ICT and Vietnam Tourism promotion activities Paper to be presented At Expert Meeting on ICT and Tourism for development Geneva, 30 Nov. – 2 Dec. 2005 By LE Tuan Anh Director Tourism Information Technology Center Vietnam National Administration of Tourism

Table of content Current situation of Vietnam ITC Current situation of Vietnam Tourism Vietnam Tourism promotion activities basing on ICT applications Good opportunities and challenges for ICT and Tourism development in Vietnam Conclusion

1. Current situation of ITC Vietnam’s ICT was booming since 1995, after the approval of National Plan of action on IT toward the year 2000. From Nov. 1997, Vietnam has officially been integrated to the Internet.

1. Current situation of ITC Some figures: Total international bandwidth: 2,997 Mbps Internet users: 8.1 million Internet user rate: 9.84% 06 IXPs 16 ISPs 15 OSPs

Vietnam Internet Connectivity map

2. Current situation of Vietnam Tourism High and constant Annual development rate: 13%; Tourism revenue increased: $ 2 millions in 2004; Volume of tourist increased; Tourism quality improved;

2. Current situation of Vietnam Tourism International Arrivals to Vietnam

2. Current situation of Vietnam Tourism Domestic tourists

2. Current situation of Vietnam Tourism Hospitality Industry ROOMS

2. Current situation of Vietnam Tourism Travel Industry 300 Licensed inbound & outbound tour-operators Over 700 domestic tour operators Over 10.000 vehicles, cruise boats... ð Totally over 3000 enterprises in the tourism industry Visit of Their Majesties the King & Queen of Sweden to Vietnam in February, 2004

3. Vietnam Tourism promotion activities basing on ICT applications At central level: Vietnam National Administration of Tourism At local level: Provincial administration of Tourism At enterprise level: Tour Operators, Hotels

3. Vietnam Tourism promotion activities basing on ICT applications At central level: Vietnam National Administration of Tourism: Creating Official websites since 1997: www.vietnamtourism.com Developing CD-ROMs titles, promoting different destinations in Vietnam E-commerce has just applied on Hotel online reservation system: www.myhotelvietnam.com

3. Vietnam Tourism promotion activities basing on ICT applications At central level: Vietnam National Administration of Tourism: Official websites created: www.vietnamtourism.com (in Vietnamese, English, French, Chinese and Japanese) www.vietnamtourism.gov.vn (in Vietnamese, English) www.dulichvn.org.vn (tourist news on-line, Vietnamese) www.vietnamtourism-info.com (in English)

3. Vietnam Tourism promotion activities basing on ICT applications At local level: Provincial Administration of Tourism: Having their own tourist website (e.g.): www.halong.com www.nhatrang-travel.com www.huefestival.com Sharing the website with provincial department of commerce

3. Vietnam Tourism promotion activities basing on ICT applications At enterprise level: Among 1511 Resort and hotels: 293 having their own websites and contact with their customer by email 495 having only their email address without website Among 281 Tour Operator (domestic and international): 224 having their own websites and contact with their customer by email 300 having only their email address

4. Good opportunities and challenges for ICT and Tourism development in Vietnam Good opportunity: Strong commitment of Government: Legal system on ICT and Tourism improved and completed: Ordinance on Post and Telecommunications approved; Law on Tourism approved Huge Budget to be allocated for two important fields of the economy Development Strategy on ICT and Tourism toward 2010 have been adopted

4. Good opportunities and challenges for ICT and Tourism development in Vietnam DMO and DMS has not yet setup uniformly nation-wide Certain local administration of tourism or tourist company manager do not pay enough attention on ICT applications Lack of technical knowledge or of potential tourist demand

5. Conclusion ICT role is much more critical for Tourism development, especially on promotion activities. Awareness of ICT and Tourism role is expanding, creating favorable conditions for tourism development. Government commitments and international cooperation constitute essential elements for the successful applications of ITC in tourism field

Thank you for your attention!