The application of information technology and digital transformation in tourism development has now become more imperative, allowing businesses and management agencies to boost capacity and business efficiency. Thereby, not only does it help promote tourism products but it also helps to attract more potential partners, especially in the current global complicated COVID-19 crisis.

A visitor is seen experiencing the application of searching tourism products at Viet Nam's National Conference on Tourism 2020

Digital transformation, in fact, has become an inevitable trend, forcing businesses to change their management thinking, seek more solutions to reach more customers as well as change the way to build ‘smart’ products attractive to their customers. 

The application of advanced digital technologies will enable businesses to better understand customers and personalise their service and incentive packages based on customers’ preferences, while reducing costs, optimising profits and making their work processes more scientific, rapid and efficient.

From customers’ perspective, through smart phones using digital applications, they will be able to perform a wide ranges of activities from planning trips and selecting means of travel and travel agents to booking hotels and the receipt of post-trip preferences, instead of directly contacting tourism companies.

General Director of Furama Resort Danang Nguyen Duc Quynh said that digital transformation helps businesses change the way of human resource management and training and boost innovations in the company's operating models, remote operations for instance. Virtually, every business is threatened by new competitors in the age of digitisation. In many cases, it is necessary to transform your own company so as not to be edged out.

For smoother digital transformation process, Mr Quynh underlined a must-do for businesses to transform customer relationship management and enhance customer experience in order to meet the needs of visitors and exceed their experiences.

Also heed should be paid to transforming administrative and personnel management methods such as offering online training, improving cross-cutting and IT skills for staff, pushing digital transformation of product and services, processing data, optimising processes through online customer management platforms and systems in combination with e-commerce and sharing economy.

In his point of view, Chairman of the Da Nang Tourism Association Cao Tri Dung said, in the past, Da Nang tourism industry used to organise tourism promotion events in both domestic and international destinations, but now, in light of global coronavirus-triggered travel restrictions, online connectivity is viewed as an effective way to build information networks and open up more cooperation opportunities.

Mr Tri remarked that, digital transformation, including the digitisation of management and administration activities, helps to control price, product quality, and customer care. Over recent times, the Da Nang Department of Tourism has effectively used information search and job management software applications. In addition, the application of QRCode in information provision is also a significant improvement. Instead of using normal paper documents at meetings, conferences and seminars, guests only need to scan QRCode to grasp full information of necessary agendas and activities.

Deputy Director of Da Nang Department of Tourism Nguyen Xuan Binh said, in face of the global complicated pandemic, thanks to the application of the latest technologies, Da Nang tourism industry has held webinars with key international markets such as Japan, South Korea, Singapore and India.

Da Nang Department of Tourism is partnering with IT and telecommunications businesses to deploy digital transformation, build an IT foundation in the tourism sector, including digitalisation of travel database to develop towards smart tourism.

By THU HA – Translated by A.T