Ben Tre aims to develop smart tourism

04/05/2023 1452 1
In order to contribute to the growing tourism in coastal districts of Ben Tre province, recently, Nguyen Tat Thanh University coordinated with the Department of Science and Technology of Ben Tre province, Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism. Ben Tre province; Ben Tre Telecommunications Industry and Thanh Phu District People's Committee organized a workshop on the topic "Developing smart tourism associated with preserving and promoting heritage values ​​and exploiting indigenous resources of Ben Tre province" at the Ben Tre Province Area. preserve, embellish and promote the value of the historical Ho Chi Minh Trail on the sea.

The conference is part of the "Culture - Sports - Tourism Week in Thanh Phu 2023" held in early May in Thanh Phu district, Ben Tre province.

Promoting Smart Tourism Development

During the conference, a prominent issue raised this time is the development of smart tourism. In recent years, under the influence of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, particularly the strong development of information and communication technology, has propelled the smokeless industry significantly, leading to the emergence and increasing popularity of the concept of "smart tourism."

According to the report from Ben Tre province, currently, approximately 90% of tourism businesses apply Industry 4.0 technologies in their promotion strategies and high-quality image communication of their products and services. They actively invest in building and designing their Facebook, Zalo, Instagram, TikTok pages meticulously to showcase their offerings at both organizational and local levels.

This trend has gradually attracted all types of viewers, transforming travel preferences into decisive actions to explore, experience, and "touch" the reality of tourism products. Concurrently, smart tourism services have garnered special attention, meeting the indispensable needs of tourists in this new phase. Most hotels, restaurants, and entertainment venues offer free Wi-Fi. Tourist attractions rely on digital data platforms to serve the development of digital tourism, coupled with e-commerce to align with the smart economic trends of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Especially, Ben Tre province is actively deploying and operating Smart Tourism applications to integrate information and communication technology into the province's tourism products. This initiative aims to enhance service quality for tourists, contribute to sustainable socio-economic development, and create mutual benefits among three key stakeholders: tourists, authorities, and businesses.

In her keynote speech at the seminar, Dr. Phan Thi Ngan from Nguyen Tat Thanh University emphasized the significant breakthrough in Vietnam's tourism sector during the period from 2015 to 2019. According to statistics from the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, international arrivals surged from 7.9 million in 2015 to 18 million in 2019, marking an average annual growth rate of 22.7%. This growth rate is remarkably higher compared to the 7.6% annual increase observed during the 2011-2015 period and places Vietnam among the world's top performers, according to annual reports by the United Nations World Tourism Organization.

Domestic tourism also saw substantial growth, increasing from 57 million trips in 2015 to 85 million trips in 2019, with an average annual growth rate of 10.5%. The direct contribution of tourism to Vietnam's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has been steadily increasing, rising from 6.3% in 2015 to 9.2% in 2019, an increase of 2.9 percentage points. Despite these achievements, Vietnam's tourism sector still faces challenges related to tourism products, service quality, environmental impact, promotion, and advertising. Therefore, the development of smart tourism is seen as crucial in addressing and overcoming these weaknesses.

Smart tourism initiatives aim to enhance the efficiency of marketing and promotion through digital tourism marketing strategies. They seek to increase the attractiveness of tourism products, improve the quality of tourist experiences at destinations, enhance service standards, and develop tourism destinations. Moreover, smart tourism intends to transform management methods to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of state tourism management. This includes developing applications for managing tourist destinations, supporting tourism enterprises, particularly innovative startups utilizing technology in the tourism sector.

Smart tourism still needs specific products

In his remarks at the seminar, Mr. Cao Tung, Director of Domestic Tourism at Ben Thanh Tourism Company, shared insights on the impact of smart tourism in Vietnam. He acknowledged that while smart tourism has brought many benefits to the tourism industry, tourists, and tour operators alike, he emphasized the continued importance of unique tourism products. "With just a smartphone, tourists can now access every detail of their tour routes, live-stream their activities to people at home, and vividly reflect on the quality of tour services," Mr. Tung noted. However, from the perspective of a tour organizer, he stressed the ongoing relevance of locally distinctive tourism products and the interconnection between provinces in creating shared, region-specific products..

He illustrated this with an example from over 20 years ago when he designed tour programs for the Mekong Delta region. He highlighted the success of locally distinctive products such as "fishing in canals" or "ostrich riding." Initially collaborating with Vinh Sang Tourism Area to organize these activities, he continuously refined these products. As a result, the "fishing in canals" brand has thrived across the Mekong Delta region for two decades, remaining a sought-after experience for tourists.

Mrs. Cao Pham Hang, Director of Vietjetours, echoed Mr. Cao Tung's views on the development of smart tourism, emphasizing both its positive impacts and challenges. She highlighted that the advancement of smart tourism in recent years has significantly benefited the global tourism industry by bringing tourists closer to various tourism products. "Thanks to technological advancements, nearly all young people now have the ability to design their own tours, from booking flights and hotels to finding dining options and tourist attractions," Ms. Hằng noted. However, she pointed out that in reality, individual travelers often face higher costs compared to packaged tours offered by travel agencies. Moreover, there are inherent risks that travelers may not be able to manage effectively on their own. "While smart tourism has undoubtedly propelled the tourism industry forward, it has also presented significant challenges," Ms. Hằng emphasized. These challenges require concerted efforts from the tourism sector and local authorities to address systematically, aiming to secure a vibrant future for this key economic sector.

Nguyen Tat Thanh University - a companion unit with Ben Tre province - chaired the appraisal and successfully compiled the Scientific Conference Proceedings, gathering 54 presentations with over 500 pages, revolving around the policies, Smart tourism development orientation; Preserve and promote the value of heritage and indigenous resources in tourism development; Education and training of human resources to meet the needs of tourism development in the current context; Applying technology, digital transformation and international integration to tourism development; Solutions to develop unique and authentic destinations and tourism products associated with indigenous cultural values; Solutions for managing and developing the tourism digital economy, linking tourism and trade to promote consumption of local agricultural and aquatic products; Develop the value chain of agricultural products and OCOP products associated with smart tourism, agricultural tourism and new rural construction.

Source: https://nld.com.vn

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