Reflections from CT2 – a Top 3 enterprise of the ESG Initiative 2025, awarded by Committee IV and the Department of Private Enterprise and Collective Economy Development – Ministry of Finance
“For many years, ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) has often been perceived as a set of image-driven criteria: tree planting, waste clean-up, or producing ‘green’ reports. However, at C2T Tourism in Ben Tre, ESG is understood in a very different and far more practical way.
According to C2T, ESG does not create new money; it helps prevent money from leaking away. Instead of asking whether a tour is ‘green enough,’ C2T raises a more fundamental question: how long does each dollar spent by a visitor remain in the local economy? From that question, ESG is integrated directly into the design stage, rather than added on at the end.
The “E” – environment: keeping money by reducing long-term costs
Many tourism models misunderstand the environmental pillar by limiting it to tree planting at the end of a tour or carbon offsetting to complete formal requirements. Such activities rarely affect real financial flows.
At C2T, the environment is understood as the efficient use of resources to minimize long-term costs. Tours are designed to be close-range, slow-paced and locally sourced, reducing fuel consumption and extended supply chains. Avoiding single-use plastic bottles eliminates waste treatment costs. A resource like coconuts is used across multiple cycles: drinking the water, composting, soil regeneration, planting, and creating new visitor experiences. At the same time, C2T prioritizes soil and ecosystem regeneration rather than paying for environmental damage later.
When the environment is well maintained, long-term costs fall, and money stays active longer within the system.
The “S” – social: keeping money from leaving the community
In many community-based tourism models, local people are paid daily wages. Money passes through their hands and disappears, without accumulation or long-term livelihoods.
C2T approaches the social pillar differently, focusing on who retains money the longest within the system. Farmers, artisans and homestay owners are paid directly, without intermediaries from outside the province. Local knowledge—storytelling, craft instruction, experiential guidance—is fairly compensated, not treated as low-value labor. Income does not come from a single tour, but from multiple cycles: repeat visits, referrals, workshops and story-based products.
More importantly, the community learns how to retain value: avoiding price dumping, not chasing volume, and building long-term relationships with visitors. When local people see viable livelihoods and a future at home, money no longer “flows” to the cities.
The “G” – governance: keeping money by retaining design control and data
A common weakness of local tourism is the loss of customer data, stories and experiential models, allowing value to be controlled externally.
C2T views governance as control over the value cycle. The organization retains visitor data to understand why guests return, instead of repeatedly spending on advertising. C2T maintains ownership of experience design, rather than acting as a subcontractor for outside companies, thereby preserving the highest-value segment of the chain. Knowledge is stored as digital assets—story libraries, QR systems or AI guides—for repeated use. Transparent benefit-sharing mechanisms build trust and reduce value leakage.
Where does C2T’s ESG lie?
C2T’s ESG is not found in reports or slogans, but in the structure of cash flows.
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The “E” keeps money by reducing costs and extending the life cycle of resources.
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The “S” keeps money by enabling community ownership.
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The “G” keeps money by retaining control over design and data.
The message C2T sends to localities is clear: ESG is not about polishing an image, but about ensuring that money does not leak out of the local economy. And this can only be achieved when ESG is properly designed from the very beginning.”
