Hanoi has a lot of potential to develop green tourism.
Hanoi is a city with great potential and advantages when it has all the natural and human factors to develop sustainable green tourism. Nature has endowed the capital with a rich system of natural tourism resources. From the climate with four distinct seasons; abundant surface water and groundwater all year round, to many diverse terrains including fertile plains in Hanoi's inner city, rice fields in Thuong Tin, Phu Xuyen, Ung Hoa... or winding mountain ranges in Soc Son and Ba Vi areas.
At the same time, ecological landscape systems with Ba Vi National Park, Huong Son scenic area, Vien Nam mountain landscape... and some agricultural spaces such as specialized tree belts in Thanh Tri, Gia Lam, Dong Anh, Hoai Duc districts...; ornamental flower and tree growing belts in Bac Tu Liem, Dong Anh, Me Linh... have a long tradition, both producing agricultural products for urban areas and being natural and humane landscapes serving tourism development, especially rural tourism and farm tourism.
Many tourist destinations in the suburbs of Hanoi are undergoing a strong transformation in building green spaces and using environmentally friendly materials in tourism activities. A typical example is Co Loa commune (Dong Anh district) which is highly appreciated by many tourists for its new experience at the Co Loa Special National Monument. One of the impressive marks for tourists is the clean, beautiful and friendly environment.
Tourist destinations in Ba Vi, Son Tay, My Duc, Thach That... also develop many green tourism products. Notable products are eco-tourism, health care, herbal baths of the Dao people in Ba Vi district; experiential activities in Duong Lam ancient village (Son Tay town); community tourism in Thach That district...
In the inner city area, for many years now, tourist attractions, services and accommodations have also made an impression on tourists with the green, smoke-free tourism model. According to the Hanoi Department of Tourism, since 2019, Hanoi has implemented a smoke-free tourism model at 30 tourist attractions and historical and cultural relics in Hoan Kiem district such as: Ngoc Son Temple, Ba Kieu Temple, Quan Su Pagoda, Ba Da Pagoda, National History Museum, Women's Museum, National Library, Opera House, Cathedral, Ham Long Church, Hoa Lo Prison, Thang Long Water Puppet Theater, Workers' Theater... These places have a lot of tourists visiting, so they have quickly created an impression of a green - clean - beautiful - friendly and civilized Hanoi.
However, the development of green tourism is still facing many obstacles due to the low awareness of tourism businesses and the community in protecting the environment, landscape and nature.
In addition, the infrastructure and supporting facilities at many agricultural and rural eco-tourism sites have not been fully invested and are of low quality. Many agricultural and rural tourism sites in Hanoi face difficulties in connecting with travel agencies to complete and build products as well as attract tourists...
"People in tourist areas and spots need to be regularly trained in guest reception skills, how to do community tourism, build friendly, close-to-nature experiential products, and qualified accommodation services," Associate Professor Dr. Pham Hong Long, Head of the Faculty of Tourism - University of Social Sciences and Humanities (Vietnam National University, Hanoi) emphasized.
Director of Hanoi Department of Tourism Dang Huong Giang said that since 2019, the unit has organized many training courses on community tourism and civilized tourism behavior in districts, towns and cities. The Department also requires travel agencies and destinations to pay attention to environmental factors, ensure health safety and sustainable development in the process of building tourism products. The training courses contribute to spreading many green tourism models, helping local people promote their identity and join the government in building unique experiential tourism products for the capital.
