Demand for development and application of new technology in Ho Chi Minh City tourism
According to the Project on Smart Tourism Development in Ho Chi Minh City for the period 2020 - 2025, with a vision to 2030, the city will focus on building a smart tourism system towards the main goals such as: Utilities for tourists, smart destinations, smart business ecosystem; proactively analyze and forecast needs, trends, and interests to plan for better development.
The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism said that up to now, 366 tourism resources in Ho Chi Minh City have been updated to the Google Earth and Google Map platforms. The products are also on e-commerce trading floors (shopee, Traveloka)... for tourists and residents to learn and refer to.
Speaking at the Workshop "Phygital - Digital transformation trend in the tourism industry", Mr. Le Truong Hien Hoa - Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism shared a reality that the tourism industry is changing, and technology is no longer the choice but an inevitable thing.
Through reports and research, with the rise of technology, customer behavior has changed (preferring online services, wanting cashless travel, and preferring digital experiences such as AR/VR). This change has created challenges for the tourism industry in Ho Chi Minh City to continuously transform, adapt, and develop sustainably.
With the theme of digital transformation in urban areas, especially the connection between planning and developing the night-time economy, MSc. Hoang Le Nam Hai - Lecturer, Institute of Smart Urban & Management, gave the view that through the application of digital technology, businesses can effectively plan and manage night-time economic areas, thereby optimizing the experience for tourists.
The combination of smart planning and digital transformation not only contributes to ensuring urban order but also promotes the participation of the community and businesses, making the night-time economy an important driving force in the sustainable urban tourism development strategy.
Enhancing the multi-interactive travel experience
Also at the workshop, Mr. Nguyen Huy, General Director - Founder, Phygital Labs Joint Stock Company, also shared about a new breakthrough solution for interactive travel experience, which is the Smart Check-in Station system.
Accordingly, this system has been deployed in many prominent tourist destinations such as Hue Imperial City, Hai Van Quan, Nhan Dan Newspaper Headquarters (Hanoi), SunWorld Ba Den (Tay Ninh), SunWorld Fansipan (Lao Cai), and the "Love Vietnam" project spanning across 63 provinces and cities. This initiative not only attracts the attention of tourists but also opens up opportunities to improve the quality of destination management.
The Smart Check-in Station system with Tap Quest operates based on NFC technology, allowing authentication of sightseeing activities, data tracking and real-time access traffic monitoring. The system integrates many modern features such as creating travel moments, AI tour guides, and sightseeing tasks to help guide the travel flow of tourists, while supporting revenue optimization for businesses and providing data to serve sustainable development strategy planning
Deploying the system brings many outstanding benefits. That is to be able to monitor tourist traffic, manage crowds in real time and flexibly adjust according to trends. Enhance customer interaction through providing a quick check-in experience, instant support and personalization based on AI.
This system can also collect and analyze customer behavior to track performance, accurately measure and support strategic decision making. Thereby, improving marketing efficiency, creating multi-channel marketing campaigns, personalizing experiences and optimizing customer feedback.
Mr. Le Truong Hien Hoa emphasized that Phygital is not only a trend but has become an inevitable factor in the development of the tourism industry. He affirmed that the application of advanced technologies such as Big Data, AI, digital tourism cards will contribute to creating a smart tourism ecosystem, while promoting training and supporting technology tourism startups to develop high-quality human resources.
"Phygital technology-based tourism products will be the key to connecting the real and digital world, contributing to enhancing the tourism experience not only in Ho Chi Minh City but also nationwide," Mr. Hoa stated.
