HCMC digitalises heritage

Ho Chi Minh City will digitalise its cultural and historical relics and museums to provide international visitors, with easy access to information about the city’s highlights online.
Under an IT application programme for the city’s culture and tourism sector that is part of its Vision 2020, the city plans to use advanced technology such as 3D, RFID and GIS to build a digital information system of museums to highlight tangible and intangible cultural heritage from now until 2015 when the project is supposed to be completed.
The plan is in addition to a new database for archaeological planning and an information management system on a library of books that are related to heritage sites that are now tourist attractions.
According to the city’s Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, over 4.1 million international tourists visited the city in 2013, representing an increase of 8.1%. Total revenue from tourism reached US$3.9 billion, an increase of 17% over the same period last year, contributing up to 11% of the city’s GDP.
The city expects to welcome 4.4 million foreign tourists in 2014, with a revenue of US$4.4 billion.

Sourced: ttrweekly