Lanith Vientiane breaks ground for new Centre of Excellence
Lanith Vientiane breaks ground for new Centre of Excellence
Lao National Ins titute of Tourism and Hospitality (Lanith) has agreed to invest 750,000 euros (about 7.6 billion kip) to build its new ‘Centre of Excellence' in Vientiane to meet the growing human resource needs of the vibrant Lao tourism trade .
Funded by the Luxembourg Develo pment Cooperation, the construction of new facility is set to commence next month and should be finished by 2015. Once complete, it will become the centre to serve as the national model for hospitality and tourism education and training in the country.
The groundbreaking ceremony for Lanith's ‘Centre of Excellence' took place yesterday in Vientiane, attended by Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Mr Somchit Inthamith, Deputy Minister of Education and Sports Mr Lytou Bouapao and the Luxembourg Embassy in Hanoi, Vietnam Charge d'Affaires Mr Claude Jentgen.
Ireland Ambassador in Hanoi of Vietnam Mr Damien Cole, French Ambassador to Laos Mr Yves Carmona, Lanith Chief Technical Advisor Mr Peter Semone, government officials and other invited guests were also present at the ceremony.The new facility will comprise a two-storey building on the 1,750 square metre site on Fa Ngum Road in downtown Vientiane.
The complex features a restaurant d' application similar to Lanith Luang Prabang's “The Balcony”, and holds six modern classrooms; a fully equipped training kitchen; a housekeeping lab; a tour operator/front office lab and staff offices.
S peaking at the ceremony, the ministry's Director General of the Technical Vocational Education Training Department Mr Nouphanh Outsa said the Lanith Vientiane's Centre of Excellence will stand at the forefront of Laos' efforts to educate and train the nation's tourism and hospitality students and workforce.
“Lanith has been instrumental in the development of human capital in the Lao travel sector, which is a top contributor to the nation's GDP,” he pointed out. “Lanith aims to tap Lao tourism's true potential by advancing service quality to meet with international standards. The new Lanith Vientiane complex will expand their capacity to achieve this,” Mr Nouphanh stressed.
Mr Jentgen congratulated Lanith on its many achievements and highlighted the institute's success record, saying “Lanith is quickly but steadily growing with its dynamic approach to national human capital for the tourism and hospitality sector, securing it global accolades.”
“Lanith Vientiane's two-year Lanith Diploma educational programme currently stands at nearly 100 percent capacity with close to 60 fulltime students. The new Centre of Excellence will expand our capacity to 200 students,” the Lanith Director Ms Saysavath Chasane said.
She added that the complex will offer Lanith's award-winning Passport to Success skills training modules during the weekends and over school holiday breaks.
Lanith has partnered with SwissContact to offer a district-level mobile training programme in the Four Thousand Islands. This pilot project, Pheun Than Heng A Sip , delivers tailored training to guesthouse operators and community-based tourism enterprises.
Lanith is also partnering with GIZ's RELATED project to offer executive training programmes in preparation for the Asean Economic Community .
vientiane times
