The tourism industry now takes the lead in digital transformation in Cao Bang province. According to Ms. To Thi Trang, Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Cao Bang province, digital transformation is an inevitable and very important trend for the development of tourism in general and Cao Bang tourism in particular. Digital transformation makes interaction between state agencies, businesses and tourists easier, while increasing the effectiveness of tourism promotion.

In the period of 2020 - 2023, the total number of tourists to Cao Bang was estimated at over 4 million. The province earned a total revenue from sightseeing tickets, tourist accommodation, and travel businesses reached over 2,400 billion VND and a total social income of about 5,300 billion VND in this period. The number of tourists to Cao Bang hit over 1.1 million in 2022 and about 1.9 million in 2023.

One of the factors contributing to the growth of the local tourism industry is digital transformation.

Up to now, the "picture" of digital transformation of tourism in Cao Bang province has many positive "highlights".

Typically, in April 2023, the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced the launch of Caobangtourism.vn smart tourism portal and CaoBang Tourism app on smartphones with utilities such as 360o virtual tourism, room booking, looking up information on restaurant locations, hotels, tourist attractions, etc., helping visitors save time and money.

“Currently, the Smart Tourism Portal of Cao Bang province has provided virtual tourism and virtual explanations for 7 key tourist areas/destinations, including 3 special national relics (Bac Po relic area, Tran Hung Dao forest relic, 1950 Border Victory Relic Site in Thach An District), and 4 national relics (Ban Gioc Waterfall Tourist Area, Muong Ngao Cave, Mountain God's Eye and Mr. Kim Dong's grave site). In addition to Vietnamese, the Cao Bang Smart Travel Portal has Chinese and English versions, with a simple design, easy to access, and easy to look up on computers and smartphones. So far, the Smart Travel Portal has had about 3 million visits," Ms. Trang said.

The CaoBang Tourism app is designed based on various tourism fields, with many symbols imbued with Cao Bang's cultural identity, urging tourists to visit and experience. The app currently includes nearly 200 accommodation locations. All tourist attractions as well as restaurants, motels, and food stalls introduced in the app were carefully researched to ensure standards.

"Many tourists said that the CaoBang Tourism application is very convenient for them as well as travel agencies in visiting tourist areas/destinations in Cao Bang province," Ms. Trang said.

Overcome difficulties to increase efficiency of tourism digital conversion

Regarding the results of implementing digital transformation activities in the tourism sector in Cao Bang province in 2023, the Digital Transformation Steering Board under the Cao Bang Provincial People's Committee reported that Cao Bang province had actively and effectively implemented tourism digital transformation activities under the direction and guidance of the Government, the Prime Minister, the National Digital Transformation Committee, the Ministry of Information and Communications, and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. The initial results are remarkable and are the basis for implementing tasks in the future.

However, tourism digital transformation activities in Cao Bang still have many difficulties and obstacles. Specifically, human resources for digital transformation, especially high-quality human resources for tourism digital transformation, are insufficient and do not meet the requirements for performing assigned tasks. The province also lacks of infrastructure and funding to implement tourism digital transformation projects and tasks. The digitized tourism data is still limited.

To improve the efficiency of digital transformation in Cao Bang’s tourism industry in the coming time, the provincial Digital Transformation Steering Board proposed that the Ministry of Information and Communications prioritize the use of the Public-Utility Telecommunications Fund to support telecommunications businesses in Cao Bang province to invest in telecommunications infrastructure to provide broadband mobile coverage in 2024 and 2025 for 169 villages and hamlets that do not have mobile signals to promote the development of digital society in general and tourism development in particular.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism needs to review, edit and supplement tourism development plans and strategies in accordance with the mission requirements of digital transformation; Develop a number of basic digital platforms for the tourism industry from central to grassroots levels to serve state management, communication and tourism promotion on digital platforms... for localities to apply.

Binh Minh