Introduction:
Tourism started in Hoi An in
the early 90th. A beautiful lay backed town with mainly agriculture,
fishing, weaving and woodcraft activities.
The old quarter truly existed
out of beautiful architecture from the Vietnamese, French and Chinese past.
Now 20 years later, Hoi An
is a tourist trap, with mass tourism. It has an overkill of restaurants,
souvenir shops, spa’s and what ever you think tourism ‘need’s!
It got a grabbing town with
on any corner people grabbing you for what ever service they have on offer.
Staff will come out of shops, restaurants and spa’s with “Come in please” and
when the tourist refuse it’s followed by “why not” and sometimes accompanied
with rude expressions! Local authorities lack any form of guidance!
Successful tourism relies on
establishing a basic infrastructure, such as roads, visitor centers, a sewage
system, public toilets, parking lots, hotels, education and people willing to
offer quality service. Local- and tourist police speaking at least 1 foreign
language and showing some interest in their ‘guests’ who brought ‘wealth’ over
the last 20 years to Hoi An. The government should have a leading roll in this!
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| Flood November 2013 |
Jobs created by tourism are
often seasonal and poorly paid, yet tourism can push up local property prices
and the cost of goods and services. Money generated by tourism does not always
benefit the local community, as some of it leaks out to huge international
companies, such as hotel chains.
Destinations dependent on
tourism can be adversely affected by events such as terrorism, natural
disasters certain deceases like SARS or EBOLA and economic recession.
The
visitors
Visitor behavior can have a
detrimental effect on the quality of life of the host community. For example,
crowding and congestion, drugs and alcohol problems, prostitution and increased
crime levels can occur. Tourism can even infringe on human rights, with locals
being displaced from their land which happens on a large scale in coastal
area’s in Hoi An to make way for new hotels or barred from beaches.
Interaction with tourists
can also lead to an erosion of traditional cultures and values.
Often we can see tourists
being loud present! Sharing their experiences about their yummy meals, making
photo’s close the local peoples faces, loudly communicating on their mobiles in
restaurants or cafes without bothering their fellow dining guests.
Culture
& resources
Tourism poses a threat to a
region's natural and cultural resources, such as water supply, beaches, coral
reefs and heritage sites, through overuse. It also causes increased pollution
through traffic emissions, littering, increased sewage production and noise.
It’s clear that in Hoi An
were there is still no working sewage system, beaches are eroding, the heritage
site ‘Hoi An’ is badly managed and changed in to a shopping center!
Transportation
Traffic its self is getting
worse every day! Like everywhere in Vietnam common sense, any awareness
about danger, consideration of other road users it just doesn’t exists. Most
worrying is that there is no discipline, no authority, no organization who are really
want to make a difference. There is no guidance, no police, no teachers, no
parents who will correct their children or other road users. In Vietnam every
year there are about 12.000 people killed in traffic directly, an unknown
amount later in hospitals and thousands left disabled. Vietnamese keep silent!
Tourism brought ‘quick’
money the last 20 years and many can afford a motorbike. So also the group of
young people speeding on their bikes especially in the old quarter when the temporary
‘lock down’ is lifted and people on motorbikes can go through the old quarter.
Schoolchildren on electric
bikes without helmet and in this case unfortunate without ‘noise’! You just not
hear them coming!
Speeding taxis from any
company and mini fans who pick up tourists for day tours have no mercy with
other people using the road. Major accidents happened already but no change in
any form in driving behavior.
Dependence
In Hoi An, 60% of the
workforce depends directly or indirectly on tourism.
Economic recession and the
impacts of natural disasters such as tropical storms and typhoons as well as changing tourism patterns can have
a devastating effect on the local tourism sector.
Already many staff in the
past working in the hospitality did not get paid only because it is ‘low
season’ or one of the above events had arisen!
Entrance
ticket debacle & Restoration of the old quarter
The entrance ticket debacle
reached an absolute height around April 2014. While always charged 6 $ and
accepted by tourists for visiting museums, old houses the Japanese Bridge and other
sights suddenly on all entrance roads to the old quarter ticket boots appeared.
It was so badly executed by the government that there has been fights reported
between tourists, ticket sellers and town officials.
The excuses from the
government where laughable and changed from week to week!
At the moment (October 2014)
still people are harassed while ‘officially’ only ‘groups’ larger than 4 have
to pay.
The
Governments Orphan house & NGO’s
The governments orphan house
is a big scam. Reported many times on social websites it just goes on. Just a
quote!
As a former worker at the Hoi An Orphanage (there for
a few years) I can directly attest to the abject corruption in the management
there, especially the director. please do not give any money directly to the
staff or management. as to the cessation in adoptions, it was done for a very
good reason. there was overt "payment for kids" and the Hoi An
Orphanage was no exception. there is a very good reason that NO reputable
charities are working there anymore. please don’t give them money - you are not
helping anything and contributing to the wealth of the administration.
In any case orphan house
tourism gives ‘false hope’ to the children and can have a bad effect on their development
and treatment. Donations should be done to NGO’s with a good reputation! Let
professionals do their work!
Hoi An has to be the most
over supported town in Vietnam. There
are so many NGOs and charities here to help the disadvantaged, I can’t even
count them all! Every person in this town with a story, with a health
issue is very well aware of the charities that exist here and that they can
easily access free medical care, education for their children, training
opportunities and support for disabled relatives.
Worse developments is that
tourists just flocking in and start ‘their’ own little unprofessional help
clubs! Hoi An does not need anymore help! Tourists should spend time finding organizations
already existing and support them
Never asked yourself; Why
don’t Vietnamese help their ‘own’ children?
Tourism
& Agriculture & Fishing & River pollution
The demand for electricity,
water and food has risen far above Hoi An’s own supply. In case of generating
electricity Vietnam
has built many hydro electric dams.
Because of this the natural flow of fresh water is ‘blocked’ and
therefore agricultural activities are more and more effected by saline
intrusion.
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| An Bang Beach, October 2014 |
Ad the amount of sewage water, medicines by urination and disposal,
chemical waste, plastic, herbicides, pesticides etc it’s no wonder that the
amount of fish remain in the Thu
Bon River
went down with 50 % during the last 30 years.
A massive problem is the seeping
of dioxin from ‘storage- and transshipment points in the surface water, groundwater and soil.
A remain of the Vietnam war!
Traffic-
speaker noise and air pollution
Traffic, noise and air
pollution have increased along with the numbers of tourists. The tranquil small
town atmosphere of Hoi An is being lost as large tour buses and other vehicles
jam the narrow streets and create noise and air pollution.
Currently over 40 tour boats
and over a hundred smaller local boats ply the local rivers, transporting
people and goods, while around seven tour boats and more than 50 speed boats take
visitors to Cham Island every day. The boats cause significant noise pollution,
which is very disturbing for residents and has an adverse effect on the wetland
fauna. The increased number of boats in recent years has also intensified riverbank
erosion.
Speakers are still added to
the local government speaker system, They result in more annoyance to tourists
in hotels, home stays, local people etc and takes the nice and quiet atmosphere
away especially in the morning when you expect it most in a ‘rural, historical,
tranquil, cultural’ town like Hoi An.
Waste
Collection and Disposal
The significant increase in
tourism in Hoi An since 2001 resulted in the establishment of a formal waste
collection service in 2003. Today, the town of Hoi An and peripheral areas are serviced by
modern garbage trucks, with daily garbage collection in the downtown area and
collection twice a week in outer areas of the town.
Solid waste collection is
currently effective, but the system is gradually being stretched to its limit.
With the growing numbers of tourists, increasing incomes and increasing
consumption of packaged products, the amount of solid waste collected in Hoi An
is rapidly rising, putting pressure on waste management capacity and on
financial and other resources available for waste management.
The number of waste
collection trucks and employees are limited and the roads in the surrounding
areas are poor, therefore, surrounding areas are unlikely to receive adequate
collection services in the near future. Unfortunately, in the surrounding
villages where solid waste collection is not available, waste is burned or
dumped in waterways (the ocean and rivers). It is clear that without a suitably
funded and effective solid waste management system, the situation could have
serious aesthetic and ecological impacts. At the same time, Hoi An faces
serious waste water problems. Hoi An does not have an effective waste water
treatment and disposal system, so raw sewage and other waste water flows into
rivers and other waterways. As tourist numbers grow, guesthouses, restaurants
and laundries are generating increasing amounts of waste water,
contributing to increasing
pollution in local waterways. Such pollution has adverse impacts on local
wildlife and is causing irreparable damage to the natural beauty of Hoi An.
Every month on the 14th
of the month Hoi An organizes the lantern festival. Electric lights are dimmed
and a beautiful lighted Hoi An opens up it’s doors.
Hoi An likes to be a Eco
town in the future. Till now they are not even changing the floating devices - Styrofoam
- used in the floating candles which illuminate the rivers. It are small pieces
but still Hoi An could make an example.
It’s the same with plastic
bags! Nothing is done to get rid of the enormous amount of plastic bags used on
the local markets and shops. Fortunate there are some private initiatives!
Construction
and Resource Consumption
In response to the rise in
tourist numbers, new roads, sidewalks, street lights and drainage
infrastructure have been put in place. The new infrastructure does not always
suit the historic character of the town, however. For example, new granite
sidewalks were installed in the old quarter of Hoi An in 2006. Previously, each
house had small brick patios that were consistent with the materials used to build the houses. The new
sidewalks are not in the spirit of the place and have compromised the
appearance of the ancient streets. With the rapid rise in the number of
visitors, there has been a significant increase in construction of restaurants
and hotels, particularly along waterways. Such construction is often uncontrolled, with no
attention paid to the social and environmental
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| The 'new' Hoi An, October 2014 |
impacts of such buildings.
Outside of the old quarter of Hoi An, buildings are no longer being built in
the traditional style. More and more resorts, hotels and restaurants are being built
in the ubiquitous elongated “tube house” style, marring the picturesque
countryside and making traditional building styles obsolete.
As tourist numbers increase
and the lifestyles of residents change, the consumption of wood, drinking
water, energy and other resources is increasing enormously. This consumption is
not being managed and is therefore not sustainable in the long term. For
example, wood, which is inquired for restoring heritage buildings and making
products for residents and tourists, is becoming very scarce. There is no
planning and management of existing wood
resources, even though
without wood it will not be possible to restore and maintain heritage buildings
in the future.
The new roads built in existing
urban area’s and new ones lack most an drainage system. The lanes are often
built under a wrong angle so instead of getting rid of water it stays in big puddles
on the street.
Worse all space often between
roads and existing private properties got paved with cement. The courtyards
from many houses are also cemented so rain water has no way to go. It adds to
the already flooding problems in town.
There are even plans to
build more resorts on sand plates in the Thu Bon-, Hoi An- and CoCo river what even more obstruction gives to the water
flow in the rivers.
The Home
stay debacle!
What is exactly the definition
a home stay?
A "home stay" is a
cultural exchange in which a person visiting or temporarily staying in another
country lives with a family in the host country. Home stays involve
relationships between people and should not be confused with a boarding-house
or hotel experience in which a person only rents a room. It creates an
enriching learning experience for both the tourist and the host family. There
are home stays for short periods (one night or a weekend) and for longer times
(a vacation period, a term, several terms).
It’s clear that most of the home
stays in Hoi An don’t fit this definition and the same government who gave the
licenses to more than 250 home stays in Hoi An are now coming up with new
guidelines. “Uncultured families will be suspended from running a home stay!”
Hoi An in a
dire state
Hoi An is in a dire state
but a few will admit. While the coastal and river erosion is knocking on Hoi
An’s doors for years no structural solutions are executed.
Hoi An could lose the whole
southern tip of Cue Dai ‘today’ and 3 resorts, many local business and residents
will have no access anymore.
Still resort developers keep
building with permission of the local- and provincial governments knowing based
on many published reports from many international organizations that the beach
will disappear over the next 10 years, sea levels are rising and more strong storms
& typhoons are expected.
It’s mentioned already that
Hoi An can expect to lose 25 % of it’s
tourism to Danang. Maybe that’s a good thing to happen and brings some ‘air’!
An Hoi Island - opposite the
old quarter - was till 2007 hardly developed is now a noisy backpackers heaven
where some business are aloud to open their speakers till late at night without
considering neighbors etc. This is all done with permission of the local
government and does not fit at all the character of the old town.
Development of new urban
suburbs is on such a massive scale that huge area’s are under construction for
year after year and gives some parts of Hoi An a desolate atmosphere.
The next 10 years 20- to 25.000
more people will live in Hoi An. Partly by population growth, people migrating from
the countryside and foreigners. The already stretched roads will be
overcrowded!
It’s difficult to understand
why urban developments are not more done in the direction of Danang west of the
north/south road from Hoi An to Danang and on the west side of Hoi An. It would
keep the coastal vulnerable area along the coast more in tact, would have kept
space for mangrove, water Coconut- and pine trees to protect the coastal area
and would have brought safety to many.
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| Massive loss of Water Coconut trees & Cua Dai Bridge building. |
The development of The Cua
Dai Bridge project will bring more stress on the roads in Hoi An. There is
already a bridge planned between Cam Kim to Thanh Ha, the pottery village. From
there it connects to Highway number 1, the massive new inland road and the coastal road to Danang.
The connecting new road with
the Cua Dai Bridge
will go through the protected Water Coconut Forrest, the picturesque fishing
village Cam Thanh and the agricultural area’s of Cam Chau and Cam Ha.
If no overpasses are made at
Cua Dai Street and Hai Ba Trung - 2 major connection roads with the beach area
- more trouble is expected.
Conclusion
The damage done to Hoi An’s
reputation and assets by mentioned above is difficult to reverse. Less tourists
with ‘money’ are visiting Hoi An already. Mass tourism will slowly grow or
maybe come to a stand still. Shallowness and mediocre services will have the
overtone.
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| Resort under construction north of An bang Beach. October 2014 |
Sure it will cater for a
certain group who only go for entertainment and just a few days of ‘cheap fun’!
Racing with yet skies and banana rafts along the remains of the beaches.
The government plans to
build a huge entertainment & casino resort in ‘South
Hoi An’. It’s clear in which direction Hoi An will go!
Vietnam, Hoi An has a behavior problem toward tourists. Vietnamese
culture is not very service minded and the money crab and short term thinking
rules!
Advice from many organizations
in the past have been mainly ignored.
The underlying problem is that
Vietnam
just don’t care. Of course I’m not aloud to generalize. Sure there are people
who really want to change but they got overwhelmed
by the people in power and fear. A recently published report about behavioral
etiquette quote:
- In recent times people, particularly the young,
have expressed worrying attitudes, including indifference to others’
suffering, dressing scantily in public or solemn places, rampant littering
and urination in public areas, and rude behavior, even to the elderly.
- Over 90 percent of the respondents said that
doctors, nurses, patients and their relatives have adopted inappropriate
manners.
- Ninety-five of the respondents said that civil
servants also do not behave properly. (strange
suddenly there is no percentage)
- Questionnaires handed out at local schools also
indicated that 50-70 percent of the schools’ leaders, teachers, staff, and
students still display improper etiquette.
Still missing in this report
is the rampant corruption, nepotism and misplaced pride!
With predictions about
climate change resulting in more flooding, beach-, river erosion and major
damage to the old quarter and because of overall bad management from people
related to hydro electric dams, repairs from above will be in the near future beyond
any budget and technical solutions!
Having attended some
meetings from the local government in Hoi An in cooperation with the UN, UNIDO,
etc about ‘greening’ of the tourist business in Hoi An and wanting Hoi An to be
eco town of Vietnam
by 2030 it is clear that this goal never will be reached!
Sources
& Recent (October 2014) articles:
Vietnam: Return
visits rare
Travel season starts off with a bust in Vietnam
Vietnam's world
heritage site collapsing
Hoi An town considers dismantling irreversibly
damaged old houses
Biển đang “nuốt” di sản Hội An (Sea swallows Hoi An)
Vietnam's home
stays growing too fast, warn experts
Hoi An projects could wash away
Uncultured families’ to be suspended from running home
stays in Hoi An
Vietnam capital
drafts behavioral etiquette code
The Problem With Tourism In Vietnam, responsible nomad,
Tim Rann’s Blog, 2013
The effect of tourism on culture and the environment
in Asia and the Pacific.
Cultural tourism and management in the World heritage
Site of the Ancient Town of Hoi An.
UNESCO 2008
Tourism Development and the sustainable management of
cultural heritage. A case study of Hoi An Ancient
Town in Vietnam by Nguyen Thi Thu Ha 2008
Cities and Climate change
Initiatives. Hoi An, Vietnam
Climate Change Vulnerability Assessments, UN
