Innovating tourism promotion activities

With the goal of improving the effectiveness of tourism promotion and contributing to the economic growth of Dong Nai City, the city's Investment, Trade and Tourism Promotion Center is implementing a range of solutions to modernize its operations, with a particular focus on digital transformation in tourism.

Speaking to reporters from Dong Nai Newspaper and Radio, Television, Tran Thi Thu Trang, Deputy Director in charge of the city's Investment, Trade and Tourism Promotion Center, said that innovating tourism promotion activities in a professional and modern manner, coupled with destination branding and the application of digital technologies, is an inevitable trend. It is also an important solution to improve promotional effectiveness, expand access to tourists and enhance the competitiveness of local tourism.

Tran Thi Thu Trang, Deputy Director in charge of the city's Investment, Trade and Tourism Promotion Center.

• How has Dong Nai's tourism sector carried out tourism promotion activities in recent years?

The Resolution of the 1st Dong Nai provincial (now municipal) Party Congress, for the 2025-2030 term identified services and tourism as one of five key priorities for the next five years. Specifically, the city aims to develop the services secto, with Long Thanh International Airport’s integrated service urban area as its core, encompassing a free trade center and an ecosystem of aviation services, logistics, commerce and tourism.

In recent years, Dong Nai has stepped up tourism promotion and marketing activities to gradually enhance the image and appeal of local destinations. These activities have taken various forms, including participation in domestic tourism fairs, conferences and events; organizing programs to promote and introduce the city's tourism potential and products; and strengthening cooperation and tourism development linkages with other localities in the region.

These activities have helped promote Dong Nai as a destination and gradually attract more visitors to explore and experience tourism sites and attractions across the city.

Delegates engage in a virtual reality tourism experience developed and presented by the Dong Nai Investment, Trade and Tourism Promotion Center at the 2025 Hanoi Autumn Festival.

• The city's Investment, Trade and Tourism Promotion Center is placing greater emphasis on digital transformation in tourism promotion and marketing. Could you elaborate further on this approach?

As the tourism industry enters a new phase of development amid increasingly intense competition among destinations, modernizing tourism promotion activities in tandem with destination branding and digital transformation has become an inevitable trend. This approach is aimed at enhancing the competitiveness and appeal of destinations.

The center is implementing a comprehensive range of solutions to build Dong Nai's tourism brand and apply digital technologies to promotion and marketing, contributing to the development of a smart tourism ecosystem for the city. The 2026-2030 period is considered crucial for Dong Nai to accelerate the transformation of its tourism promotion model toward greater professionalism, modernity and reliance on digital platforms. Through these efforts, the city aims to gradually establish itself as an attractive destination for ecotourism, experiential travel and leisure in the Southeast region.

Effective implementation of these orientations and solutions will not only help enhance Dong Nai's tourism image and brand on Vietnam's tourism map, but also create momentum for local socioeconomic development and make a positive contribution to the broader development of Vietnam's tourism sector in the new era.

In recent times, the city's Investment, Trade and Tourism Promotion Center has used virtual reality technology to promote several destinations in Dong Nai, including Cat Tien National Park, Tri An Lake, Buu Long Tourist Area, Nhon Trach Tunnels, Tran Bien Temple of Literature and Dong Nai Museum. These virtual reality experiences have been introduced at events in the city and across the country, attracting large numbers of delegates and visitors and receiving positive feedback.

• What breakthrough solutions will the city's Investment, Trade and Tourism Promotion Center implement to modernize tourism promotion in conjunction with digital transformation?

— For Dong Nai, tourism promotion is being innovated in a modern and professional manner, increasingly leveraging digital technologies to improve promotional effectiveness, expand markets and enhance visitor experience.

During the 2026-2030 period, the center will focus on several breakthrough groups of solutions. These include developing a smart tourism platform with components such as a smart tourism information portal, a digital tourism map, a destination database, a mobile application to support visitors, and a system for feedback and evaluation of tourism services. Through this platform, visitors will be able to easily access information about attractions, accommodation establishments, restaurants, tourism products and ongoing cultural and tourism events across the city. The smart tourism platform will also support management agencies in monitoring visitor flows, managing destinations and improving the effectiveness of tourism promotion activities.

In addition, the center will step up the development of tourism communications channels on social media platforms, online video services and international digital media channels. At the same time, it will apply emerging technologies such as virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) to develop digital experiential products, allowing visitors to explore the city's prominent destinations virtually before making their trips. This represents a modern approach to tourism marketing that can enhance the attractiveness of Dong Nai's destinations in the digital environment.

By Ngoc Lien, Xuan Trang - Translated by Mai Nga, Thu Ha