Asia

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has just issued a set of criteria of the sustainable tourism Green Lotus Label applied for tourism accommodation in Viet Nam.

The certificate of the sustainable tourism Green Lotus Label (Green Lotus Label) is granted to tourism accommodation which meet standards on environmental protection and sustainable development, making efforts to protect the environment, use natural resources and energy efficiently, contribute to preservation of heritage and development of the local economy, culture and society, and pursue sustainable tourism development.

The Green Lotus Label has 5 levels, from 1 green lotus to 5 green lotuses which recognizes efforts of accommodations to protect environment and develop sustainable tourism not depending on the rank and type of accommodations.

A series of case studies, presented at the first China Responsible Tourism Forum (CRTF) in Beijing on December 16, confirmed that responsible tourism is firmly on the agenda among small- and medium-sized enterprises in China.

The sold-out forum, organized by PATA in cooperation with the Organizing Committee of the China International Heritage Towns Exposition, was moderated by CCTV Business News anchor, Deidre Morris Wang. Coinciding with the launch of the new PATA China Board, the PATA China Beijing Chapter, and first PATA Student Chapter in China at Beijing International Studies University, the forum brought together more than 130 delegates from the country’s public and private sectors, as well as national and international experts in the field of responsible tourism.

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2 Billion+ Domestic, 50 Million+ Outbound Travelers in 2011

The China Tourism Academy (CTA) in Beijing reports further strong developments in domestic and outbound tourism in China for the first three quarters of 2011, while inbound tourism growth is still lagging behind. As a result, the trade deficit of China’s international travel surpassed 10 billion USD for the first time. The results were published in Chinese, translated and edited by China Outbound Tourism Research Institute, based in Heide (Germany) and Beijing (China).

The Chinese tourism market has grown rapidly, whilst the satisfaction index has continued to improve Currently, the environment for tourism development in China is overall favorable.