In his speech at the event, Nguyen Huu Y Yen, Chairman of the Travel Association of Ho Chi Minh City, noted that the tourism sector is striving to recover and seeking new drivers for growth. With the spirit of “meet – co-create – develop”, the programme provided an opportunity for enterprises to introduce products, promote their brands, expand partnerships, foster business connections, and seek strategic collaborators. The aim is to jointly build a professional, sustainable, and breakthrough tourism ecosystem. The event also served as an open forum for experts and businesses to exchange practical experiences and explore new directions for the industry in a context of many fluctuations and full of opportunity.
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| Tourists receive guidance on how to use software to search for tourism products. (Photo: THE ANH) |
Experts noted that most tourism businesses in the city are transitioning their operational models in line with digital transformation trends, adopting technology to enhance service quality for both residents and businesses. The use of TikTok as a platform for tourism promotion has opened fresh and effective market access channels for enterprises. Moreover, comprehensive digital management — from customer data systems to automated marketing solutions — is being increasingly implemented across the sector.
Regarding digital transformation in tourism, Le Truong Hien Hoa, Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism, emphasised that digital development is an inevitable trend. The city boasts significant potential in various forms of tourism where digital transformation is a top priority, such as MICE tourism (not only involving hotels and convention centres, but also resorts and coastal sites), industrial tourism, and tourism resource management. The department plans to invest in a shared data system. Once tourism resources are integrated into this system, communities and tourism stakeholders will be able to collaborate and share data more effectively.
According to the Smart Tourism Development Plan for Ho Chi Minh City for the 2020–2025 period, with a vision to 2030, the city will focus on building a smart tourism system towards key objectives: enhancing convenience for tourists, establishing smart destinations, and creating a smart business ecosystem. The system is designed to enable proactive analysis and forecasting of demand, trends, and visitor preferences, thus better informing the planning of tourism development.
To date, 366 of the city’s tourism resources have been integrated into platforms such as Google Earth and Google Maps. Additionally, tourism products have been made available for public access and reference on e-commerce platforms like Shopee and Traveloka.
