HCM CITY  - Representatives from local travel agencies heard the latest insights about Việt Nam’s tourism development, including the 2017 overview and 2018 outlook, at a recent seminar held on September 8 in HCM City.

Speaking at the seminar, Alexander Rayner, representative of Amadeus Travel Intelligence, discussed the latest findings about visitor demand, total number of air passengers, air connectivity, and passengers’ global distribution system (GDS) bookings.

Last year, South Korea, the US and China were the top three countries with the most air passengers to Việt Nam, according to research.

South Korea, in particular, Seoul, continued to top the chart in 2018.

Rayner said that understanding travellers’ data and destination insights would help travel agencies make data driven decisions and eventually advance Việt Nam’s travel and tourism sector.

In addition to general tourism, Rayner also spoke about Phú Quốc Island and moderated a panel discussion on data-driven opportunities to develop better air connectivity to Phú Quốc.

He also stressed the importance of harnessing the potential of blockchain in the travel sector.

Some issues that travel agencies should consider include making loyalty schemes more user-friendly; improving baggage tracking with blockchain technology; simplifying settlements in the travel value chain; and improving identity management in travel.

The seminar, with the theme, “Blockchain for Tourism Development in Việt Nam”, attracted the participation of Hà Văn Siêu, vice chairman of the Việt Nam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT); Trần Phú Cường, director general of the International Cooperation Department under VNAT, and Lã Quốc Khánh, deputy director of the HCM City Department of Tourism, among other representatives from global hotel groups and local travel agencies.

The seminar was held followed a series of events during the 14^th International Travel Expo. – VNS