Hanoi (VNA) - The national tourism data platform Visit Vietnam has been introduced and is scheduled for full operation in the second quarter of 2026, marking a pivotal step into the digital era of Vietnam’s tourism.
On December 20 in Phu Quoc special zone, Visit Vietnam was officially unveiled at the conference “Visit Vietnam – Connecting Data, Shaping the Future of Tourism”, co-organized by the National Data Association (NDA), the Vietnam National Authority of Tourism (VNAT), Sun Group – Asia’s leading tourism developer – and Visa, the world’s leading digital payments technology company.
This marks the first time Vietnam has introduced a national-level data platform dedicated to tourism, an important milestone in the country’s digital transformation, especially as the tourism sector celebrates 20 million international visitors in 2025.
At the event, Sun Group showcased the first development version of Visit Vietnam, demonstrating how the platform collects, processes, and visualizes real-time tourism data. According to the rollout plan, the platform will be fully operational by Q2/2026.
Colonel Ha Nam Trung, Deputy Director of the National Data Centre, emphasised: “We are laying the first building blocks for a national data ecosystem, where every ministry, business and locality can participate and benefit. With initiatives like Visit Vietnam backed by the determination of government, enterprises, experts and the public, the tourism sector will be one of the first to see tangible outcomes from digital transformation.”
Visit Vietnam is endorsed by the Government, with the Vietnam National Authority of Tourism (VNAT) and the National Data Association (NDA) serving as coordinating partners. The platform is developed and operated by Sun Group, while Visa contributes international payment data, spending behavior insights and global security standards, enabling the platform to approach the benchmark of smart-tourism nations.
A trusted national tourism data infrastructure
Visit Vietnam is designed as a unified data backbone for government authorities, businesses and travelers. At its core is a real-time national tourism map that allows authorities to monitor visitor density, manage demand flows and identify operational risks early.
Parallel to this, the platform serves as a centralised digital marketplace where travel agencies and service providers can present products, update information and reach travelers through an official national channel while actively contributing to and benefiting from the sector’s shared data ecosystem. Businesses are supported with smart management tools that allow them to update offerings, track demand by segment, and understand market needs with far greater accuracy.
A key advantage of Visit Vietnam comes from Sun Group’s extensive network of destinations across the country, a rich source of operational data covering tourism, leisure and hospitality. Once standardized and integrated into Visit Vietnam, this ecosystem forms a “living data model” that strengthens the platform’s forecasting capabilities for the entire industry.
Advanced market analytics for businesses
At the deeper data layer, Visit Vietnam develops advanced market-insight reports combining real-time operational data with Visa’s international payment datasets. This enables tourism businesses to identify high-value markets, spending trends, seasonality patterns, and behavioural shifts — supporting product optimisation and more effective marketing strategies. For the first time, Vietnamese tourism enterprises have access to a standardized, continuously updated analytical tool to drive growth based on data instead of intuition.
AI Travel Assistant – a smart digital companion
Beyond data infrastructure, Visit Vietnam also functions as an AI-powered travel assistant accompanying travellers throughout their journey. Using national-level data and smart recommendation algorithms, the assistant allows visitors to build personalised itineraries, book services, manage their trip in one interface, access real-time destination updates, and receive crowding, weather or operational alerts, all within a single unified platform.
When the data powering the platform is accurate (built on the national data infrastructure), comprehensive (enhanced by payment and behavioral insights from strategic partners such as Visa), clean (standardised, validated and quality-checked), and live (continuously updated in real time), travelers are supported to enjoy an ideal, seamlessly planned journey in Vietnam.
Alongside Visa, NCB (National Citizen Bank) plays a strategic role in enhancing payment experiences on Visit Vietnam. At the conference, NCB CEO Ta Kieu Hung presented the bank’s digital payment solutions under the vision “Shifting from transactions to experiences: turning payments into a national competitive advantage in tourism.” Among these, iziPay, developed in partnership with NDA and Visa, will be integrated into Visit Vietnam, enabling visitors to book and pay for services instantly within the platform.
During the conference, Sun Group and Visa signed a strategic partnership agreement, affirming a long-term commitment to combine Visa’s global technology and analytics capabilities with Sun Group’s nationwide tourism ecosystem jointly integrating into the Visit Vietnam platform. The partnership aims to accelerate digital transformation, enhance the travel experience and strengthen Vietnam’s competitiveness and sustainable tourism growth.
Pham Van Thuy, Deputy Director of VNAT, stated: “Visit Vietnam is not simply a booking tool, it represents a shift in development mindset. It is how we prepare for the future of tourism, a future built on data, technology and AI. With data as the foundation, Vietnam’s tourism sector will be better positioned to attract high-value markets and move closer to its ambition of becoming a leading destination in the region.”/.
