ASSESSMENT OF COVID-19 IMPACTS TO TOURISM ACTIVITIES IN NATIONAL PARKS AND NATURE RESERVES IN VIETNAM AND FUTURE PLANNING

On December 27, 2022, at the Parliament Guest House – Hanoi, Center for Nature Conservation and Development (CCD) cooperated with International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to organize an assessment workshop of COVID-19 impacts to tourism activities in national parks and nature reserves in Vietnam and future planning. There were more than 40 delegates at the event, representing management boards of special used forests in Vietnam, nature conservation organizations, non-profit organizations, research institutes, tourism companies, universities, colleges, news agencies, IUCN’s representatives.

The workshop delivered the assessment results and tourism trends in post COVID-19 era, while gathering consultations for planning to improve management, biodiversity conservation, tourism development and benefits for local communities.

Considering the rich data compiled, assessment results are respectable to delegates, while extensively illustrating the impact of COVID-19 to tourism activities in national parks and nature reserves in Vietnam. Given the adequate and reliable data, delegates were able to contribute comments on challenges, practical solutions to restore and enhance tourism, while some suggested amendments to the study’s methodology for better assessment in the future.

CCD aims to support developing tourism plans for national parks, nature reserves in Vietnam. CCD’s vision is to utilize eco-tourism in special-used forest for the better awareness and responsibility of the public, thus increasing income, mitigating the forest dependency of local communities, and ultimately subside other anthropogenic impacts to the forest and natural resources.