Authorities fail to control resort boom: official 

Last updated: 10/1/2010 16:10 

New villa projects along the Mui Ne Beach in the central province of Binh Thuan

Beaches in Vietnam have been destroyed by the construction of too many resorts and villas, according to an industry official who called the growth a failure of management.

Many beaches along the country have been “torn apart” and the problem is a headache for tourism authorities, said Nguyen Van Tuan, head of Vietnam's National Administration of Toursim.

Poor plannning of the projects has lead to an inappropriate use of public properties, Tuan said in an interview with Tuoi Tre newspaper on Friday.

As local governments are given the autonomy to license new resorts built on less than two hectares of land, many investors have tried to adjust the size of their projects so that they can be approved easily without seeking consent from the state government, he said.

Beautiful beaches have become overcrowded with resorts and there is not enough space for both the locals and tourists.

“Another consequence is that there can be hundreds of resorts on a long beach, but all of them are small and fail to meet international standards for luxury resorts,” he said. “It’s a huge waste of natural resources.”

The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism will review the construction of seaside projects, Tuan said. “Our viewpoint is that we have to address the weaknesses (in planning) to solve the problem.”

Than Thanh Vu, General Secretary of Vietnam's Tourism Property Association, said his association offered to act as an advisory body in the matter.

The development of resorts has, in fact, benefited the economy of several coastal provinces, including Binh Thuan, Quang Nam and Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Vu said.

However, he argued, the most important thing is to protect the interests of both investors and the community.

Source: Thanh Nien