Int. J. Entrepreneurship and Small Business, Vol. X, No. Y, xxxx 1 Copyright © 20XX Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. The impact of digital transformation on tourism sustainable development: a case of SMEs in Vietnam Nguyen Hoang Tien* WSB Merito University in Gdansk, 238A Grunwaldzka, 80-266, Gdansk, Poland and Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry and Trade, 140 Le Trong Tan, Tan Phu District, HCMC, Vietnam Email: vietnameu@gmail.com Email: nguyenhoangtiensaigon2019@gmail.com *Corresponding author Doan Van Trai and Nguyen Xuan Quyet Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry and Trade, 140 Le Trong Tan, Tan Phu District, HCMC, Vietnam Email: traidv@hufi.edu.vn Email: quyetnx@hufi.edu.vn Abstract: This article aims to provide solutions for sustainable development of Vietnam’s tourism today under the impact of digital transformation. This is a topic that many people are interested in but it has not been thoroughly researched. Based on statistical methods, synthesis, comparison and documents analysis from a number of journals related to tourism, the article has collected data to investigate and predict the impact of this trend on sustainable development of Vietnam’s tourism industry, mainly the SMEs sector. The results have shown that digital transformation is one of the urgent requirements of all socio-economic activities during the 4th industrial revolution. With poor capacity to finance technology solutions, digital transformation towards smart tourism proceeds quite slowly, impacting badly on tourism sustainable development. This study has made a number of recommendations to help government and tourism SMEs formulate right policies and strategies to push towards higher sustainability in the future. Keywords: digital transformation; digitisation; digitalisation; sustainability; sustainable tourism development; tourism resources; smart tourism; tourism ecosystem; social media; 4th industrial revolution; SMEs; Vietnam. Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Tien, N.H., Trai, D.V. and Quyet, N.X. (xxxx) ‘The impact of digital transformation on tourism sustainable development: a case of SMEs in Vietnam’, Int. J. Entrepreneurship and Small Business, Vol. X, No. Y, pp.xxx–xxx. Biographical notes: Nguyen Hoang Tien is a Professor of the WSB Merito University in Gdansk, Poland. His specialisation is in contemporary business and social and environmental issues. He has published over 500 papers worldwide.