Complete electronic ticket system

Still have shortcomings

Last December, the Hue Monuments Conservation Center put the e-ticket system into operation. At first, the system operated stably, however, when the Hue Monuments Complex welcomed a record number of visitors during the April 30 and May 1 holidays, the e-ticket system was overloaded, causing problems.

There were many visitors, buying tickets was difficult, many groups had to wait in line. At the control gate, scanning the QR code was also slow, taking a long time to wait, making tourists tired. Overloading caused the Imperial Citadel tourist attraction to be congested, many people did not have enough patience to wait.

Mr. Le Dinh Huy, Permanent Vice President of the Thua Thien Hue Tour Guide Association, said that the main problem is that the Hue Monuments Conservation Center lacks ticket sales locations. During the peak time of welcoming record visitors, the Imperial City only has 2 ticket counters, which is almost impossible to meet the demand, leading to overload.

Furthermore, the wireless network system is also unstable, making ticket purchasing, payment, printing invoices, and scanning QR codes very slow. Not to mention, the current ticket is quite thin, and when it rains or is hot and sunny, sweating and holding it can damage the ticket and make it impossible to scan the code. "We have proposed that the Hue Monuments Conservation Center increase ticket counters and separate ticket sales channels for travel agencies, tour guides, and individual customers to reduce the load," said Mr. Huy.

For tour guides, the switch to e-tickets has caused them some difficulties. Under the old system, if a customer bought a ticket and did not go, they could save it for the next group or return it, but under the new system, the ticket would be canceled within 2 days if not used. A tour guide said: “There are guests who, upon arriving at Ngo Mon Gate, changed their minds and did not go in and asked for a refund. Meanwhile, e-tickets that have been issued cannot be returned and are only valid for 2 days. But how can tour guides have tours to the relics every day to use the tickets? If they are lucky enough to have someone buy them back, they can only sell them for 1/2 or 1/3 of the price, otherwise they are considered a waste.”

Regarding this issue, Mr. Huy said that this is also a difficulty for tour guides when applying electronic tickets: "There are groups of guests who are very upset, asking for a refund even though they have already purchased the tickets. Or maybe the guests do not ask, but the tour leader reports to the company that bought the tour and they want their money back."

Mr. Huy suggested: “If the Hue Monuments Conservation Center could do the same as Vingroup or Sungroup, it would be very convenient for tour guides. They also sell electronic tickets but have a separate ticket issuance portal for travel agencies. Any unit that signs a contract will open an account and issue tickets on this account. If any customer does not go, the ticket price will be reserved in the system and deducted from the next bookings.”

The tour guide also reflected that when using magnetic cards, each guest has a ticket, which is very convenient, and anyone can enter at any time. Since implementing the new system, the entire group of guests has been integrated into one ticket, which is convenient for scanning the code once, but difficult to control when traveling in groups of 20-30 guests. Moreover, after scanning the code for the group that entered first, the tour guide has to wait for the group that has not entered yet, which is very inconvenient. If getting tickets for each person, it takes a long time because the network system is slow.

System synchronization

According to the Hue Monuments Conservation Center, the use of magnetic cards in the past still had many shortcomings. The management of daily ticket revenue was still manual, the reliability depended on the ticket seller, and many problems were likely to occur. Therefore, the center deployed electronic tickets to better manage and overcome the shortcomings in management. Through electronic ticket sales, management was public, transparent, accessible, and graspable at any time, minimizing negative aspects.

For the first time, this system welcomed a large number of visitors and encountered problems during the peak period of April 30 and May 1. The network was congested and slow, forcing visitors to wait in line. Furthermore, tickets to visit special relics with policies for the elderly, children, local people, etc., so when there are many visitors, the slow processing leads to congestion at certain times.

Mr. Le Cong Son, Deputy Director of the Hue Monuments Conservation Center said: “It must be admitted that at that time, the center did not have a proper scenario when welcoming a large number of visitors. We have learned from experience. After a somewhat confusing first day, the next day the center had a solution to increase ticket sales, quickly handle visitors' entry by many different methods, if the code scan failed, they would stamp the confirmation.”

The above situation occurred because the machinery system was not synchronized, the fiber optic technology infrastructure could not meet the requirements. Mr. Son said: “In the first phase of implementation, the machinery system and control gates were invested step by step, some were upgraded and reused, so the technology was not synchronized. The network connection was weak, so errors and delays occurred. The online payment system was combined with Vietcombank by the center, but the payment gateway of this bank was not interbank, so it took a lot of customers' time. After that, the center had an immediate solution, if the ticket money was transferred on the phone, it was accepted for customers to visit.”

To overcome the above situation, the first thing the Hue Monuments Conservation Center will do is to upgrade the technology infrastructure synchronously. Currently, the center has established a project to invest in a synchronous fiber optic wifi system for the entire relic site. This is the foundation for creating a strong enough information technology infrastructure and stable transmission lines. At the same time, continue to invest more, synchronize the system of equipment and machinery, replace old equipment that is reused but ineffective. During peak times, the Hue Monuments Conservation Center will proactively develop plans to increase human resources, deploy more new ticket sales points to spread out the number of customers. To facilitate customers to pay online, reduce the burden of buying tickets directly, the center will link with the VNPAY payment gateway to complete the online payment gateway.

The peak summer tourism season is coming, and it is expected that there will be a lot of visitors. Travel agencies expressed their hope that the Hue Monuments Conservation Center will soon upgrade the electronic ticket system to better serve tourists. "The center has researched all solutions and worked with relevant units to implement the next steps to complete the electronic ticket system," Mr. Son emphasized.

Source