. In the sense, Saigontourist has developed new environment-associated activities to boost sales and promote its name. The activities are also aimed to celebrate the company's 27th anniversary (August 1, 1975-2002).
Hundreds of Saigontourist's members are participating in the program with their own activities. Travel firms are promoting eco tours and existing summer tours such as the "For the green of Can Gio," "Cleaning Can Gio Beach," "To nature in Binh Chau," "Green camping," "Each tourist a tree for Dalat," "Con Son Pearl Island" and visits to Saigontourist-run resorts such as the Saigon-Phu Quoc and Saigon-Mui Ne. Saigontourist's travel companies (Saigontourist Travel Service, Fiditourist and Gia Dinh Tourist) are raising customers' awareness on environmental protection, which is seen as one of the various activities to promote the company's image. They are also studying the organization of tours to gardened houses and farms to meet the demand of customers, especially international tourists.
Meanwhile, Saigontourist's hotels and resorts are promoting the "Green hotel/Green resort" initiative. Employees are asked to utilize reasonably natural resources and protect the environment through activities such as saving energy, pollution prevention and effective use of resources. The resorts and hotels also request guests to join these activities. They are studying the "Green, nutritious cuisine" program and activities to attract environment-minded guests such as outdoor camping, environment study and relaxation at Binh Chau, Binh Quoi, Van Thanh and Can Gio resorts. Fifteen hotels and resorts are actively applying the ISO 14000 environment management standards with funding from the EU, including the Rex, Majestic, Bong Sen, Kim Do, Palace, Continental, De Nhat, Que Huong 4, Thien Hong, Dong Khanh, Metropole, Oscar and Grand hotels, and the Can Gio and Binh Quoi resorts.
The "Green summer with Saigontourist" program from June 1 to September 30, 2002 has won passionate support from customers. According to a Saigontourist official, reasonable utilization of natural resources and environmental protection are an important mission of tourism operators in Vietnam. "A green environment also implies sustainable development for Vietnam tourism," the official says.
Vietnamese tourist companies have begun to realize the importance of a green environment. Saigontourist Travel Service and Majestic Hotel are active promoters for environmental protection in their business. Last year, Saigontourist Travel Service cooperated with local authorities in Dalat City to organize the "Each tourist a green tree for Dalat" tour where tourists participate in planting trees at local tourist sites. A great number of tourists have participated in the tour already. Meanwhile, the Majestic Hotel has been quite successful with its energy saving and effective utilization of resources, saving VND500 million a year.