Tourists use apps to find attractions, book accommodation and plan itineraries in HCM City. — VNA/VNS Photo

HCM CITY — Digital transformation is changing how tourism in HCM City is managed, promoted and delivered.

The city aims to use data and artificial intelligence (AI), while also developing digital skills among tourism workers, as it moves towards a smart tourism ecosystem and seeks to improve visitor experiences and the competitiveness of its destinations.

The tourism sector is stepping up efforts to build databases, analyse markets, track visitor behaviour and improve destination promotion.

Experts say data should be regarded as a form of 'soft infrastructure' for tourism and a database connecting information from management agencies, businesses, destinations and service platforms could help analyse visitor behaviour, forecast trends, identify potential markets and assess the effectiveness of tourism promotion programmes.

When data is standardised and connected, it could also provide a basis for developing 'digital twins' of key destinations. These could be used to simulate visitor flows, service capacity, infrastructure conditions and different development scenarios.

AI is also opening up new ways to promote and manage tourism. The technology can process large amounts of information available online to identify trends, assess destination images and study visitor sentiment in different markets.

In practice, digital technology is affecting the whole travel journey, from searching for information and choosing destinations to booking services, making payments, experiencing destinations and sharing trips.

Digital transformation, therefore, is not simply about putting some procedures online or developing separate applications. It aims to connect the different players involved across the tourism ecosystem.

Nguyễn Cẩm Tú, Director of the HCM City Tourism Promotion Centre, said an effective digital tourism ecosystem should allow visitors to search for information, choose destinations, plan itineraries, book accommodation and tickets, buy tours, make payments, experience services and share their journeys in one digital space.

Services could also be personalised according to individual preferences, budgets, available time and behaviour, she said.

Data can therefore serve not only management purposes but also help balance development and conservation, visitor attraction and the carrying capacity of destinations, as well as visitor numbers and the economic value generated by each traveller.

Skills for smart tourism

Resolution No 26-NQ/TW, issued by the Politburo on August 22, 2026, on developing tourism into a spearhead economic sector in the new era, calls for a shift from growth based on visitor numbers towards quality, added value and sustainable development.

The resolution sets a direction for developing a high-quality, smart, green and creative tourism sector with international competitiveness. It identifies HCM City as one of three tourism growth poles in the country by 2030 and emphasises the need to modernise tourism management through digital technology and data.

For HCM City, the requirement is not only to provide enough workers to meet market growth, but also to gradually develop a workforce capable of improving service quality, managing new business models, mastering technology and working in an international environment.

Dr Dương Đức Minh of the Institute for Tourism and Economic Development Research said digital transformation was affecting many areas of hotel operations, including room sales, demand forecasting, pricing, distribution, customer care, feedback monitoring and workforce organisation.

He said tourism officials and workers should take part in digital transformation to improve their work and contribute data to the wider system.

“Digital transformation must become a common capability across the tourism sector," Minh said.

"Every tourism official and worker needs to take part in digital transformation to work more effectively and create data for the common system."

From a training perspective, Đặng Thị Phương Anh, Human Resources Development Manager at the Swiss Tourism for Sustainable Development in Việt Nam (ST4SD) project, said workforce quality was one of the factors determining the competitiveness of destinations and businesses.

The rapid development of technology requires training programmes based on international standards, with a focus on management skills and sustainable development, she said, adding that this would help improve the capacity of managers and the tourism sector’s ability to integrate internationally.

From data and AI to human resources, digital transformation is creating new 'touchpoints' between destinations, businesses and visitors, while supporting management based on data and technology.

For HCM City, developing a smart tourism ecosystem will require digital infrastructure, data, technology and human resources to be developed together and linked to the actual needs of businesses and visitors.

In this way, digital transformation can help improve visitor experiences and management efficiency, increase added value and competitiveness, and support sustainable tourism development in the new period. — VNS