Building a digital ecosystem to support the community-based tourism value chain: a case study of Moc Chau, Vietnam

Abstract

This study evaluates the role of air transportation in generating primary tourist flows to Moc Chau, a community-based tourism destination without a directly connected airport. Through field surveys and the analysis of data obtained from the Vietnam National Authority of Tourism, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV), the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) during the 2020–2024 period, the interrelationship between transit air transportation and the ground transportation system was clarified. The findings indicate several operational bottlenecks within the community-based tourism value chain, including the lack of data connectivity among transportation subsystems, the fragmentation between homestay services and ground transportation providers, and institutional gaps in intersectoral coordination. Accordingly, the study proposes an integrated transport–tourism ecosystem model based on interregional open-data integration, comprising three core components: an open-data center, standardized interregional APIs, and a regional coordinating organization. The proposed model may contribute to a 20–25% increase in ground transportation efficiency, a 15–18% reduction in inbound operational costs, and an increase in homestay occupancy capacity to 75–80%