Laos aims for quality tourism by 2020
The Lao National Tourism Administration (LNTA) yesterday launched its national tourism Human Resource Development (HRD) strategy in a bid to strengthen the tourism industry in Laos.
The strategy, titled “Achieving Service Quality Through People”, was launched in Vientiane at an event attended by tourism officials and overseas guests involved in the project.
Minister and LNTA Chairman Somphong Mongkhonvilay said at the opening of the launch he was convinced that by strengthening institutional cooperative frameworks and the technical capacity of Lao people, service quality in the tourism industry could be improved.
“This will have the end result of expanding opportunities for employment and profit making in this dynamic sector and establishing mechanisms for sustaining our fragile ecosystems, heritage and culture,” he said.
Charge d’Affaires of the Embassy of Luxembourg to Laos, Mr Marc Franck, said the launch of the human resource development strategy was the culmination of a year of extensive work in research, analysis, stakeholder consultation and the crafting and design of an appropriate vision and strategic recommendations.
“Today marks not the end of a journey, but rather the beginning. Now more than ever before in Laos’ brief tourism history, it is essential that all sector stakeholders band together to achieve a common vision for the future,” Mr Franck said.
That vision will make Lao tourism internationally competitive through improved service quality, he added.
Recognising the importance of tourism as one of the country’s major engines of economic growth and poverty alleviation, the government of the Grand D uchy of Luxembourg has committed itself to helping Laos strengthen human resources in the hospitality and tourism industry through the establishment of the Luxembourg Development project LAO/020.
In addition to commissioning the national HRD strategy, the project has recruited and mobilised 17 young teachers to Luxembourg and Singapore to undertake two years of professional studies in hospitality and tourism.
In 2010, the project will start construction of a National Tourism and Hospitality Training Centre as well as the development of national tourism related curricula and supporting teaching materials.
The two part publication detailing the strategy summarises the extensive fieldwork and research undertaken and sets out to map a vision for the hospitality and tourism industry during the period 2010 to 2020.
It is estimated that by 2020, Lao tourism will directly employ 40,000 people. This will require skills improvement of the existing 17,000 strong workforce and the development of another 23,000 new entrants into the tourism labour force.
Project LAO/020′s Chief Technical Advisor, Mr Peter Semone, said “The story of successful tourism destinations and enterprises is one that is largely about people – how they are recruited, how they are managed, trained, educated, valued and rewarded, and how they are supported through a process of continuous learning and career development.”
In addition to the launch, a number of provincial events will be organised in the coming months to ensure broad dissemination of strategy both nationally and throughout the Greater Mekong Sub-region.
By Vientiane Times Reporters
November 3, 2009
My 21 year-old son died in Laos in March of 2009, after nearly dying in July 2008 after incurring an infection on his leg which was improperly treated in your local hospital. He was a healthy young man who suffered a cardiac irregularity after taking drugs procured in your local pharmacy. The quality of medical care in your country is very, very poor making it a dangerous place for tourists, as accidents and youthful indiscretions can occur any time. It is reckless to promote tourism in your country before bringing your quality of health care up to acceptable standards. You are endangering people’s lives by encouraging people to visit your country at such peril. It is my hope that you might think of the parents of other young people who may unwittingly place themselves at risk of dying an untimely death should an accident befall them while in Laos.
Eleanor Griffin
For many years I was Head of the British Trade Office, which also managed British aid in Laos. During all this time, I requested the authorities to allow foreign doctors and medical practices to operate in Laos. Many Lao were in full agreement with me that one or two well equipped clinics with well-trained staff would greatlly improve the medical facilities in Laos, reduce mortality rates for all, provide a healthier working population to the economy and retain hard currency in Laos, rather than neighbouring Thailand, where many Lao and foreigners go even for comparatively simple medical matters. The Bangkok Nursing Home (a British-Thai hospital of quality in BKK), among other proven institutions of quality, was willing to establish such a centre — which would be initially supported by aid but would become commmercially viable — but the offer was refused because Lao law does not allow foreign doctors to operate in Laos. There are many excellent qualified foreign doctors — some Lao speakers — who would happily practice in Laos: they cannot. While there is good reason for restricting some activities to Lao (e.g. making guns, forestry) it seems suicidal to forbid foreign medical staff to work in Laos in a practising capacity. That they would also train Lao medical staff, initially their assistants, would lead to a situation that now exists in Thailand — where good facilities are found in most places. Why does the government not do something positive in improving medical facilities by allowing those foreigners willing to work here to do so?
Dr Robert Cooper
Thank you for your comment Dr. Copper. i cannot fathom the rationale for rejecting medical services from foreign healthcare providers. In my comment above, when I referenced my son’s initial encounter with the Laotian healthcare system, I neglected to say my husband and I were able to have the US consulate go to the facility to check on my son. The consulate arranged for my son to be airlifted to a hospital in Thailand where he was immediately placed on IV antibiotics for a cellulitis in his leg. In the facility in Laos, he was not receiving ANY medication, despite a leg that had swelled to twice its size. On the night of his death, the situation deteriorated so quickly, he was left in the hands of doctors who failed to save his young life. While I am sure they did the best they could with what they had, it wasn’t enough to save the life of a healthy 21 year-old. Shame on them for rejecting the assistance of foreign doctors who could potentially save lives.
When anyone visits Laos, I hope they will fully realize the elevated risks that comes with a visit to a third world country. I feel for your loss, however, your conclusions are not doing a favour to Lao people nor do they improve anything.
Personally, I almost exchanged the temporary for the eternal through an amoebae poisoning in Tunisia (North Africa). Do I blame the inadequate medical care over there? No, I fully accepted the risks that come with the territory. High fun in exotic countries is usually tied to possible high risks when something goes wrong. If you can’t handle it, then visit Disney world or similar like so many others. Stay over in Paris, go to London, but don’t visit exotic places.
Do you realize all people in Laos live under these conditions? Is an American life worth more than a Lao life?
Again, sorry for your loss. But unfortunately you generalized your pain to a level where it does not belong.
I do not value any life, American or Laotian, less worthy of another, and I find such an implication highly offensive. My thesis over the course of this discussion is that the Laos government should not be promoting tourism before they can ensure a level of some safety for those visiting- and that includes a hospital with a modicum of emergency services. Do I think every human being living there deserves the same and more- of course I do. YOU survived your near-death experience, my son did not. Perhaps someone close to you may have been making an entry similar to mine were that not the case. I do NOT find my statements to be a generalization of any sort. You are wedded to your own view and cannot see the forest for the trees.