Tourism companies and hotels must put their products and services online as digital marketing has emerged as an irreversible trend.

Customers learn about Gotadi.com, an online travel agency, at the Online Tourism Day in HCMC last week 

Online shopping is increasingly popular among Internet-savvy Vietnamese consumers. A report on e-commerce in 2016 by the Ministry of Industry and Trade shows that business to consumer (B2C) online transactions amounted to US$5 billion, up 20% against the previous year and accounting for 30% of total transaction revenues.

The report said 45% of Internet users book hotel rooms and air tickets online, an increase of 11%, said Lai Viet Anh, deputy director of the ministry’s Vietnam E-commerce and Information Technology Agency.

At the Online Tourism Day in HCMC last week, Anh said Vietnam would represent 10% of the US$90 billion online tourism market in Southeast Asia by 2020.

Pham Thanh Cong, senior manager of retail vertical at Nielsen Vietnam, said online service providers would be successful if they offer high-quality products at reasonable prices.

Travel companies said online customer numbers have picked up steadily over the years. Major firms offer full online payment services, which allow consumers to directly buy goods and services over the Internet.

Nguyen Duy Vi, marketing director of the online tourism services firm (tugo.com.vn), said 100% of his company’s customers book services online and 30% of them pay online.

Revenues from online bookings at hotels are on the rise. Take Boss Legend hotel in Hanoi for example, 80-90% of its revenue comes from online travel agencies (OTA) in peak season and the ratio is down to 50-60% in summer season.

Online Tourism Day was jointly organized by the Vietnam E-commerce Association (VECOM), the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism and the Vietnam E-commerce and Information Technology Agency.

SGT