Vietnam’s Hoi An counts cost of popularity as mass tourism threatens to overwhelm ancient town

But grumbles about overtourism are increasing, as the town’s population of just 120,000 is submerged by more than 4 million tourists annually, and original artisans and craftspeople are elbowed aside by larger souvenir businesses and tour groups.

Vietnam welcomed 12.6 million foreign tourists in 2023 and the sector is expected to account for 6.4 per cent of the country’s GDP this year.

A short boat ride away, Cu Lao Cham Island is seeking to learn from the perils of popularity enjoyed – and endured – by Hoi An, with an ecological draw card that ecologists say only works if tourist numbers and activities are managed sustainably.

The island also received a Unesco endorsement as a biosphere site in 2009, as part of a loop linking its pristine beaches, coral dive spots and sedate resorts to Hoi An on the mainland.

There are 277 species of coral, 250 fish, crustaceans and 97 types of molluscs flourishing around the island, a feat of conservation made possible by the buy-in of locals, who have cleaned up plastic pollution and got serious about overfishing in the blue waters.

“It was not easy to get the fishers to agree to stop fishing in the coral reef, and accept zones for sustainable fisheries,” environmental scientist Le Ngoc Thao, chief of the island’s Marine Protection Agency (MPA), told This Week in Asia.

“We had to convince them they could get a much better income, if they took the scuba-divers to see a pristine reef brimming with fish.”

Many fishermen eventually agreed and adapted their boats to carry tourists – allowing the MPA to work on protecting the reefs, which face the global threat of warming waters which bleach the corals.

The island is the only location in Vietnam promoting the non-use of plastic bags and the “3Rs”