“Love Vietnam” encourages tourists to travel more and experience more

To better understand this project, we had an interview with Mr. Nguyen Huy, General Director of Phygital Labs - the technology unit implementing the project "Love Vietnam" with Nhan Dan Newspaper.

Reporter: Can you share the reason why Phygital Labs cooperated with Nhan Dan Newspaper to implement the project "Love Vietnam"?

Mr. Nguyen Huy : I think that the development of science and technology is opening up new directions for the tourism industry. Technology combined with tourism creates new values, helping tourists explore the world more conveniently.

Moreover, nowadays, tourism trends have changed a lot towards multi-interactive experiences. Especially for foreign tourists and the young generation, they do not just follow simple tours, but when arriving at a location, they always want to integrate with the destination and have their travel experiences personalized.

That is why, around November 2024, Phygital Labs is honored to cooperate with Nhan Dan Newspaper to carry out a project to connect tourists in the digital world called "Love Vietnam".

Mr. Nguyen Huy, General Director of Phygital Labs.

The project will be implemented from December 2024. By installing NFC chip panels at famous landmarks in each province and city, the project aims to promote historical and cultural landmarks across the country, creating unique discovery experiences for visitors, responding to and adapting to the development of society in the current digital age.

During the project implementation, we also encountered many difficulties in obtaining construction permits. Because the locations of NFC stations are all cultural and historical relics, including national relics and special national relics. However, with the support of localities and the great determination of project participants, after more than 4 months of implementation, the project has installed nearly 200 NFC chip panels at famous landmarks in 60 provinces and cities across the country. Currently, 3 provinces of Binh Phuoc, Can Tho, and Ba Ria-Vung Tau have just been granted construction permits. Therefore, in the coming time, we will continue to implement the project in these provinces.

Reporter: Sir, how is the application of technology in the project "Love Vietnam" implemented?

Mr. Nguyen Huy: Phygital Labs is a technology company, so we want to apply technology in many different fields to promote the digital economy. One of the fields we are interested in is culture and tourism. Therefore, in cooperation with Nhan Dan Newspaper, we had the idea of ​​implementing the project "Love Vietnam" to build the first interactive map of tourism and culture in Vietnam.

Tourists access destination information on an NFC chip board at the Quang Ninh Museum. (Photo: VU KHOI)

Based on a system of multi-interactive check-in stations installed in 63 provinces and cities across Vietnam, the project will create unique discovery experiences for visitors, supporting and promoting local tourism.

With just one touch of an NFC-connected phone, visitors can open up a digital space with many integrated features. From checking in with the support of AI guides to explore information, location history, leaving wishes and comments to building a personalized tour itinerary, receiving a certificate of completion and redeeming gifts.

When building this project, we hope that each NFC chip board at the landmarks will be a tour guide, a friendly host, able to provide a lot of information, integrating wireless connection technology (NFC), artificial intelligence (AI), Blockchain technology, thereby serving tourists in all countries around the world. This is not just fixed information, but through AI, the application will learn about the people interacting, chatting, and giving personal opinions.

In addition, we built the website www.yeulamvietnam.vn with a modern, easy-to-interact interface in Vietnamese and English, so that visitors can easily access official information about the location.

Additionally, online maps will help visitors look up prominent cultural destinations, track their journeys, and connect more deeply with each land.

Reporter: With just one touch of the NFC-connected phone, can users be assured of the security of personal information when checking in, sir?

Mr. Nguyen Huy: This is the first project we have implemented that has been linked with the National Data Center to put data into the platform. Therefore, this entire project complies with the law on personal data. When users check-in, their information will be kept strictly confidential, without revealing any data.

After more than 4 months of implementation, there have been tens of thousands of successful check-ins and photo sharing of tourists at NFC chip-mounted panels across the country.

When interacting, the tourist’s phone only receives the check-in number and notification that they have arrived at the destination. If the tourist wants to leave wishes, love, messages or interact with AI, they must log in to the system. The wishes and comments of the tourists must also go through a censorship process to ensure full content and compliance with customs.

To limit inappropriate comments, Nhan Dan Newspaper has coordinated with localities - where there are heritage sites and tourist attractions - to censor content before comments are displayed on the system.

Reporter: Currently, the project has been deployed in 60/63 provinces and cities. So at the locations where NFC chip panels are installed, how do visitors respond after interacting and experiencing them?

Mr. Nguyen Huy: Basically, tourists find it convenient, because this is a fairly new experience. Previously, tourists often looked for information about destinations on flyers, not knowing what was around the destination. Now, with just a smartphone connected to the Internet, "touching" the board with an NFC chip, tourists will receive useful information about landmarks, monuments or destinations.

Each chip-embedded board will provide a story, image, video or model of the relic site where the chip-embedded board is installed. In addition, the project also provides a navigation lookup feature, information search to explore tourist destinations at the current location and neighboring areas, thereby encouraging visitors to travel more and experience more.

The special thing is that the NFC chip board only needs to be scanned without installing software or downloading any applications, so it is suitable for all tourists, even those who are not tech-savvy can easily experience it.

According to our records, tens of thousands of visitors have come to check in and share photos at the NFC chip installation locations. This shows the strong influence of the project on travel lovers across the country.

Reporter: Sir, how will this project continue to be implemented in the coming time?

Mr. Nguyen Huy: This is just the beginning of the “Love Vietnam” Project. In the coming time, we will continue to deploy more NFC chip boards. It is expected that about 600-700 NFC chip boards will be installed nationwide.

Along with that, we will integrate more real-time tourism data analysis features to support destination management and optimize interactions. In addition to the benefits for tourists, the system also opens up the possibility of developing local services, commerce and cultural data, thereby contributing to promoting sustainable tourism and digital economy.

For the project to be highly effective, we really hope to have the cooperation of many businesses, organizations, and localities to have more destinations equipped with NFC chips. Thereby, we aim to spread the love of the country, promote historical and cultural sites, and tourist destinations to domestic and international visitors.

Reporter: Thank you!

Source: https://nhandan.vn/yeu-lam-viet-nam-khuyen-khich-du-khach-di-nhieu-hon-trai-nghiem-nhieu-hon-post873463.html