Tourism needs to improve services, overseas marketing
Tourism needs to improve services, overseas marketing
Tourist services need improvement while Laos' popular tourism sites are still not promoted enough in overseas markets, according to a young researcher.
Masters Degree graduate from the Faculty of Social Science, Industry Management and Tourism section of the National University of Laos, Mr Phetphithoun Oupara recently shared his research on the challenges facing the tourism industry in Laos during his graduation ceremony.
Mr Phetphithoun explained that it was difficult for Lao tourism to compete against other Asean countries, so concerned authorities needed to improve tourist services which were still far short of other nations.
His research showed there still weren't enough historic, cultural and natural sites nor was sufficient marketing being done to highlight Laos' tourist attractions on overseas websites and popular television channels.
For example, neighbouring countries are well funded to advertise spots on CNN, the world's most watched television channel.
Thanks to these countries' deep financial pockets, millions of tourists travel to their destinations each year.
He agreed that concerned authorities should work to encourage the tourism sector to improve services on offer, which would help generate positive feedback from visitors.
However, it was a positive sign that the tourism department is working with Asean websites to add information on Laos' attractions to promote the nation to tourists from the region.
Next year will see Laos join the Asean Economic Community, when competition for visitors will be even stronger among member nations, so Mr Phetphithoun hoped that local people could be trained on how to service visitors in their communities while building various activities to attract visitors.
These initiatives would be impo rtant to improve the Lao tourism industry and help it compete against Asean nations.
According to the Tourism Marketing Department, Laos was attracting growing numbers of tourists from Chinese and Korea lured by the country's rich blend of nature, culture, traditions and the Lao people's lifestyle along with drawcard destinations such as Vientiane, Vangvieng, Luang Prabang and Pakxe.
Vientiane still is the most popular destination in Laos with an estimated 1.9 million visitors in 2014 and 1.7 million in 2013.
If the department improves tourist servic es further and increases cooperative tourism marketing with neighbouring countries, it can achieve its national goal of 4.2 million for this year.
