Name: Pham Nguyen Ngoc Phuong

SID S3878891

Course BUSM4567

Campus Sai Gon South

Lecturer Mrs. Daisy

Word Count 1330 words

Within the past 50 years, tourism is considered as a crucial pillar on the development of the
economy due to its ability to produce economic impacts on tourists destinations. Tourism
brings delight to destinations such as promoting job creations, growth potentials, thus, the
mass exploitation is a negative side of tourism that has been responsible for many
sustainability matters (Costa, Rodrigues and Gomes 2019). This report's main focus is about
2 sustainability issues in a tourist destination in Vietnam - Vung Tau, and also derives
recommendations for the issues. Moreover, a reflection on the BUSM4567 course is given
using the DIEP model.
1. Sustainability issues in Vung Tau:
Though I haven't attended the field trip, I have had the chance to travel to Vung Tau by
March 2022 with my close friends. It has been 2 years since the last time I visited Vung Tau.
I have recognised some sustainability issues that have lasted for many years in this city. Vung
Tau city, which is not only a key economic region, but also holds many potential as a tourist
destination. Annually, it is recorded around 15 - 16 million visits which brings around $217
million in revenue (VIR 2022). Nevertheless, the over-tourism has led to many sustainability
problems such as littering, collapse of natural resources, beggars, frauds, etc (Destination
Review n.d.; Vu et al. 2020). 2 issues that are brought into analysis in this report are Plastic
waste & littering and street vendors.
a. Plastic waste and littering:
The very first thing that visitors can notice when walking along the coast is plastic waste that
travellers or local street vendors have left. Figure 1 illustrates just a small corner or the coast,
waste including plastic bottles, plastic bags, cigarettes…
 Figure 1: Waste along the coast of Vung Tau (Student self-captured photo)
Indeed, waste and littering has been an alarming problem in Vung Tau for many years. By
2019, Vung Tau was recorded to have 400 tons of trash stretching 10km along the sea sides,
freezing all beach activities and requiring more than 3,300 people to clean up. This also
explained why Vietnam has been constantly around the top 5 of the polluted ocean by plastic
waste (Nguyen 2019).
This issue is related to SDG 13 (Life under water) and SDG 6 (Clean water and sanitation).
According to IUCN (n.d.), plastic pollution is the number 1 predator to marine ecosystems
where sea animals starve to death because they are filled with plastics. Infections, lacerations
and reduced ability to swim were also caused by plastic, and the food web was also disturbed
putting the marine biodiversity in danger. Moreover, the over-waste also disturbed local
people's lives by contaminating the water supply (VTC 2021). Khanh (2020) stated that,
because of littering, the water sources that supply for daily usage were contaminated, which
has led to the scarcity of clean water. This means that, in the dry season, local people will
face the risk of not having water for daily usage and production.
● Recommendations:
In order to preserve the coastline of Vung Tau, it is recommended that the local authorities
work with WWF Vietnam (World Wild Fund for Nature), which is one of the very first
environmental organisations in Vietnam to establish a program that can raise the awareness
of the local and tourists (WWF Vietnam n.d). The program is going to focus on recycling,
specifically, how to recycle, the right way to recycle, and most importantly, the significance
of recycling since recycling is the most effective way to discard plastic (Osama and Lamma
2021). This will lead to the second step of this solution, which is installing Reverse Vending
Machines (RVMs). These RVMs, according to RecycleNSave (n.d.), is a vending machine
that is able to sort and collect plastic bottles and aluminium cans from users, then will reward
them for 10 stars for 10 bottles or cans. These stars can then be collected and traded for any
gifts on their app. The drinks containers are then collected by the F&N and NEA (National
Environment Agency) to recycle. This recommendation can raise the awareness of people of
how plastic waste is harming their daily life and how recycling can accelerate the situation.
With the joint authority of tourists, the local and environmental organisation, plastic pollution
in Vung Tau can be improved.
b. Vendors:
According to Vu et al. (2020), among the 3 pillars of sustainability, social was the most
unsustainable aspect and required the most attention in Vung Tau. Indeed, it was not hard to
catch these images along attractions in Vung Tau, or Bai Truoc or Bai Sau. As Mai (2015)
stated, these social related issues are threatening the tourism industry of Vung Tau. Street
vendors usually set up their stalls at the pavement and even sometimes taking a part of the
street (Figure 2). This not only related to littering but also regards regulations as these
vendors had no authority to sell and especially, the hygiene of food (Le and Tran 2020). This
issues related to SDG 11 (Sustainable cities and communities)
 Figure 2: Street vendors taking the pavement and part of streets to sell food and drinks
(Adapted from Le and Tran 2020).
● Recommendations:
Ma et al. (2019) stated that most street vendors are uneducated, uninformed and have very
little knowledge about regulation. Therefore, it is crucial to inform them about food safety
and business licences. In order to do that, the government of Vung Tau city must be able to
hold places such as the Night Market that purpose was to help street vendors to make a living
as well as serve tourists to enjoy local cuisines or to buy souvenirs. The Night Market is an
alley street vendors together and the manager of this alley will have the responsibility to
ensure the food safety as well as required licences. With this solution, the street and
pavement will be given back to traffic, street vendors will be able to make a living with
informed information and visitors can touch the Vung Tau culture without concerns of
hygiene issues.
2. Personal reflection:
The most intriguing insight that I have not realised until attending the BUSM4567 course is
the welfare of society. Before the course, when mentioning sustainability, the thing that came
into my mind was only the environment or the wealth of an economy. Until now, I have
understood that in order for a country or an organisation to gain sustainability, there must be
a collaboration between environment, society and economy. Without one aspect, the nation
fails to gain the desired sustainability. For example, a country with the majority of wealthy
citizen, well-preserved environment. Nevertheless, the gap between the rich and the poor in
this country is gigantic, this country is not sustainable. This is because I understand that
sustainability is more than maintainability, sustainability is about fulfilling our own needs
without compromising the ability of future generations to fulfil their needs, and to fulfil the
needs we must need the natural resources, social resources and economic resources (McGill
n.d.). I have once experienced this while travelling to Australia back in 2015, though
Australia is a strong economy country and is covered with greens though this is a desert
country, there are still homeless people, beggars along the street, train stations, cafes,...
Indeed, in the Sach’s SDG Index, Australia only ranks at the 38th place. People are an
important part of the path to sustainability, it is everyone's responsibility to ensure that
everyone in the society has the same rights, basic needs, respects and protection from
discrimination and hate. However, among the 3 pillars, there is not one pillar that is more
important than the other one. With this in mind, in the future, I hope to be a part of charity
organisation such as th eSaigon Children’s Charity (CIO) where I can be a part of the helpers
that can joint together with other volunteers and contributors to improve the wellbeing of Ho
Chi Minh City and Vietnam.
3. References:
Costa J, Rodrigues D and Gomes J (2019) ‘Sustainability of tourism destinations and the
importance of certification’, Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes

Destination Review (n.d.) Ba Ria Vung Tau, Destination Review website, accessed 5 January
2023. https://destination-review.com/en/ba-ria-vung-tau-the-problem-of-overtourism-and-
sustainable-tourism-development/

IUCN (n.d.) Marine Plastic Pollution, IUCN website, accessed 5 January 2023.
https://www.iucn.org/resources/issues-brief/marine-plastic-pollution

Khanh T (16 October 2020) ‘Ba Ria-Vung Tau: Identifying the 'culprit' of water pollution’,
Phap Luat News, accessed 5 January 2023. https://plo-vn.translate.goog/ba-ria-vung-tau-
nhan-dien-thu-pham-gay-o-nhiem-nguon-nuoc-post597414.html?
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Le V and Tran B (13 March 2020) ‘City Vung Tau: The "squad" of streetcars selling freely,
whose responsibility is it?’, Thuong Hieu Cong Luan, accessed 5 January 2023.
https://thuonghieucongluan-com-vn.translate.goog/tp-vung-tau-biet-doi-oto-ban-hang-rong-
mac-suc-tung-hoanh-trach-nhiem-thuoc-ve-ai-a89779.html?
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Ma L, Chen H, Yan H, Wu L and Zhang W (2019) ‘Food safety knowledge, attitudes, and
behavior of street food vendors and consumers in Handan, a third tier city in China’, BMC
Public Health

McGill (n.d.) What is sustainability, McGill website, accessed 5 January 2023.

https://www.mcgill.ca/sustainability/files/sustainability/what-is-sustainability.pdf

Nguyen K (10 October 2019) ‘400 tons of garbage clog Vung Tau beach’, VNExpress,
accessed 5 January 2023. https://e.vnexpress.net/news/news/400-tons-of-garbage-clog-vung-
tau-beach-3994852.html

Osama A and Lamma O (2021) ‘The impact of recycling in preserving the environment’,
International Journal of Applied Research, 7(11): 297-302
RecycleNSave (n.d.) Home, RecycleNSave website, accessed 5 January 2023.
https://recyclensave.sg

VIR (Vietnam Investment Review) (13 July 2022) ‘Regional connectivity advantage
transforms Ba Ria-Vung Tau into tourism hotspot’, VIR, accessed 5 January 2023.
https://vir.com.vn/regional-connectivity-advantage-transforms-ba-ria-vung-tau-into-tourism-
hotspot-94862.html

VTC (23 November 2021) ‘Black spot' of plastic waste pollution in Ba Ria - Vung Tau:
Fishing port turns into a landfill’, VTC News, accessed 5 January 2023. https://vtc-
vn.translate.goog/diem-den-o-nhiem-rac-thai-nhua-o-ba-ria-vung-tau-cang-ca-bien-thanh-bai-
rac-ar648041.html?_x_tr_sl=vi&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=vi&_x_tr_pto=wapp
Vu V, Tran N, Nguyen T and Nguyen V (2020) ‘Factors Affecting Sustainable Tourism
Development in Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Vietnam’, Korea Distribution Science Association, doi:
/10.13106

WWF (n.d.) Home, WWF website, accessed 5 January 2023. https://vietnam.panda.org