Hoi An faces pollution crisis

The first signs that Hoi An could be heading for an over-tourism crisis are surfacing on Facebook Page comments.

Billed as one of Vietnam’s pristine World Heritage sites, Hoi An’s tourism success could backfire due to a failure to tackle pollution.

The tiny lanes lined with wooded trading houses many of them opening up on an estuary wharf lined with boats has captured the imagination of visitors to the central Vietnam city of Danang. 

But earlier this week a Facebook post exposed the other side of the Hoi An story one that could have shocking repercussions for the town’s World Heritage status further down track.

“ We just went first time to “World Heritage” Hoi An, filled with anticipation. Like everyone, we had seen and heard so much positive publicity”…. “Anyway Hoi An is a mess. A world of smelly rivers and plastic toy hawkers. Streets are teeming with selfie people, lines of them, and anyone trying to make a buck… I will never go back. It was so faked up, so Disneyland at this point. What a shame”.

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