1. 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

2. 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

3. 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.

4. 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

5. Vietnam Internet Connectivity map

6. 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;

7. 2. Current situation of Vietnam Tourism International Arrivals to Vietnam

8. 2. Current situation of Vietnam Tourism Domestic tourists

9. 2. Current situation of Vietnam Tourism Hospitality Industry
ROOMS

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

11. 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

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

13. 3. Vietnam Tourism promotion activities basing on ICT applications
At central level: Vietnam National Administration of Tourism:
Official websites created:
(in Vietnamese, English, French, Chinese and Japanese)
(in Vietnamese, English)
(tourist news on-line, Vietnamese)
(in English)

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

15. 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
495 having only their address without website
Among 281 Tour Operator (domestic and international):
224 having their own websites and contact with their customer by
300 having only their address

16. 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

17. 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

18. 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

19. Thank you for your attention!