SoulViet is developed with the vision of becoming an experiential tourism ecosystem, where technology not only serves to find destinations but also helps tourists connect more deeply with local people, culture, and life.
Connecting technology with local culture.
According to team leader Nguyen Truong Nhat Minh, SoulViet was born from a desire to contribute to solving the reality that many traditional Vietnamese craft villages are still not effectively connected with modern tourism. Much of the current information from these villages remains fragmented, lacking personalization, and difficult to access, while tourists are increasingly seeking authentic experiences and cultural depth.
The team spent approximately four months researching user behavior, operating models, and deployment feasibility before building the project.
From there, the team built the AI-integrated Trip Planner platform – a tool that supports the design of personalized travel itineraries based on weather, budget, preferences, and user emotions. Instead of just suggesting popular destinations, the system guides users towards experiences connected to local culture such as craft villages, handicraft workshops, local homestays, or community activities.
One of the highlights of the project is the Local Soul Map – an “emotional map” developed by the team to categorize destinations based on experiences such as healing, discovery , creativity, or connection with the local community. Through this, lesser-known cultural spaces have the opportunity to become more accessible to tourists.
Local Soul Hub serves as a repository of local culture, where artisans, locals, and businesses directly share stories of their crafts, production processes, and regional cultural life.
At the same time, the platform's marketplace allows direct connection between tourists and OCOP products, craft village workshops, and community tourism services.
In addition to technology, the project team also built SoulCircle – a space for sharing experiences between tourists and locals. Users can upload content, leave reviews, and earn SoulCoin points to encourage the spread of Vietnamese cultural values in the digital environment.
Supporting sustainable economic development
Beyond focusing on personalized travel experiences, SoulViet also aims to support local economic development through a tourism model that integrates with the local community and culture. The project seeks to create direct economic value for artisans and local people through hands-on experiences. When culture generates income, the community will have more motivation to preserve and develop traditional values.
In its initial phase, the project focuses on developing data in the Central Vietnam heritage cluster, including Da Nang, Hoi An, and Hue – areas rich in traditional crafts, cultural heritage, and a large number of tourists. According to the development roadmap, SoulViet plans to launch its first pilot version in Da Nang within 6-12 months, then expand to the Central Vietnam region and target the international market in the next phase.
The biggest difference between SoulViet and other projects is that it doesn't approach tourism as a transactional platform, but rather as an emotional journey and cultural connection. Content on the platform isn't created for traditional advertising or OTA (Online Travel Agency) purposes, but is contributed directly by artisans, homestays, and locals.
“SoulViet is an effort to combine technology with local culture to develop culturally-based tourism in a modern and sustainable way. Above all, we want to contribute to telling the story of Vietnamese culture through the language of technology, bringing traditional values closer to the younger generation and international tourists,” shared team leader Nhat Minh.
The competition's judges expect SoulViet to continue to develop, be launched commercially, and truly become a bridge between young people and Vietnamese culture.
Source: https://baodanang.vn/khoi-nghiep-tu-ban-sac-viet-3336906.html
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