Digital Transformation of the Tourism Industry
To accelerate digital transformation across the tourism sector, the Tourism Administration organized the 2024 Digital Transformation Expo for the Tourism Industry, the Fun Tech Jam, and the Tourism Open Data Hackathon. Harnessing the combined strengths of industry, government, and academia, these initiatives continued to steer the sector toward the twin goals of "Sustainability and Resilience × Digital Innovation."
2024 Digital Transformation Expo for the Tourism Industry
Held on December 3–4, 2024, the Expo featured a Thematic Forum, Digital Matchmaking for Industry Transformation, and a Smart Tech Experience Zone, steering the tourism industry toward “Sustainable Resilience × Digital Innovation.” The show floor offered an AI-powered, immersive mixed-reality journey around Taiwan to showcase the appeal of cross-sector convergence between tourism and technology. The Thematic Forum brought together leaders from industry, government, and academia to discuss policies for sector-wide digitalization and build consensus for tourism development. The Smart Tech Experience Zone presented applications such as AI amenity vending machines, self check-in systems, food delivery robots, and AI multilingual guide systems that enhance guest services. The Digital Matchmaking and Transformation program addressed diverse industry needs, enabling operators to explore tourism tech products, receive guidance on transforming operations, and track emerging trends. The event drew 41 participating companies, with 65 technology applications and nearly 70 innovative solutions on display and 5,603 visits over two days.
Fun Tech Jam
Under a "solving tourism challenges with tech innovation" model, this event identified three major pain points in the tourism digital transformation process through stakeholder interviews. Technology providers were invited to propose targeted solutions, such as a carbon-footprint calculation and management platform to help tour operators run and market sustainable travel, and a property management system (PMS) based real-time guest status reporting module for hotels in quake-prone areas to support emergency decision-making and strengthen disaster response.
Tourism Open Data Hackathon
Launched in 2024, the inaugural Tourism Open Data Hackathon was a campus competition inviting teams from universities across Taiwan to use the Tourism Administration's open datasets with AI, big data, location-based services (LBS), and computer vision to pitch innovations spanning smart travel, low-carbon sustainability, and new digital services—from travel health to cruise shore excursions. Forty-six teams registered, with 18 advancing to the finals, demonstrating strengths in digital innovation and practical application and injecting fresh momentum into the tourism sector.
