Vietnamese student wins first prize in global tourism competition

Team Walkie Talkie wins the Plastic Waste Challenge category of the UNWTO Students' League competition

With a sustainable action project to reduce plastic waste on Phu Quoc Island, the Walkie Talkie student group majoring in Tourism and Hospitality Management at RMIT University, Saigon South Campus, won first prize in the Plastic Waste Challenge category of the UNWTO Students' League global competition. This is a competition for tourism students organized by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).

With the aim of helping accommodation providers on Phu Quoc Island reduce plastic waste and consumption, the team proposed innovative solutions including reducing plastic packaging in hotel room toiletries, educating tourists about plastic waste, and working with the Organic Trade Association (OTA) to develop a green badge.

Sharing about this idea, Walkie Talkie team leader Nguyen Le Viet Huy said that the COVID-19 pandemic has led to an unprecedented increase in the production and consumption of disposable plastic products such as masks and disinfectant bottles, causing plastic waste pollution in Phu Quoc to increase significantly. Meanwhile, according to the team's research, most accommodation service providers on the island have not implemented environmental protection measures when handling "new plastic waste" that has appeared during the pandemic.

Therefore, Viet Huy believes that with the group's proposals of specific and sustainable solutions, it promises to help not only Phu Quoc but also the entire hotel industry protect the ecosystem in the post-pandemic world.

This is also shared by student Nguyen Thi Anh Thu, a member of the group. “Our group believes that Phu Quoc Island in general and the hotel industry in particular need to implement sustainable measures immediately, especially when Vietnam is planning to reopen this resort island to foreign tourists later this year,” Anh Thu said.

Participating in the competition amid social distancing measures due to the COVID-19 pandemic, member Do Thi Thanh Vy said that the group faced many challenges when working remotely. To overcome this, the group tried to maintain motivation, avoid distractions, manage time well, and ensure a quiet and comfortable environment. These solutions helped the group members work more easily and effectively.

Head of Tourism and Hospitality Management at RMIT University, Dr Jackie Ong (right) with members of The Sustainablers group.

In addition, the group also received advice from lecturers on studying and working online as well as a foundation from lessons on analytical and critical thinking, problem-solving skills and providing positive solutions to global sustainability issues in the curriculum.

The World Tourism Organization Secretary-General, Zurab Pololikashvili, said the Walkie Talkie group’s strategy will support accommodation providers in becoming pioneers in reducing plastic and creating a positive impact on other providers in the industry.

The Walkie Talkie team will present their vision for tourism to the UNWTO General Assembly in late November in Morocco and have been invited to attend the Global Youth Tourism Summit 2022 in Sorrento, Italy.

Within the framework of the UNWTO Students' League, the tourism student group The Sustainablers from the Hanoi campus of RMIT University also achieved sixth place out of 65 teams competing in the Tourism and Rural Development Challenge category.

The group built a tourism marketing campaign for Nam Dam village in Ha Giang. The group's idea is to make Nam Dam a typical destination for community tourism in the North by providing unique cultural and natural tourism products that suit the needs and expectations of tourists, contributing to the development, enrichment and preservation of the culture, nature and people here.

The UNWTO Students' League aims to empower and motivate tourism students by providing them with real-world work experience in creating and implementing innovative and sustainable solutions to the challenges facing the tourism industry. This year, the competition ran for four months and saw 750 projects from 100 countries around the world.

According to Vietnam+