 A forum on promoting digital transformation to develop tourism is held in Hanoi on September 30, 2020 |
According to the World Tourism Organization, COVID-19 has caused global tourism a loss of 1 trillion USD and a decline of 1 billion travelers. Though the epidemic has been contained in Vietnam and many stimulus programs have been implemented, the number of domestic tourists has fallen 50%, foreign tourists 70%, outbound tours 85%, and revenue 60% this year.
Nguyen Van Hung, Vietnam’s Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, said: "Tourism has close links with other economic sectors like trade and transports. Due to COVID-19, travel companies need to work more urgently and resolutely. We need to focus on digital transformation, take advantage of the technological revolution, implement stimulus programs, and pay more attention to the domestic market. Difficulties will be overcome soon."
Nguyen Thanh Hung, Chairman of the Vietnam E-Commerce Association says IT applications will help businesses quickly recover from the epidemic, and grow. Travel companies have already embraced digital transformation but now the process needs to be accelerated:
"In this crisis, we realize the importance of IT and the internet in our business and economic activities. Tourism has been hurt by the epidemic. It is also the sector that has most widely applied information technology." said Hung.
The world is now in the 4th Industrial Revolution. New technologies like cloud computing, the internet of things, artificial intelligence, and virtual reality have changed the world economy and improved people’s lives. Through promoting digital transformation, travel companies can gain more customers, better serve customers, reduce costs, and improve their efficiency. COVID-19 has motivated businesses, particularly travel companies, to accelerate digital transformation in order to improve their competitiveness.