Dong Nai prepares "ingredients" for digital culinary map

Dong Nai’s tourism sector is gathering the necessary "ingredients" to complete a digital culinary map aimed at promoting the province’s food culture in the online space.

The judging panel scores the dishes competing in the cooking contest at the Dong Nai Culinary Festival 2025.

To complete the "digital culinary" map of Dong Nai, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism has coordinated with solution providers, tourism businesses, restaurants, hotels, as well as chefs to collect and create delicious dishes from local ingredients to update information on the digital culinary map while also combining updates on landmarks, historical sites, destinations... to promote the development of Dong Nai tourism.

One touch, many destinations

Nowadays, the trend of researching information about destinations, delicious dishes, quality hotels... before embarking on a trip has almost become a habit for many tourists, especially young people. Therefore, to meet the needs of tourists and improve service quality as well as competitiveness for destinations, the provincial tourism industry is promoting digital transformation solutions to bring tourism online promptly.

Tran Thi Hong Hoa, a tourist from Ho Chi Minh City, shared that she recently learned about the Dong Nai Culinary Festival 2025 taking place at Buu Long Tourist Area through social media, with free admission for visitors. She and her friends used Google Maps to locate the venue and attend the event, eagerly awaiting the moment when chefs would set a record for Vietnam’s largest cashew sticky rice ball. After the festival, eager to try more of Dong Nai’s local specialties, Hoa continued searching online and visited well-known eateries such as 5 Ri Shrimp Hotpot and Thu Ha balut to enjoy the province’s cuisine.

The digital culinary map will help tourists easily access and search for dining places and specialty regions when coming to Dong Nai, contributing to the development of smart tourism services, enhancing tourist experience, and promoting the unique cultural and culinary features of the province in particular and Vietnamese cuisine to the world.

According to Hoa, information about Dong Nai’s cuisine and destinations remains quite limited, especially regarding local specialties. She hopes that when she has the chance to return, she will be able to discover more destinations and dishes in the locality on digital platforms before experiencing them in person.

According to the plan of the Dong Nai Provincial Chef Association, in 2025, the province's chefs will complete the digital map of Dong Nai cuisine. To make the digital culinary map attractive and diverse in dishes and destinations, chefs are coordinating with communes and wards to collect and create characteristic dishes to promote to tourists, contributing to the overall tourism and culinary development of Dong Nai. It is expected that the province's digital culinary map will include specialties from all localities, creating diversity in dishes to serve tourists.

An effective tool for culinary exploration

The Dong Nai digital culinary map serves as an effective tool for tourists to explore the province’s rich culinary heritage. It vividly displays a comprehensive network of restaurants, eateries, and signature local specialties, all easily searchable by keyword. Users can quickly locate nearby dining spots that suit their preferences, from casual eateries to full-service restaurants and renowned local dishes. In addition, the digital map provides detailed information, including addresses, phone numbers, opening hours, menus, vibrant illustrative images, and authentic reviews and ratings from the community, helping visitors make informed choices and enhancing their overall culinary experience.

Introducing the features related to the Dong Nai digital culinary map, Dang Van Nhien, Deputy Director of Viettel Dong Nai, said: Viettel Dong Nai is implementing the province's digital culinary map. For the tourism industry, digital transformation has special significance, to help promote destinations faster, wider, providing tourists with convenient, vivid, and attractive experiences, building trust for businesses and the community. Digital transformation is the key to helping Dong Nai tourism catch up with new trends, enhance competitiveness, and integrate strongly with tourism nationwide and globally.

Under the direction of provincial leaders, Viettel Dong Nai has researched and developed the Dong Nai Smart Tourism Information Portal. The portal is expected to serve both tourists and management agencies, offering standout features such as a comprehensive database covering tourist destinations, accommodations, cuisine, entertainment, and cultural activities. The digital culinary map integrates direct navigation, making it easy for visitors to explore local specialties. A 360-degree virtual experience allows users to tour scenic spots and historical sites directly within the digital space, bringing Dong Nai closer to travelers everywhere. This platform is set to become a foundation for transforming Dong Nai tourism into a friendly, modern, and attractive destination.

Member of the Provincial Party Committee, Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Le Thi Ngoc Loan, said: The industry is promoting digital transformation in the fields of culture, tourism, and cuisine to gradually form a common database for the industry throughout the province as well as nationwide. Therefore, the construction and completion of the digital culinary map is one of the tasks and "orders" that the department has requested the Dong Nai Provincial Chef Association to implement, adding it to the list of areas where the cultural sector has implemented digital transformation (heritage, tourist destinations, scenic spots, accommodation service systems...).

By: Ngoc Lien

Translated by: Mai Nga-Minho