Global online travel agencies (OTAs) currently hold up to 80% of Vietnam’s online travel market share, said Nguyen Van Tuan, head of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT).

Tuan gave the information at Online Tourism Forum 2018 held by Vietnam E-Commerce Association (VECOM) and VNAT in Hanoi on March 29.     

Rapidly-developing technology has had an impact on many sectors, including tourism. Over the past two years, personal and group experience travel booked using smartphones to search information has been on the rise, replacing travel agents. Visitors often book flights tickets or rooms through OTAs.

At the meeting, Tuan cited VECOM’s information as saying that OTAs such as Agoda.com, booking.com, Traveloka.com and Expedia.com account for up to 80% of Vietnam’s online travel market share.

Most foreign visitors who come to Vietnam and domestic holidaymakers use foreign OTAs. Meanwhile, Vietnamese firms supply online travel service, including vivu.com, chudu24.com, mytour.vn, tripi.vn, gotadi.com and vntrip.vn mainly serve the local market but see low numbers of transactions.

Vu The Binh, vice chairman of Vietnam Tourism Association, said that many tourism companies in Vietnam still face technological and financial difficulties, which has affected their development. The association has nearly 4,000 members nationwide, but just a small number among those specialising in tourism technology development.

“We’ll soon set up a club to discuss online travel issues. This is expected to help boost the co-operation among members in this area,” Binh noted.

Dtinews/Nguoi Lao Dong