Foreign tourists visit a historical site in Ha Giang province (Source: VNA) Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Tran Minh Nguyet, 22, abackpacker from HCM City who experienced her first trip to Hanoi early last month, said her smartphone was the one thing she could notlive without during her three-day trip to the capital city.
It helped her search for restaurants and hotels, book ticketsand get information from applications about must-see destinations in the1000-year-old capital.
Nguyet is one of the countless tourists using applicationsand smartphones for their travelling purposes around the country and the world.
Developing smart tourism is believed to be an inevitabletrend not only to serve demand but also to catch up with the rest of the world,the Ha Noi Moi (New Hanoi) newspaper reported.
To catch up with this trend, some destinations in Hanoi havebuilt their own applications or applied technology to serve the demands oftourists.
For example, Van Mieu – Quoc Tu Giam Scientific and CulturalActivities Centre is a pioneer in providing audio guides for tourists inVietnamese, English, French, Korean, Japanese, Thai and Chinese.
A tourist has to buy a ticket to use the service; it costs 30,000VND (1.3 USD) in Vietnamese and 50,000 VND (2 USD) in a foreign language.
Meanwhile, the Conservation Centre of Thang Long - Hanoilaunched a mobile application called Hoang Thanh Thang Long in January to givetourists free guides to the Thang Long Imperial Citadel. People can open PlayStore or App Store on their smartphones and search for “Hoang Thanh Thang Long”to download the application. The free application is presented in Vietnamese,English and Japanese. French and Chinese will be added soon.
The administration of Hoan Kiem district has awebsite, http://hoankiem360.vn/, to provide tourists information aboutwhere to go, what to eat and where to stay in the district. The website ispresented in both Vietnamese and English.
However, not all places in Hanoi have been able to launch amobile application or run a website to better serve tourists.
Nguyen Thi Thuy, of Co Loa Historical Site Management Boardin Dong Anh district, said she struggled with how to attract more tourists tothe site.
The management board had yet to run a mobile application or amodern website to lure tourists, she said.
The Vietnam National Museum of Fine Arts faces a similarsituation.
Nguyen Thu Thuy, head of Science and Service Company, saidwhen she was invited to consult at the Vietnam National Museum of Fine Arts,the first thing she wanted them do was add an automatic audio guide.
She said this could help the museum lure more tourists. Atpresent, it welcomes fewer people than expected.
According to Thuy, tour guides were often afraid to taketourists to the museum because the guides did not know much about art.
It was necessary to introduce an automatic audio guide systemsoon, she said.
Vice President of the Vietnam Tourism Association Vu The Binhsaid smart tourism would help people access information as quickly as possible.
To fully integrate smart tourism, the city must have adequatetechnical infrastructure, he said.
The city’s Tourism Department has cooperated with theInformation and Communication Department to install 36 free Wi-Fi hotspotsaround Hoan Kiem Lake and in nearby areas.
The administration had also introduced a plan to turn thecity into a smart city in the near future, Binh said.
A representative of the tourism department said it had workedwith relevant agencies to boost the speed of developing smart tourism.
Binh said building smart tourism is one goal of the city’starget programme of applying information technology in State agencies for 2016to 2020.
To achieve the target, he said the city would need aconsensus of the local people.
In a letter sent to Ha Noi Moi (New Hanoi)newspaper, reader Duc Tu said developing smart tourism was not an easy process.It required a shift in both awareness and action.
Developing smart tourism not only depended on applyingtechnology but also on the quality of service, he said.
He added that it demanded the consensus of theadministration, relevant agencies and local people.-VNS/VNA
It helped her search for restaurants and hotels, book ticketsand get information from applications about must-see destinations in the1000-year-old capital.
Nguyet is one of the countless tourists using applicationsand smartphones for their travelling purposes around the country and the world.
Developing smart tourism is believed to be an inevitabletrend not only to serve demand but also to catch up with the rest of the world,the Ha Noi Moi (New Hanoi) newspaper reported.
To catch up with this trend, some destinations in Hanoi havebuilt their own applications or applied technology to serve the demands oftourists.
For example, Van Mieu – Quoc Tu Giam Scientific and CulturalActivities Centre is a pioneer in providing audio guides for tourists inVietnamese, English, French, Korean, Japanese, Thai and Chinese.
A tourist has to buy a ticket to use the service; it costs 30,000VND (1.3 USD) in Vietnamese and 50,000 VND (2 USD) in a foreign language.
Meanwhile, the Conservation Centre of Thang Long - Hanoilaunched a mobile application called Hoang Thanh Thang Long in January to givetourists free guides to the Thang Long Imperial Citadel. People can open PlayStore or App Store on their smartphones and search for “Hoang Thanh Thang Long”to download the application. The free application is presented in Vietnamese,English and Japanese. French and Chinese will be added soon.
The administration of Hoan Kiem district has awebsite, http://hoankiem360.vn/, to provide tourists information aboutwhere to go, what to eat and where to stay in the district. The website ispresented in both Vietnamese and English.
However, not all places in Hanoi have been able to launch amobile application or run a website to better serve tourists.
Nguyen Thi Thuy, of Co Loa Historical Site Management Boardin Dong Anh district, said she struggled with how to attract more tourists tothe site.
The management board had yet to run a mobile application or amodern website to lure tourists, she said.
The Vietnam National Museum of Fine Arts faces a similarsituation.
Nguyen Thu Thuy, head of Science and Service Company, saidwhen she was invited to consult at the Vietnam National Museum of Fine Arts,the first thing she wanted them do was add an automatic audio guide.
She said this could help the museum lure more tourists. Atpresent, it welcomes fewer people than expected.
According to Thuy, tour guides were often afraid to taketourists to the museum because the guides did not know much about art.
It was necessary to introduce an automatic audio guide systemsoon, she said.
Vice President of the Vietnam Tourism Association Vu The Binhsaid smart tourism would help people access information as quickly as possible.
To fully integrate smart tourism, the city must have adequatetechnical infrastructure, he said.
The city’s Tourism Department has cooperated with theInformation and Communication Department to install 36 free Wi-Fi hotspotsaround Hoan Kiem Lake and in nearby areas.
The administration had also introduced a plan to turn thecity into a smart city in the near future, Binh said.
A representative of the tourism department said it had workedwith relevant agencies to boost the speed of developing smart tourism.
Binh said building smart tourism is one goal of the city’starget programme of applying information technology in State agencies for 2016to 2020.
To achieve the target, he said the city would need aconsensus of the local people.
In a letter sent to Ha Noi Moi (New Hanoi)newspaper, reader Duc Tu said developing smart tourism was not an easy process.It required a shift in both awareness and action.
Developing smart tourism not only depended on applyingtechnology but also on the quality of service, he said.
He added that it demanded the consensus of theadministration, relevant agencies and local people.-VNS/VNA
VNA
