Businesses encouraged to invest in green tourism

(VOV) – A conference on investment promotion in green tourism was held in Can Tho on June 30 under the framework of the Green Tourism Week in the Mekong Delta region.

Addressing the event, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh said the Mekong Delta has a great potential for green tourism development.

He quoted statistics from regional countries, saying that Thailand attracted 25 million visitors a year while with natural advantage and political stability, Vietnam lured more than 7 million tourists only.

He said that relevant agencies shoud take measures to include local people in tourism development and raise public awareness on civilised and hospitable behaviour culture.

He called on businesses to speed up investment in the Mekong Delta region’s tourism and authorised ministries, departments and localities to remove difficulties for businesses.

The Government will create a niche for tourism investors to operate effectively while protecting the environment, he confirmed.

Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Vuong Duy Bien reported that the region lured 22.5 million visitors last year, including 1.8 million foreign arrivals, and earned VND6,630 billion.

Mekong Delta is one of Vietnam’s 7 key strategic tourism regions by 2020 with a vision to 2030. It gives priority to develop green tourism in line with the protection of traditional values, environment and quality of tourism, Bien said.

Moreover, in the context of climate change, green tourism plays a key role, helping mitigate natural disasters and promote sustainable development in the region.

At the conference, three commercial banks will sign contracts in principle on green tourism development for three projects in Kien Giang and Can Tho provinces with total loans of more than VND1,000 billion.

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