Only 64 per cent of tourism companies in Vietnam are taking advantage of the Internet to market their tourism activities and trademarks, revealing a startling lack of the application of information and communication technology solutions in the local tourism, according to a survey conducted by USAID-funded Vietnam Competitiveness Initiative VNCI.
Vietnam currently has over 400 international and 10,000 domestic travel firms, more than 6,000 hotels, (2,575 of which are ranked), totaling more than 72,458 rooms, as many as 5,194 tour guides, including 2,149 speaking English. However, some 79.5 per cent businesses in the field and 71.8 per cent of hotels have Internet connection. Among them, some 37 per cent use Internet as a substitute for the telephones.
The survey, which was carried out with the participation of 225 tourism operators showed that among the more than 90 per cent of businesses, which said they often use computers, printers, fax machines, and telephones, LAN networks, and have an average number of 14 computers, five printers, and two fax machines, less than 25 per cent of them utilize management software.
Robert Webster, the VNCI project director, said the industry has high foreign currency earnings, high potential, high employment and private participation. But, it also has a low level of awareness of how ICT can help businesses achieve greater success, coupled with a limited understanding of solutions available to enterprises.
Although investment in ICT is within the companies budgets, it is not a high priority, Robert Webster added.
Firms were unaware of the benefits of linking software packages together so that communication is automated and extends beyond the local area, Information sharing within a business, such as between reception, bar, and accounting office, was not commonplace, despite enterprise-wide solutions being readily offered by foreign companies.
The situation has identified a low rate of the provision of such services and limited efforts to increase online business.
Currently, online hotel bookings registered at less than 5 per cent of all bookings, as 55 per cent of surveyed firms have staff to field bookings via websites or emails. Just 16 per cent conduct online financial transactions.
Businesses should pay much more attention to the application of ICT as it is a very useful and cheap means of tourism development, a VCCI official said.
International Affairs
Vietnamese
