Ho Chi Minh plans to become smart tourism destination
Born and raised in Ho Chi Minh City , the hustle and
bustle of life sometimes makes me a passerby in my own familiar
land. This time, I decided to give myself a real vacation, to
rediscover the familiar street corners and architectural works
from the perspective of a tourist.
Instead of just picking up backpack and going by instinct, I
decided to
plan my trip very specifically, to make sure I didn't miss
any interesting corners of this city.
Accessing the website visithcmc.vn - the city’s official tourism
portal, I felt like I was lost in a surprisingly vivid world
appearing right on my computer screen.
With just a few clicks, I was able to "stand" in the ancient
space of the Central Post Office, admire every detail of the
Gothic architecture of the City Theater, or "take a walk" around
the Independence Palace through the 3D/360-degree interactive
tourist map. Everything was so intuitive and realistic that I
could clearly visualize my schedule, with unprecedented ease.
This experience, though small, is a sharp slice, a vivid proof
that Ho Chi Minh City's tourism industry has been undergoing a
strong "transformation" in the digital age.
The 360-degree digital map on the VisitHCMC website is an
impressive welcome, but to truly experience the breakthrough of
the city's tourism, I had to set foot on each destination
myself. And I chose to start my journey from the places that
hold the memories of this city: the museums.
My first stop was the War Remnants Museum. Instead of the
familiar image of long and dense captions, now next to each
artifact is a compact QR code. A simple scan with the phone, and
the story behind each tragic memento of war is suddenly brought
to life through a warm voiceover in the headset, or through
detailed articles with accompanying documentary images displayed
right on the phone screen. History is no longer silent words,
but has become a story told that is more personalized, profound
and accessible than ever.
The journey continued to take me to the Ton Duc Thang Museum,
and technology once again surprised me. Just earlier this year,
the Ton Duc Thang Museum underwent a large-scale renovation.
From a museum steeped in tradition, the Ton Duc Thang Museum
today meets the requirements of conveying exhibition themes in a
modern, digital space.
Here, Uncle Ton's life and great career are not just confined in
glass display cabinets. They are recreated on a large
interactive screen, where I can actively "touch" the timeline,
explore each important milestone, and watch valuable documentary
footage. It is no longer a one-way information reception, but a
lively dialogue with history.
This experience suddenly brought back to me the memory of my
trip to Singapore in 2017. I was extremely amazed when I visited
the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum and saw that they
applied automatic explanation technology via QR codes, touch
screens to look up information or view artifacts in 3D. At that
time, I secretly wished that heritage destinations in Vietnam in
general and Ho Chi Minh City in particular would soon have such
advances.
And now, I realize that wish has come true. A sense of pride
creeps into me. The city's tourism and cultural industry has not
only learned but has gradually caught up with the world's
technological trends. They are using the language of the digital
age to breathe new life into the heritage, helping historical
values ??not to be forgotten but to become closer to the public,
especially the younger generation.
The impressive technological experiences I had at museums or on
the VisitHCMC tourism portal were not isolated, spontaneous
efforts. Behind them was a strategic vision, a decisive and
systematic direction of the city government. That was the policy
"lever", creating a solid launching pad for the entire tourism
industry to break through.
The core of this strategy is the project "Developing smart
tourism in Ho Chi Minh City for the period 2020-2025, with a
vision to 2030", approved by the Ho Chi Minh City People's
Committee in 2020.
More than just a guiding document, this project outlines a
detailed roadmap with a core goal: to build and form a
synchronous smart tourism ecosystem. This ecosystem will closely
connect 3 parties: state management agencies - businesses -
tourists, through common technology platforms.
Looking more closely, I realized that VisitHCMC is a tangible
product of the project, and those QR codes or touch screens are
the "extended arms", bringing official information directly to
visitors in an attractive way. They turn the quiet heritage
spaces into lively, soulful and storytelling spaces.
The project also mentions the development of a shared data
warehouse (Big Data). This is considered the "brain" of the
city's tourism industry, where information about the market,
tourists, tourism products, and service providers is gathered
and analyzed. This data helps management agencies make accurate
forecasts and decisions, and helps businesses better understand
the needs of tourists.
No matter how visionary a strategy is, it will only remain on
paper without dedicated people to implement it. What impressed
me most when learning about the digital transformation story of
city tourism is the formation of a dynamic "ecosystem" where
there is strong resonance between the government, businesses and
training schools.
Hot topics of the times such as "Application of AI to
personalize tourist experiences" or "Challenges and solutions
for tourism human resources in the digital age" are no longer
vague discussions. They have become real dialogues, where a
travel business can order a technology solution from an IT
company, and tourism students can listen to shape their career
path.
This close cooperation ensures that the digital transformation
of city tourism does not just stop at the surface, but really
goes into depth, firmly rooted from the technology platform to
the quality of human resources.
Returning home after a day of wandering around Ho Chi Minh City,
I was still filled with an indescribable joy. The familiar city
suddenly became new and attractive. That feeling of excitement
urged me to do something I had not thought of for a long time:
plan a further trip, to explore more fully the beauty of the
country.
Another surprise came. When browsing familiar e-commerce
platforms to shop, I came across a series of tours and resort
combos from reputable travel agencies being offered right there.
The "products" that were only available at travel agencies were
now neatly placed in the online shopping cart.
I suddenly realized that these were the first "sweet fruits" of
digital transformation. By putting products on online
"supermarkets", businesses not only reach a huge number of
customers, but can also optimize operations and listen to
customers better. The game has really changed.
A week later, I arrived at Tan Son Nhat Airport’s new, modern T3
terminal to begin my journey beyond Ho Chi Minh City. It was
here that I experienced another impressive touchpoint
technology: biometric security check-in. This revolutionary
convenience has contributed to the realization of the vision of
a smart, modern megacity.
Sitting on the plane, looking at the sparkling city lights
below, I understood that the digital transformation I was
witnessing was not a destination, but a journey without a
stopping point. From a click on a 360 map, through QR codes in
museums, to the biometric system at the airport, all have
demonstrated a far-sighted vision. Ho Chi Minh City still has a
lot of potential to go further, towards the goal of becoming a
leading smart tourism center in Asia, bringing increasingly
wonderful experiences to visitors and cultivating pride for
every citizen of the city.
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