Lao tourism gears up for AEC
Lao tourism gears up for AEC
Some 100 leading travel trade professionals from around the nation will next week discover “What Asean Integration Means to You” from a high-level line-up of local, regional, and global travel experts ahead the AEC integration in 2015.
The 15th anniversary of the popular and productive Lanith Symposia will spotlight presentations by Pacific Asia T ravel Association (PATA) Special Advisor John Koldowski and TripAdvisor Destination Marketing Senior Sales Manager Sarah Matthews in Luang Prabang on December 12.
According to a press release Mr Koldowski will discuss micro and macro tourism tendencies in the market during “AEC's Affects on Asean Tourism Trends”. He stressed, “The AEC offers enormous opportunities to not only increase tourism arrivals to specific destinations within Asean, such as Laos, but to consolidate the quality of tourists in the future.”
During “What Do We Know about Asean Tourism Markets?” Ms Matthews will focus on the need to pinpoint the popular tourism products to come up with a winning formula. “The AEC will require Laos to set priority activities, rank its products, and really explore the importance of sustainability.”
This milestone Lanith Symposium will also schedule several “firsts” to raise the event's impact. It will make its Luang Prabang debut, and welcome a countrywide delegation, rather than just focusing on Vientiane. The event has also been expanded to a full day and will offer real-time Lao translation.
To provide a more powerful platform, Lanith is introducing three interactive breakout sessions to encourage dialogue among government offices, tourism and hospitality enterprises, and business associations. A panel discussion featuring top tourism professionals will follow to unveil the workshops' findings. A question and answer period will round off the day.
Lanith Chief Technical Advisor Peter Semone stated, “The symposia's mission has always been to stimulate conversation and cooperation among public and private sector stakeholders. Its Vientiane success prompted Lanith to seek national appeal, especially for the pressing AEC implementation, and the country's premier destination, Luang Prabang, presents the perfect host.”
German Development Cooperation (GIZ) Project Team Leader Hartmut Janus added, “GIZ has long supported Lao tourism, and recognises the importance of Lanith Symposia. As such we are pleased to support this vital initiative to prepare Lao tourism for the AEC's 2015 launch.”
