Digital transformation contributes to promoting tourism development in Lang Son

Over the past time, Lang Son tourism industry has actively and proactively implemented digital transformation activities associated with smart tourism. The perception of digital transformation has changed and has a strong impact on tourism businesses and tourist attractions in the province.

After the COVID-19 pandemic, Lang Son tourism industry needs new breakthroughs to change, recover and gradually develop comprehensively. In the general trend of the whole country, the province’s tourism industry identifies digital transformation as a fundamental and inevitable solution in the 4.0 technology era.

Officers of the Center for Culture, Sports and Communication of Loc Binh district introduced agricultural products to visitors at the Ky Hoa Festival. Photo: La Mai

Mr. Hoang The Vinh, Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism said: The Department has actively and proactively coordinated with units to implement programs and plans to apply information technology in management, build a smart tourism system to improve technological competitiveness in the field of tourism, creating a number of convenient services for people, tourists and travel businesses.

In that spirit, the Tourism Promotion Information Center has built a common database integrated into the smart tourism portal of the province, upgraded the website, updated the new modern and professional interfaces; implemented digitization of tourist attractions with 360^o interface technology to bring unique and selective images and information about tourist attractions; implemented activities to promote Lang Son tourism image on social networking platforms such as Facebook, Youtube, Zalo, Tiktok… This is a new communication method in line with the trend.

From October 2022, the Tourism Promotion Information Center has completed the construction of Tam Thanh Pagoda tourist site in the form of automatic interpretation according to 360 ^o technology, it is expected that in 2023, 9 sites of the province’s smart tourism project will be implemented, this will be an effective solution, creating favorable conditions for tourists. With the automatic narration application, visitors can actively visit and learn about the monument without the need for a live narration guide. In addition, visitors can also rent a portable automatic narration device to both visit and listen to the narration.

Accompanying the province’s tourism industry, tourism businesses have actively developed new tourism products such as: introducing tours on online platforms; automatic hotel check-in, use of services at the hotel via phone control when downloading the application without going through the reception service, helping to minimize personnel costs, like the new SoJo hotel model in Lang Son city.

 Mr. Ly Xuan Thach, Director of Thanh Vu Trading and Tourism Company Limited said: If the digital transformation of tourism is implemented, it will certainly attract an increasing number of tourists to visit Lang Son, creating conditions for tourism businesses to offer digital tourism products such as tours, travel routes and services for tourism development.

Tourists visit the memorial house of President Ho Chi Minh in That Khe town, Trang Dinh district

In fact, the application of information technology and digitization in tourism service development has gradually yielded positive results. In the first 9 months of 2022, the number of visitors to Lang Son reached over 3 million, an increase of 181.1% over the same period in 2021; total revenue reached over 1,434 billion VND, an increase of 132.3%.

However, besides the results achieved, the province’s tourism industry still faces some difficulties, especially the problem of human resources with expertise in the field of digital transformation, capable of receiving and operating the digital transformation system in the field of tourism; lack of synchronous implementation orientations or projects.

It is hoped that in the coming time, relevant levels, sectors and units will continue to have solutions to develop training programs to raise professional awareness for officials and employees in the tourism field in the area; financial support for the digital transformation of tourist sites and units. Promoting the connection between the State management agencies and tourism businesses to ensure the continuity and unity to jointly build a data system, advertising and promotion programs and connect tourism more effectively in the future.