According to the province’s tourism department deputy director, Nguyễn Văn Phúc, the former imperial capital city of Huế is among the three Vietnamese cities to be awarded the ASEAN Clean Tourist City title, together with the city of old towns, Hội An, and the city of villas, Đà Lạt.

The indicators for ASEAN to evaluate a clean tourist city include cleanliness, environment and waste management, green spaces around the city, security and health, as well as urban safety and tourism infrastructure.

The Pilgrimage Village Boutique Resort and Spa, a tourism facility in the city, is also listed among the hotels to receive the ASEAN Green Hotel Award.

A green hotel is one, which promotes environmental friendliness and energy conservation, as defined by the ASEAN green hotel standards. The evaluation considers the elements of the environmental plan, green product, human resources and environmental management.

Other Vietnamese accommodation facilities that will be awarded are Flamingo Đại Lải Resort in northern Vĩnh Phúc Province, Four Seasons  The Nam Hải Resort in central Quảng Nam Province, Hồ Tràm Beach Boutique Resort and Spa and Six Senses Côn Đảo Resort in southern Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu Province.

Phúc said in the previous years, 10 hotel facilities in each ASEAN member country were awarded, but this year’s upgraded requirements led to the list of five.

The cities and hotels will be honoured at an event in Chiang Mai, Thailand, in January next year.

ASEAN built green standards for its member countries’ cities and hotel facilities in 2006 and the standards were first applied in 2008.

The ASEAN Clean Tourist City Standard is said to provide its member countries with a tool to improve tourism quality in their cities, while the ASEAN Green Hotel Standard is set up to increase the environmental-friendliness and energy conservation in the ASEAN accommodation industry.

ASEAN, which is the Association of South East Asian Nations, was formed in 1967 and includes the 10 member states of Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia and Laos, as well as Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines and Singapore, in addition to Thailand and Việt Nam. The country joined the ASEAN in 1995. — VNS