Illustrative image. (Source: Shutterstock)

The municipal chapter of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and the Gotadi Travel Technologies JSC have recently signed a memorandum of understanding on boosting cooperation in the promotion of trade, services and tourism. The two sides also agreed to strengthen support for the business community to implement their innovation and digital transformation process in the fields.

The partnership was formed in the context that the municipal Tourism Department is stepping up the implementation of a smart tourism project, which aims to develop a tourism-service data system serving the needs from visitors, residents, travel companies, and management agencies.

It will build an ecosystem of closely related information technology solutions, which use a tourism sharing database to help tourists and residents look up tourist information, search for and book tickets, and accommodations, among other travel items. This will help enhance the experience for domestic and foreign consumers.

According to Bui Thi Ngoc Hieu, deputy head of the department, the sector has so far operated a smart tourism application, employed 3D technology in tourism advertisements, and posted the city’s tourism resources on the Google Earth and Google Map platforms. HCM City’s tourism products are available on the e-commerce trading floors such as Shopee and Traveloka.

In the first nine months of 2022, the southern metropolis reeled in over 804.7 trillion VND (32.53 billion USD) in retail and service revenue, up 25.9% annually.

As of September, it welcomed 21.6 million domestic and more than 2.1 million foreign tourists.