Virtual interaction with a Vietnamese educator on the 'EFFECT OF TOURISM ON ECOLOGY' for class 8

“It is our collective and individual responsibility to preserve and tend to the environment in which we all live.”- Dalai Lama

On 17th January 2022, the students of class 8 along with their class teacher Ms Srishti had a virtual session with Ms Ann Phan, an educator from Ngoc Tao High School in Hanoi, Vietnam. The topic of the session was ‘Effect of Tourism on Ecology”.

The students discussed tourism as one of the important sectors of the country to generate an adequate amount of revenue every year. People choose to visit tourist destinations for a vacation, to organise a destination wedding or to be a part of any mega-event or cultural celebration.

Students talked about the negative and positive impacts of tourism on the environment. They discussed the positive impact of tourism on the environment such as the creation of jobs .This industry provides umpteen employment opportunities to people throughout the world. As per the research done in the past few years, it is clear that the tourism industry is among the top five job creation sectors in the world. Tourists increase the flow of money into the economy.

Students expressed their views on the negative impacts of tourism on the environment, such as dropping paper waste, bottles, food and other items into the water causes water pollution. Due to the increased use of vehicles, air pollution is also caused. The natural ecological system is disturbed. The transformation of beaches into tourism destinations and the depletion of homes for construction destroys and eliminates these habitats. Such commercialisation of land fails to provide any genuine travel experience and authentic social benefit to people. It only leads to the depletion of natural resources, waste issues and pollution. The tourism industry contributes to around five percent of greenhouse gas emissions all over the world. This along with transportation accounts for 90 percent of the emission.

Students also posed questions regarding the economic and social challenges and achievements in the field of tourism in Vietnam. A healthy exchange of views on how to overcome the negative impact of tourism on the environment was a useful.

The students got a precious opportunity to participate in this exchange and to explore a different culture. The session concluded with a promise to meet again.