these localities on assessment of factors such as tourism potential, tourism management capacity in the local... Investment in planning based on inheriting the results of previous tourism-related projects and also researching plans for tourism development at the provincial-level.

The two sides have set out basic directions for implementing the project, preliminary discussions about personnel, equipment investment, and activities of Vietnam Tourism Certification Board (VTCB) in coming time. General Director Nguyen Van Tuan has directed some departments of VNAT coordinate implement some immediate tasks, and conduct the necessary procedures to put the project into operation.

Speaking conclusion of the meeting, General Director highly appreciated the comments of the EU Delegation members, and believes that with the efforts of both sides and the highest responsibility, this program will be successfully implemented, achieve the best results, and offer remarkably effective for Viet Nam tourism.