The striking development of tourism puts pressure on Vietnam’s sustainable development goals, especially hotspots experiencing adverse impacts on nature, culture & local life. Hence, it’s crucial to change tourism positively now, and one of our missions is inspiring travelers to responsibly travel through little actions, because we believe that “Many hands make light work!”
With us, responsible travel simply means minimizing the impact on wild nature, preserving indigenous culture, and maximizing social impact for the local communities. In this blog, we kindly wish to share with you ways to travel responsibly. Let’s save and follow them on your journey!
Protect nature and environment
Leave behind as little waste as possible
Waste management ranks third among the six main challenges of global tourism, including Vietnam, according to an announcement by the World Tourism Organization. As a responsible traveler, let’s limit your waste to the environment, especially plastic waste and single-use items. Therefore, a simple way for you is to proactively prepare personal items such as toiletries, a towel, and a flashlight, and a personal water bottle for refilling!
Local people in Khau Pha, Mu Cang Chai collect waste together
Mindfully consume energy
The first thing you should do is minimizing carbon footprint in your journey. Transport, especially flights largely contributes to energy consumption; hence, it’s necessary for you to carefully prepare suitable itineraries to limit energy use and carbon footprint.
Cycling through the rice fields in Mai Chau
Additionally, Vietnam has a bus and railway system in all provinces and cities, which is easy for you to utilize; though it’s noted that it might be difficult to find comfortable and well-conditioned means in remote areas. Nonetheless, these means of transport can provide memorable local experiences! To share, we had an unforgettable trip on a local bus from Sapa to Mu Cang Chai with local women, animals & an unreliable air-conditioner, but the trip brought interesting encounters and breathtaking scenery outside the window.
Besides, Vietnam has a railway system called the “Thống Nhất” (Reunification) that allows you to travel from the North to the South, and now it has been significantly improved with various classes of carriages. Travelers are increasingly enjoying these trains with vintage style that are also useful to reduce carbon emissions and save costs (although it’ll take more time than flying or traveling by car).
Enjoy a local and vintage experience on the train in Vietnam
Moreover, crowded spots should be limited, especially during peak seasons, as a way to reduce the strain on the local transportation and energy systems. Then, when you step into a land, always be mindful of your energy usage through simple actions such as turning off electrical devices and water when not in use, efficiently using air conditioners and water heaters, choosing eco-friendly transportation if possible, such as bicycles, electric buses & taxis.
Electric bus
Contribute to natural conservation
If you’ve set foot in Vietnam, let’s take the time to immerse yourself in the diverse natural landscapes and learn about the biodiversity of flora and fauna; above all, this is an action that contributes to nature protection.
With rich climate variations from North to South, Vietnam offers scattered “green lungs” across its S-shaped land. Therefore, it’s flexible for you to explore a nature reserve to your itinerary at a reasonable cost, which is a meaningful contribution to nature. These funds will be used to maintain and improve these nature reserves. Some spots that you can travel to include the Pu Luong Nature Reserve, Cuc Phuong National Park, Cat Ba National Park, Tam Giang Wetland Nature Reserve, and Nam Cat Tien National Park,…
Trekking in Nam Cat Tien National Park
These locations are versatile if you wish to continue your journey to must-sees like Ninh Binh, Cat Ba – Halong Bay, Hoi An, Ho Chi Minh City, Mekong Delta, etc, and we believe it will enrich your trip with amusing knowledge, especially kids.
Learn about and protect animal welfare
One of the important factors of nature but currently raising concerns in the tourism industry is animal welfare. It’s undeniable that attractive activities for travelers have negative impacts on wild animals like getting close, riding, inappropriate feeding, or watching them perform; because they’re unnatural behaviors to animals.
Bear Sanctuary – Cuc Phuong National Park, Ninh Binh
Therefore, the DCT Responsible Team does not encourage travelers to engage in these activities. Instead, we recommend joining well-organized exploration where animals are raised in comfortable environments. You can find it in nature reserves with day and night tours or animal rescue centers such as the Ninh Binh Bear Sanctuary, Endangered Primate Rescue Center, etc.
Respect and immerse in local culture
Culture is the root of a community, hence, respecting culture means respecting and preserving that local community.The first action for you – very simple: sincerely smile and say hello to the friendly locals you meet! By being open-minded, you’ll have the opportunity to admire cultural treasures present in the everyday lives of the people: from clothing, cuisine, and handicrafts to farming activities and household routines. Nowadays, the unique cultural features of different lands are often designed into meaningful tourism products, providing you a chance to have hands-on experience, deepen connections with locals, and contribute to their livelihoods.
Sincerely smile and say hello to the friendly locals
Furthermore, respecting culture means respecting all traditions, norms, and customs, including the taboos of the community. Taboos are crucial in cultures as they also reflect the beliefs and faiths of the people. In Vietnam, some common taboos to be mindful of include: not wearing overly short clothing in sacred places, not entering or standing with your back to altars or worship areas, and not pointing or wearing shoes in places of worship, etc. A tip for you is observing or asking locals for some basic taboos when you step into a land, we believe that our locals are always willing to tell you!
Respect local traditions, norms, and customs
Contribute to improving local’s livelihoods
One of the social impacts after your trip is contributing to the economic development of local people. By using services operated by locals, the profits from tourism will return to the owners of these lands. Moreover, with the growth of tourism and its related products, many new job opportunities are created, which also contributes to the development of the community.
Especially, economic value is an incentive for local people to preserve, develop, and even revive their traditional cultures. Thus, responsible tourism helps locals increase their income while preserving their cultural heritage.
When traveling to Vietnam, you will have a chance to stay at homestays renovated from traditional houses, join meals with locals and gain diverse experiences: from nature to culture & daily life, from challenging activities to relaxing moments with indigenous health therapies. Everything is ready for you if you seek an authentic and meaningful experience!
Natural experiences with locals: trekking, motorbike tour, boat trip, setting sail & fish catching,…
Cultural experiences with locals: cuisine; traditional crafts like indigo dying, batik, weaving, hat making; herbal bath;…
As a responsible tour operator, DCT Responsible Travel always prioritizes utilizing services operated by locals as a contribution to each community we come to. Moreover, we strive to advise and design new tourism products at the community tourism projects in Mu Cang Chai, Luc Yen, Mai Chau,…
These are some actions that we wish to share with you for your responsible journey and our DCT Responsible Travel team is always open and eager to hear more suggestions from your travel experiences and knowledge to add to this list!
Travel with us, travel with communities, and positively contribute to the locals!
