Digital transformation of tourism reduces intermediaries, customers directly book services

Change to adapt

In the past 3 years, tourism service businesses have recorded an increase in the number of visitors, but the rate of booking through travel agencies has decreased due to customers shifting to booking services directly, especially domestic tourism. This has caused travel agencies and service units to change their approach to adapt.

Visitors experience information technology applications when searching and booking hotel rooms at domestic and international tourist destinations.

Mr. Bui Thanh Tu, Marketing Director of BestPrice Travel, said that currently, most industries and fields use technology to increase business efficiency. As a unit specializing in tourism products and services, BestPrice Travel is no exception to this trend.

“The company has also invested in upgrading the website system with many utilities for customers to consult and book services. Previously, customers chose to buy a package tour, but now they choose combos (single service packages) according to their personal needs. Tourists often refer to a lot of information online before booking services. However, the company still focuses on the human factor when consulting on personalized products and services,” Mr. Bui Thanh Tu admitted.

Mr. Nguyen Duc Anh, Chairman of the Vietnam MICE Tourism Club, said: “The unit is applying artificial intelligence (AI) in consulting and designing new products. The unit applies software to accumulate points for running activities and provides consulting parameters. Thanks to that, the unit has successfully organized running activities in Cat Ba, Sa Pa and other famous tourist destinations in Vietnam.

Discussing the structure and movement of operating costs in hotels, Mr. Le Minh Thai, representative of the investor of Pullman Hai Phong Hotel, said that currently, along with investing in management systems, hotels are increasing costs for applying automation technology, chatbots, and self-check-in to reduce personnel costs, enhance network security and secure customer data. This also means that many steps in the hotel's operating process will replace humans with machines. However, to achieve this goal, all units have a roadmap for implementation...

From B2B to B2C

Mr. Ho An Phong, Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) said that the tourism industry has made a spectacular recovery in 2024 and the first months of 2025. This is a bright spot in economic and social development. Digital transformation has made an important contribution to this achievement.

Guests can book hotel rooms themselves without going through the receptionist.

Thanks to digital transformation, the tourism industry has shifted from B2B to B2C, reducing intermediary travel agencies and representative offices, as customers book tours directly in the digital space.

Deputy Minister Ho An Phong commented: "For tourism, digital transformation is at the forefront, inevitable and objective. When applying digital technology, AI, and smart platforms, tourism will develop very quickly and sustainably."

Localities have many good and diverse models, creating many tourism products with modern technology content. For example, Ho Chi Minh City applies smart tourism software on iOS, Android, deploys 3D applications to recreate the city space from above; Hanoi applies technology, smart destinations on the tourism information portal; or Da Nang actively uses virtual reality, VR360, automatic bilingual commentary... These activities help enhance the tourism experience for customers in a visual and vivid way.

In 2025, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will focus on developing a smart tourism ecosystem in a synchronous and unified manner to serve state management, tourism business and improve tourist experience; research and develop a set of criteria to evaluate the National Digital Platform for Tourism Management and Business, a set of indicators to evaluate the effectiveness of smart tourism destinations; issue guidance documents and organize training for localities and businesses to implement digital transformation in tourism.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is also implementing three projects: Digital heritage, smart tourism and the Ministry's operations center. In addition, it is mobilizing resources from international organizations, social networking platforms, and signing cooperation agreements to connect smart tourism around the world.

“Thanks to the consultation and support, after the initial confusion, the tourism industry now has specific and unified solutions to avoid fragmentation and waste. Recognizing the importance of digital transformation in tourism, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has created an important legal corridor, approved and issued the Tourism Industry Database System Project; Project on applying technology of Industry 4.0 to develop smart tourism, promoting tourism to become a spearhead economic sector... This is a plan to develop the overall tourism industry database, setting long-term and short-term goals in building a database for connection and communication”, said Deputy Minister Ho An Phong.

According to Tin Tuc Newspaper

Source: https://bvhttdl.gov.vn/chuyen-doi-so-du-lich-giam-bot-khau-trung-gian-khach-hang-truc-tiep-dat-dich-vu-20250325090529374.htm