HÀ NỘI — The application of digital technology and artificial intelligence (AI) is creating new ways to manage destinations, reach markets and provide tourism services, with visitor experiences placed at the centre of the digital transformation process, said insiders.

Bùi Thanh Tú, Marketing Director of Bestprice Travel, said treating data as an asset and applying AI to specific business needs have produced concrete results in the company’s travel operations.

Bestprice Travel operates two platforms for domestic and international markets. Its internal system records users’ behaviour on its websites, including time spent on pages, banner scrolling and product clicks. AI analyses the data to build customer profiles and identify travel preferences by market.

For example, Australian holiday-makers tend to prefer nature and island tourism products for groups of four to eight people, while British tourists spend more time on in-depth travel experiences. Tourists from Singapore and some other Asian markets pay greater attention to prices, attentive service, and beautiful scenery for photography.

Based on these findings, Bestprice Travel adjusts landing pages and advertising headlines for individual markets. The approach has helped increase click-through rates by 50 per cent and tour-product conversion rates by about 60-70 per cent.

The combination of customer relationship management (CRM) and customer data platforms (CDP) with AI has also enabled the company to focus its communications more on experiences than prices. Tú said the changes have halved the cost of acquiring an interactive message, while automation of content and image production has reduced the size of the relevant workforce by 60 per cent.

In customer care, AI handles initial requests such as hotel searches, itinerary suggestions and tour selection. When customers move to the order-closing stage, their data is transferred to the CRM system for sales staff to take over, reducing initial consultation workloads by about 40 per cent.

Tú stressed that AI should be adapted to each business’s specific characteristics and needs rather than adopted through a one-size-fits-all approach. Businesses should identify their own challenges and develop technological solutions suited to them.

Nguyễn Thanh Huy, Director of the Vietnam Artificial Intelligence JSC, said his company provides six groups of solutions, including 24/7 virtual assistants, navigation robots, multilingual self-positioning interpretation systems, real-time AI speech translation applications, virtual assistants for tour guides, and automated ticketing kiosks.

AI-equipped airport kiosks can receive questions in 50 languages and suggest itineraries tailored to visitors’ needs. Navigation robots can help visitors find information and directions in buildings and attractions while creating new forms of interaction at destinations.

Besides providing support, robots can also interact with visitors at destinations, helping create new experiences, particularly for children, Huy added.

According to the Travel Trends 2026 report by Amadeus and Globetrender, 18 per cent of travellers now use AI to plan trips, while 36 per cent use it to discover new destinations.

The Vietnam National Authority of Tourism said technology is becoming a driver of new growth for the tourism sector. This is consistent with Resolution No. 57-NQ/TW of the Political Bureau, which identifies science and technology development, innovation and digital transformation as key breakthroughs and major drivers of socio-economic development. — VNA/VNS