Strong digital transformation journey of Vietnamese tourism after COVID-19

After COVID-19, digital transformation has become an effective “right hand” of the tourism industry, not only helping to optimize the operation of the management system but also helping businesses both reduce costs and increase efficiency and quality. customer.

Therefore, in order to meet the needs of recovery and development in the new period, the whole green economy is racing in technology. Management units in the industry as well as tourism businesses survived the pandemic and had the potential to rush digital transformation to adapt faster and stronger.

Convert or die

From 2015-2019, in Vietnam, the search for online travel information increased more than 32 times; up to 88% of domestic tourists look up information online; On average, each month there are more than 5 million searches in Vietnamese for tourism products. These numbers are statistics of the Vietnam Tourism Association.

However, the efficiency from digital transformation activities at Vietnamese travel agencies in this period is still low, not commensurate with the potential. Because up to 80% of the online travel market share belongs to foreign online travel agents (OTAs) such as Agoda.com, Booking.com, Traveloka.com, Expedia.com… Vietnamese OTAs such as Vinabooking.vn, Chudu24.com, Ivivu.com, VNTrip, Mytour.vn, Gotadi… only modestly received 20% of the domestic market share with modest transactions.

It is worth mentioning that many hotel businesses in Vietnam pay up to 30%, even up to 38% commission for foreign OTAs, even higher. It is the “pain” of Vietnamese owners, because the profits “fall” into the pockets of foreign OTA sites.

In order to be able to stand firm, develop and not be overwhelmed right on the “home turf,” said Mr. Ngo Minh Duc, founder of Gotadi platform (specializing in providing a variety of online travel services, from booking air tickets, tours to combo packages serving Vietnamese businesses and tourists) that businesses must master information technology. This is also the reason why Mr. Duc invests in the OTA platform.

Especially, in the post-pandemic context, when almost every habit and consumer psychology has changed and is done mainly on the internet, it is also the time when tourism businesses are forced to enter the fierce competition on the Internet. In the digital environment, from accessing, booking tickets, booking tours, booking rooms… Therefore, if businesses do not compete in digital transformation and invest in technology, businesses have only two options: life or death.

“It’s not just a trend, it’s a business performance. When customers switch to book services online, but the supplier does not follow, businesses are cutting themselves out of the race,” said Vu The Binh, Chairman of the Vietnam Tourism Association.

Impressive transformation journey

The post-pandemic period is a period fraught with difficulties and challenges, causing many businesses to struggle with digital transformation with the desire to optimize costs, increase efficiency and increase customer base.

Going with the flow, Travelogy Vietnam has undergone a remarkable transformation journey. Before digital conversion, the tour sales staff of this unit must open each document file to fill in information according to the form. In case the customer changes the program, the staff takes about 30 minutes to complete the repair in the saved form.

However, when applying digitization, the entire standard model is applied uniformly on the management system for both employees, managers and what needs to be changed, it only takes 2 minutes instead of 30 minutes. If before, 100 bookings needed 10 staff to handle a day, now with the optimal digital processing system, 1 employee can handle 50 bookings in a day and can work anywhere as long as necessary. connected to the internet.

Most recently, the launch of Crystabaya Pte Ltd., an online travel service transaction platform, has brought blockchain into tourism, allowing customers to directly monitor the status of their rooms and other services without having to worry about not being able to do so. confirmed upon booking or service.

Thanks to that, hotel and resort owners can reduce operating costs because the database is fully and securely stored on the blockchain. In case guests change their travel plans or have no need to use NFT’s bookings (NFT’s bookings), they can share, donate or resell them to other customers on the Crystabaya exchange at any time. at the desired price.

Not only businesses but also ministries, branches and local management agencies quickly respond to the “no-touch” demand by increasing the application of technology in carrying out immigration procedures, promoting and booking tours, reservations, car bookings, ticket sales to attractions… via software, internet. This strong transformation of the whole industry has marked a strong post-COVID recovery and development journey.

In the midst of a vibrant digital transformation picture of the tourism industry, Mr. Nguyen Trung Khanh, General Director of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism affirmed: “One of the five major orientations of the tourism industry in the coming time is to promote digital transformation in the future. Tourism. Since the end of 2018, the Prime Minister has issued Decision No. 1671/QD-TTg approving the Master Plan on application of information technology in tourism for the period 2018-2020, with orientation to 2025. Then, as the tourism industry recovers, the digital transformation needs to continue.”

To further promote digital transformation in the tourism industry after the pandemic, the Director General of Vietnam National Administration of Tourism said that the tourism industry will continue to build a smart ecosystem; connecting state agencies, localities and businesses in real time… Besides, strongly promoting the public-private partnership mechanism to mobilize resources to implement digital transformation of tourism…

Now, the competition in tourism is no longer only about price and quality of service, but also about technology utilities, online payment… Hopefully, the digital transformation push that has spread widely will help businesses compete and develop stronger in the coming time.