(TITC) - On October 2, “Promoting rural tourism through digital transformation" forum was online organized under the co-chairmanship of Mr. Tran Thanh Nam - Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development and Mr. Doan Van Viet - Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
Mr. Tran Thanh Nam - Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development and Mr. Doan Van Viet - Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism cochaired the forum. Photo: TITC
Rural tourism plays an important role in the overall development of Vietnam tourism, in connecting cities and tourist centers, contributing to expand the tourism space and prolong length of stay.
The vietnamese rural areas possess rich natural and human resources, such as traditional culture, community identity, pure landscapes...
Rural tourism development is identified as one of the driving forces that creates jobs, raises people's incomes, and promotes rural economic restructure while preserving traditional cultural values and protecting the environment.
Effective rural tourism development will contribute to the realization of two important political goals: developing tourism into a spearhead economic sector and the national goal of building a sustainable new countryside.
Speaking at the forum, Mr. Nguyen Le Phuc – Vice Chairman of Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) affirmed that digital technology application is a solution to quickly connect agricultural and rural products to tourists.
He said that most of rural destinations and rural tourism products are small-scale, mainly exploited by households, cooperative groups. The level of accessibility and application of technology in rural areas are still low compared to other industries. So it needs the support from the state and experts.
Therefore, how to make connections and build applications so that farmers in rural and remote areas have the opportunity to easy access digital technology and tourism market.
It is necessary to integrate, share information, develop shared applications for rural tourism development on the basis of existing content from the tourism and agriculture industries, OCOP program.
Recently, VNAT has built digital platforms to support connecting businesses, tourists and consumers to search for products and services, and conduct e-commerce transactions (Vietnam Tourism Yellow Pages, Vietnam Products website...).
Building technology applications for rural tourism needs to be linked with Vietnam tourism master plan, the urban areas and tourist hubs, thereby, creating a tourism product network, attracting tourists, supporting the effective exploitation of rural tourism.
VNAT proposed Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to coordinate with Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and localities in implementing the national target program on building new rural areas, 2021-2025 period, continuing to pilot building model of Smart Tourism Villages.
Photo: TITC
Speaking at the forum, Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Doan Van Viet affirmed that the topic of promotion rural tourism through digital transformation has received much attention. The forum has received the sharing and positive concerns of localities, businesses as well as researchers. These are valuable experiences for the tourism industry.
The Deputy Minister emphasized important factors in develop rural tourism through digital transformation.
It is a very good way to promoting rural tourism through digital application. Due to the difference between rural and urban areas, it requires suitable digital transformation solutions. Technological products must maximum support to farmers in the most convenient, easy-to-understand and easy-to-do.
Both sides should encourage and support good practices, new tourism models, and new tourism trends. Localities should have recommendations to develop the indigenous rural tourism industry. Tourism businesses need to invest in digital transformation, capacity building, and connection to farmers in rural tourism development.
It also needs to develop green and safe tourist destinations in order to cautiously reopening tourism in the context of COVID-19 pandemic.
Speaking to summarize the forum, Deputy Minister Tran Thanh Nam affirmed that the agriculture sector will coordinate with tourism sector to promote rural tourism through digital transformation. Rural tourism is a trend, which needs to be exploited effectively and promote locality products.
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