Vietnam Tourism Aims for 'Smartization' with Data-Driven Ecosystem

Vietnam's National Administration of Tourism is urgently promoting the establishment of a unified and synchronized data infrastructure to achieve smartization in the tourism industry. This is considered an essential element for realizing the goal of developing tourism into a key national economic sector. According to data from the National Administration of Tourism, in the first six months of 2026, Vietnam welcomed over 12.2 million international visitors, a 14.8% increase compared to the same period in 2025, reaching 48.8% of the plan. Approximately 81 million domestic tourists were served, equivalent to 54% of the set target, with total tourism revenue reaching VND 569 trillion (approximately USD 22 billion), or 50.5% of the plan. These figures indicate significant progress in the scale of the market and the number of tourists for Vietnam's tourism. However, challenges remain when considering indicators such as length of stay, average spending per visitor, and the rate of international tourist return, where Vietnam still lags behind many countries globally. To address this situation, the National Administration of Tourism has proposed building a national tourism data ecosystem based on the "1+34+N" model. '1' represents the national tourism data platform coordinated by the Administration, '34' refers to the data from 34 provinces and centrally-governed cities, and 'N' includes relevant ministries, sectors, businesses, and organizations. Under this model, the data platform, spearheaded by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, will connect with data from localities nationwide and expand its linkage with ministries, sectors, and the business community to form a continuous and updated data network. Pham Van Thuy, Deputy Director General of the National Administration of Tourism, emphasized that in the digital era, tourism's digital transformation is not merely about applying technology but a comprehensive process of restructuring management, business operations, and customer experiences. The national tourism data system is identified as the core digital infrastructure and the "backbone" of the entire smart tourism ecosystem. The "1+34+N" model aims to create digital tourist profiles, thereby enhancing predictive capabilities, operational management, and real-time service personalization. This approach seeks to build data-driven management capabilities rather than relying on subjective, experience-based decision-making. The plan for 2026-2027 focuses on connecting dispersed data sources from ministries, localities, and businesses to form a core data system. From 2027 onwards, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will continue to refine the shared model and issue data standards, sharing mechanisms, and data utilization policies. In recent times, Vietnam's tourism sector has gradually developed and built shared digital platforms to connect state management agencies, businesses, tour guides, and tourists. These include the tourism database system, tourism statistical reporting system, the "Tourism Management and Business Platform," the tourism operational information Dashboard, the national tourism application "Vietnam Travel," the national tourism card, and a multi-modal electronic ticketing system. Hoang Quoc Hoa, Director of the Tourism Information Center, stated that the implementation of these shared digital platforms developed by the National Administration of Tourism will help localities and businesses save investment and training costs. It will also connect data, overcome fragmentation, create consistency, facilitate management and business, and improve tourist experiences. Deputy Director General Pham Van Thuy stressed the importance of uniformity and sharing, expressing concern that if each locality develops its own isolated system, it would lead to wasted resources and a lack of collective strength. Therefore, the principle of the National Administration of Tourism is: "The central government builds the platform, localities implement it, businesses utilize it, and tourists benefit." To effectively promote digital transformation in tourism, key solutions include innovating promotion and advertising activities towards digitalization, leveraging AI for personalized promotional messages tailored to target markets, and strengthening digital transformation training for localities and businesses. Support for connecting central and local tourism information management systems is also crucial. Digital transformation can only succeed with a foundation of high-quality human resources capable of converting data and technology into value for tourists, businesses, and the sustainable development of the tourism industry.