Located on the banks of the Hau River, with the position of connecting hub of the Mekong Delta region, the tourism industry of Can Tho City in recent years has affirmed its brand and is attracting more and more tourists. Can Tho tourism with many potentials and advantages has been paid attention to by the city authorities, setting the goal of making tourism a leading economic sector.

Currently, there are about 700 accommodation facilities (over 130 accommodation facilities from 1 to 5 stars) with about 11,000 rooms, nearly 70 travel agencies, 40 areas, tourist and sightseeing spots in the city. The local tourism infrastructure is quite complete, with many high-standard hotel systems and a variety of accompanying services. In addition, Can Tho cuisine with many delicious dishes, and strong flavors, harmoniously combining traditional and modern styles. The distinctive tourism products of Can Tho are ecological river and water tourism and MICE tourism (a type of tourism combining conferences, seminars, exhibitions, event organization...).

A digital transformation workshop organized by the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Can Tho city. Photo of Truong An.

With the development of the tourism industry and a rich and diverse tourism ecosystem, tourism promotion and promotion activities of the city must also develop accordingly.

Currently, the city has developed many official information channels to disseminate images and characteristic products to local people and tourists. In addition, this is also a place of interaction between local people, tourists, and state management agencies on tourism to ensure objectivity, speed, and timeliness in tourism development work.

The Tourism Development Center of Can Tho City is a unit under the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism in charge of tourism promotion and development of tourism products in the city. In recent years, the Center has cooperated with VNPT Can Tho to put into operation the Tourism Information Portal (canthotourism.vn) and the Smart Tourism Mobile Application (Can Tho Tourism, available on the App Store and Google Play).

The interface of Can Tho City Smart Tourism Portal.

Interface of the Smart Travel Application on mobile devices.

With the Can Tho City smart tourism system, tourists can read tourism news, event information, and cuisine, chat with Chatbots, view 360-degree videos of 18 tourist sites in the city, search for information, and view images of tourist sites, restaurants, cafes, search tour guide information, and many other convenient features.

Since its operation, the Smart Tourism Portal has attracted over 6 million visits with over 4,000 visits per day. In addition, the Can Tho City Tourism Portal (tourismcantho.vn) has also attracted over 4 million visits and information searches.

Not escaping the trend of promotion, the Can Tho City Tourism Development Center is also managing and operating social networks such as Facebook, Zalo, Instagram, Youtube, and Tiktok with the same name: Can Tho Tourism - to approach and disseminate information and promote tourism to domestic and foreign tourists.

Besides organizing tourism promotion booths at events or organizing conferences to promote tourism outside the city, digital transformation is the most effective way to promote images, tourism features, and necessary information to domestic and international tourists.

In summary, digital transformation is bringing many opportunities for tourism development. However, it also poses many challenges for state tourism management agencies such as limited human resources for digital transformation, the need to take the initiative in management and operation, or the need to develop high-quality products and services to meet the increasingly high demands of tourists.

In the coming time, Can Tho City will continue to promote digital transformation in the field of tourism, strengthen linkages, cooperation with localities, businesses, and organizations to serve tourism promotion to attract tourists to Can Tho, set achievements to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Can Tho City's establishment directly under the Central Government (01/01/2004 - 01/01/2024).