Tourism sector needs skilled staff for AEC integration
Tourism sector needs skilled staff for AEC integration
The tourism sector in Laos has enjoyed rapid growth in recent years but the country still lacks the human resources and skilled personnel to staff the increasing number of hospitality and tourism businesses.
The number of tourists visiting Laos has constantly increased and is helping to generate a lot of revenue for the Lao economy, Deputy Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism, Mr Chaleune Warinthrasak said.
Mr Chaleune was speaking at a nationwide meeting for ‘training of trainers’ and assessors of Asean tourism professionals in Vientiane yesterday.
The number of tourist arrivals to Laos in 2010 was about 2.5 million, increasing to 3.3 million in 2012 and 3.7 million last year, he reported.
To ensure sustainable tourism development, the government, especially the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism, has paid attention to invest in human development, Mr Chaleune said.
He was confident that this training course, which will run from September 15 to October 3, will help to develop the skills of tourism sector staff in order to meet with the Asean service standards and Asean Economic Community (AEC) integration next year.
Among the participants were teachers from the National University of Laos, different education institutes, business representatives from Vientiane and technical staff from the tourism sector.
Through the course, participants will increase their understanding about Lao travel and tourism and what remains to be done to integrate with the AEC and Asean tourism service standards as well as examine some lessons learnt in tourism throughout the region.
Among the measures to be implemented are uniform service standards and procedures among the 10 countries of Asean.
Laos still suffers from a limited number of highly skilled tourism professionals to staff high end resorts and retreats compared to other Asean countries, Mr Chaleuan commented.
The country has a variety of natural, cultural and historic tourist attractions but the lack of quality human resources and personnel puts the country at a comparative disadvantage compared to other Asean nations.
However AEC integration will provide opportunities for Laos to benefit from increasing numbers of tourists and an incentive to further boost tourist development.
Various different sectors in Laos are focusing on AEC preparedness, including the tourism sector, which needs to further improve if it is to reap the benefits of increasing integration and inter-regional travel.
vientiane times
