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Vietnam’s Emerald Coast serves up a gem Sailboats about to embark at Mui Ne Beach
A heady blend of Robinson Crusoe and Lifestyles of
the Rich and Famous, sans irritating nasal whine and buffount hairstyles,
Vietnam's Emerald Coast has muscled into what Thailand once did best.
Thats affordable luxury with all the trimmings on some of Asia's most
outstanding beaches - beaches more deserted and less sullied through the absence
of the 12 million or so tourists that hit Thailand's shores each year.
It's close to 300 km of cobalt blue waters and polished white beaches that run
from Vietnam's big daddy beach town of Nha Trang on the central coast, to the
more sedate Phan Thiet in the south. But what makes the Emerald Coast the new
jewel in the crown of Vietnam's tourism industry, could also be its very ruin.
It is the preconceived notion of Southeast Asian beaches on steroids. The
beaches are whiter, the sun is brighter and your dollar goes further, a lot
further, and maybe ultimately too far.
The high-end resorts that have mushroomed along the length of what some are
calling 'The New Thai East Coast' have provided much-needed jobs to a part of
the country that desperately needs them. But they have also placed greater
pressure on the area's fragile ecosystem. It's a major problem for
cash-strapped central and local governments struggling to meet the needs of both
development and conservation.
"I used to fish for a living and really loved my job. But I couldn't pay for my
children to go to school full time or have a television for my house," says Nam
Le, a porter at an exclusive resort in Mui Ne.
"Carrying tourist's bags pays much more than fishing ever could."
Fifteen years ago, this central coastal area of Vietnam was vastly different to
what it is today. Hollowed-out sea taxis, a former staple of transport in this
developing nation, were 90 percent cheaper than they are now. Beachside real
estate sold for a pittance compared to today's skyrocketing prices when every
developer and his dog, are rushing in to get a piece of the action.
Back then, bunches of children like Nam's could not afford to go to school.
A stable supply of electricity to locals was sporadic - unfortunately poverty
wasn't. It was endemic.
The slick resorts which sprung up and the tourists like me who followed them
have changed a lot of that.
"Nha Trang is one of the world's most beautiful bay settings," says Duong, a
local chef, who laughs a lot and shakes hands with me every two minutes.
"Everything is going up and up, buildings, shops, people enjoying it, everyday,"
he beams, a total believer, telling me "you welcome here, good friends,
everybody."
But for all that unbridled enthusiasm, I just want to lounge on the beach,
where funnily enough very few people seem to agree with Duong. The message I got
from more than one quietly brooding local face was that if we don't preserve
what we have, we risk losing it forever. I wouldn't want to see that happen to
the Emerald Coast. I want it and I want it forever.
To benefit the people
OK sure, a growing number of travellers want their journeys to benefit the
people and places they visit. But the line between helping and hurting isn't
always apparent.
On the beach at Mui Ne I bump into Bruna, a tourist from Dusseldorf who has been
coming here for years. In between her bouts of haggling with a local fisherman
over what amounts to a USD $9 crayfish, we chat about the merits of this
destination over the many other Southeast Asian hotspots. She is convinced it's
the most beautiful of the lot and tells me that it's all down to the locals.
"The people you meet here are different from those in Phuket or Bali," she
insists. "There is playfulness to them, their smiles are genuine."
It's a telltale sign of a beachophile in denial when she thinks that hawkers
want her for her person rather than her money. But this may be doing the locals
here a disservice for they are generally a lot less jaded than their more
established regional colleagues.
For better or worse, they, along with the rest of the country have been jolted
along by the breakneck pace of development. With it Vietnam has joined a growing
list of developing countries that are experiencing the growing pains of the
transition.
Vietnam and the Emerald Coast are some of Asia's hottest tourist destinations.
But even a beach addict must ask, at what price?
Environmental pressures and upswings in beachside land prices have forced locals
to relocate inland. You know the story: growth is the start of the rot. Yet when
a fisherman can make up to 10 times more as a concierge, the cycle is hard to
stop.
"We used to think that the success of our tourism strategy was reflected by an
increase in visitor arrivals," says Phuong Minh, deputy director of a tour
company in Hanoi.
"We now realise that you end up stunting the local flavour of the country if you
just put up the same hotels everywhere. It is quality, diversity and
sustainability that are our catch cries now."
Did I mention that I hate people like that? Some people only look for the
negatives. Tourism has played a major role in slashing poverty in this former
economic backwater of 86 million.
Furthermore, not everyone is lying down like me, on the beach with a salmon and
goat cheese pizza on my lap and a vodka cranberry in my hand.
World’s most beautiful bays
"Everyone knows Nha Trang is one of the world's most beautiful bays. We have to
do more than what we have been, or risk losing it forever," says Hiep Duc,
director of a local conservation NGO.
"We really are facing some challenges right now. Urban development is moving
quickly; tourism numbers have gone crazy the last ten years and so have fishing
activities along the coast."
The government has warned that Duc's work may get tougher as earnings from
marine and seaside business have been forecast to account for 54 percent of the
areas total GDP by 2020.
Further down the coast in Phan Thiet, an international NGO volunteer, Amy
Mitchell says education programmes are underway in schools and fishing
communities to teach people how to dispose of waste and rubbish in a more
environmentally sustainable manner.
"The beaches here are even nicer than Nha Trang. But it's a shame to see rubbish
in such a pristine place. We teach them that it is in the interest of
themselves, their families and their livelihoods to take better care of their
environment."
Source: The Hanoi Times |
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