The authorities of Halong Bay, the tourist icon in Vietnam, began a pilot program to ban the use of plastic bottles and bags from 15 tour operators since August 1.
Pham Dinh Huynh, deputy director of the park administration, said that 5,000 plastic bottles and 5,000 wet wipes (wrapped in plastic) are used daily in this tourist spot, contributing to the more than 6 tons of garbage collected everyday from the waters.
Instead of the usual bottle of water, the 15 companies selected for the program will give each tourist a glass made of recyclable materials that can be filled in the boat and reusable wet wipes not wrapped in plastic.
Being one of the 7 Wonders of Nature, the number of tourists steadily increases every year, which caused that in 2018 more than 5.2 million foreign visitors enjoyed the incredible views of the Park.