The smart tourism project is one of the important components of the Can Tho City Development Program into a Smart City in the period of 2016-2025, invested and implemented by the city. This project is very significant for the development of sustainable tourism, contributing to the formation of an intelligent urban ecosystem. Through the implementation of the project, it will help strengthen interaction, share information and data, create a close link between state management agencies, businesses, and tourists. Furthermore, the digitization of tourism databases and the creation of software and applications could develop tourism by actively supporting the planning and promotion as well as the connection between tourism services and products.

This is why, in September 2019, the Tourism Portal was created at https://canthotourism.vn and the smart travel application on mobile device called “Can Tho Tourism”. Specifically, the system allows visitors to learn about tourist information by location, such as accommodation, cuisine, tourist attractions, shopping, entertainment, excursions, events, and so on. In addition, the application of modern artificial intelligence technologies, 3D tours, virtual reality (VR) also helps visitors to plan timetables, quickly book accommodation, locate destinations and navigate intelligently through interactive maps.

The implementation of the Can Tho intelligent tourism system not only enables the timely grasp of the tendency to use information technology and tourist psychology in the age of digital technologies; but also to ensure security, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Consequently, the smart tourism portal has the function of connecting managers, residents, visitors, and businesses. This digital portal is an official information site that promotes information and research on Can Tho tourism by providing visitors with complete and accurate information. Through this channel, detailed information about Can Tho tourism is provided regarding location, quality, prices, ratings ... of different sites, services, accommodations, cuisine, shops, attractions, and entertainment. At the same time, the system is able to receive visitors' opinions, conduct online surveys so that managers can capture situations and refine ongoing activities based on the data received. Currently, the Can Tho Smart Tourism Portal is searchable and deployed at two addresses: https://canthotourism.vn and https://mycantho.vn.

Likewise, the smart travel app on mobile devices has also been deployed in Can Tho, running on both Android and iOS operating systems. The application with features similar to the tourist portal allows visitors to search for information, route, mapping, and opinions on information, quality of service, tourism products, destination ... The number of downloads of this application has reached nearly 4000. Mr. Nguyen Hoang On, Director of the Tourism Development Center of Can Tho, said: “With the electronic portal http://tourismcantho.vn born in 2017, the creation of the website https://canthotourism.vn and the application “Can Tho Tourism” represents a good concrete start in applying technology in tourism, contributing to the promotion of the images and the development of tourism of Can Tho”.

As of March 2021, the portal https://canthotourism.vn had over 14.5 million visits in total and had links to 55 other electronic portals in major tourist areas. Without forgetting that the pages of social networks like “Cần Thơ - Ðô thị miền sông nước” (Can Tho - city of the river region), “Du lịch TP Cần Thơ” (Tourism of Can Tho) are also digital channels for effective promotion.