Forum promotes digital transformation in tourism industry amid COVID-19

Illustrative image (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi – The Vietnam Tourism Association (VITA) in conjunction with the Vietnam E-Commerce Association (VECOM) on September 30 organised an online forum on digital transformation to promote Vietnam's tourism development in the context of global COVID-19 outbreak.

The event offered a good chance for travel agencies to approach the theory and practice of applying new technologies in tourism business, especially getting more information on technologies supplied by leading technology corporations in the world such as Google, Booking.com, and Facebook.

Addressing the forum, Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Van Hung said the event is an important solution to help restore and promote the country's tourism development sustainably, adding that digital transformation is an inevitable development trend of tourism and it needs to be accelerated after heavy impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to VITA Vice Chairman Vu The Binh, international visitors to Vietnam in 2020 is likely to decrease by at least 70 percent compared to 2019, while the number of domestic visitors will be reduced by 50 percent, and the revenue from tourism activities will fall over 61 percent.

This extremely difficult situation requires tourism businesses to adjust their strategies to quickly recover and gain growth again when the pandemic is under control, he said, adding that comprehensive digital transformation is part of these strategies.

Through digital transformation, travel agencies can reach more travellers, provide better care to customers, reduce costs and increase business efficiency, he said.

Digital transformation is an inevitable trend which helps businesses improve their competitiveness, he added.

Participants to the event were updated on demand, trends and digital transformation capability.

In the framework of the forum, a showroom of technological products was arranged for a number of technology businesses to introduce their products.

VITA has planned to organise other events to help Vietnamese tourism firms access new technological solutions towards recovering and further promoting their business amid the COVID-19 pandemic.