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A Case Study: Enhancing Laos' Tourism Sector
Performance Through Destination Human
Resource Development
a
Peter Semone
a
Assumption University, Bangkok, Thailand
Available online: 29 Sep 2011
To cite this article: Peter Semone (2011): A Case Study: Enhancing Laos' Tourism Sector Performance
Through Destination Human Resource Development, Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research,
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2. Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, iFirst article, 2011
A Case Study: Enhancing Laos’ Tourism Sector
Performance Through Destination Human Resource
Development
Downloaded by [Mr Peter Semone] at 19:03 29 September 2011
Peter Semone∗
Assumption University, Bangkok, Thailand
Tourism in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Laos) is a relatively new phenomenon
that commenced in earnest in the late 1990s. A decade later, the country’s tourism port-
folio is dominated by regional visitors originating from neighbouring China, Thailand
and Vietnam who generally tend to come in large numbers, are relatively low spenders
and register short average length of stays. In order to reap the fiscal benefits of tourism
and sustain the nation’s fragile cultural and ecological makeup, the Government of
Laos is being challenged to establish ways to shift the balance of its tourism demand to
more profitable and lower impact market segments. A human resource development strat-
egy published by the Lao National Tourism Administration in collaboration with Luxem-
bourg Development Cooperation suggests that a sustained investment in people will
improve tourism sector service quality, which in turn will result in increased industry prof-
itability. This paper explores the existing human resource environment in Laos’ tourism
sector and outlines the required actions by various stakeholders to achieve improved
sector performance and stewardship of the country’s fragile culture and environment.
Key words: hospitality, tourism, Laos, destination human resource development, service
quality, increased revenues
Introduction tourism industry (Baum, 1994). Despite this,
HRD is often relegated behind infrastructure,
There is evidence to suggest that national, marketing, transportation and other tourism
regional and municipal destination manage- development priorities (Baum, Amoah and
ment plans should include human resource Spivack, 1997). While tourism has gained in
development (HRD) as an integral part of pro- the social and economic sphere of national
ducing a healthy, prosperous and sustainable development agendas, sufficient attention is
∗
Email: semone2010@gmail.com
ISSN 1094-1665 print/ISSN 1741-6507 online/11/020001– 13 # 2011 Asia Pacific Tourism Association
DOI: 10.1080/10941665.2011.617049

3. 2 Peter Semone
rarely accorded to enhancing local capacity to fourteenth century under King Fangum. For
take advantage of the opportunities that 300 years Lan Xang had influence reaching
tourism can create (Liu and Wall, 2006). Esi- to present-day Cambodia and Thailand, as
chaikul and Baum (1998, p. 369) explain: well as over all of what is now Laos. After
“Tackling human resource issues is widely gradual decline, Laos came under the domina-
recognized as critical to the success of inter- tion of Siam (Thailand) from the late eight-
national tourism but this, in practice, is fre- eenth century until the late nineteenth
quently served more by lip-service than action”. century when it became part of French Indo-
While micro-level HRD issues faced by china. The Franco-Siamese Treaty of 1907
tourism companies and organizations, such defined the current Lao border with Thailand.
as hotels, travel agencies and airlines, are In 1975, the Communist Pathet Lao took
fairly well understood and manageable at the control of the government ending a six-
Downloaded by [Mr Peter Semone] at 19:03 29 September 2011
individual business unit level, macro-level per- century-old monarchy and instituting a strict
spectives of HRD and its impact on good socialist regime closely aligned to Vietnam. A
overall destination management generally gradual, limited return to private enterprise
remain an enigma (Baum and Szivas, 2008). and the liberalisation of foreign investment
Macro-level HRD issues affect overall laws began in 1988. Laos became a member
service quality of a destination as delivered of ASEAN in 1997 (CIA, 2011).
by the myriad of service providers along the With a per capita gross domestic product of
tourism supply chain and include: dialogue US$2,400, Laos is ranked among the poorest
and partnership between public and private countries in the world with an estimated
sectors, the provision of quality education 26% of its 6.4 million population living
and training curricula and programmes, below the poverty line. Of the 3.65 million-
service quality measures, public awareness strong labour force, 80% are occupied in agri-
campaigns, career paths and employment con- culture and 20% engaged in industry and ser-
ditions, accreditation and certification, and vices. Ranked globally 147th, Laos earns some
tourism sector labour market research (Baum US$1.2 billion from exports (CIA, 2011).
and Szivas, 2008).
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the
current destination-level tourism-sector operat- Lao Tourism Performance Analysis
ing environment in Laos and to identify key
constraints, which may potentially be remedied In recent years Laos has decidedly embraced
through improved HRD at the destination tourism as a priority sector for economic and
management level. International best practices social development (LNTA, 2006). As recorded
are also explored leading to recommendations in Table 1, in 2010 some 2.5 million overseas
of respective actions, roles and responsibilities visitors came to Laos generating export earnings
of various tourism sector stakeholders. of just under $400 million, which accounts for
approximately one quarter of the country’s
About the Lao People’s Democratic export earnings and makes tourism the second
Republic (Laos) largest export generator after minerals (LNTA,
2011).
Modern-day Laos has its roots in the ancient In servicing these visitors, tourism in Laos
Lao kingdom of Lan Xang, established in the employs a core workforce of some 17,000

4. A Case Study: Enhancing Laos’ Tourism Sector Performance 3
Table 1 International Tourism Arrivals/Receipts (in USD)
Year 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2015 (∗ ) 2020 (∗ )
Tourist Arrivals (rounded/ millions) 1.1 1.2 1.6 1.7 2.0 2.5 3.5 4.1
Tourism Receipts (USD Millions) 147 173 233 276 268 382 494 620
(∗ ) Forecasts (LNTA, 2011)
people with a further indirect employment effect days and low per diem spending patterns
of up to 167,000 people or 5% of the workforce which are on average less than US$30 a day
Downloaded by [Mr Peter Semone] at 19:03 29 September 2011
(ADB, 2005). Tourism is expected to continue (LNTA, 2011). The remaining 15.7% of arri-
to play an important role in Laos’ economic vals, which is defined as all markets other
and social growth and prosperity, especially in than regional visitors, stay an average of
terms of job creation. The growing demand seven days and spend US$75 per day and in
for community-based tourism products is 2010 produced 55.4% of Laos’ tourism-
helping to create jobs in rural areas that comp- related revenues (LNTA, 2011). In comparing
lement employment in the agricultural sector. 2009 and 2010 figures, this trend seems to be
In the near future, tourism’s contributions will accelerating as revealed in Table 2.
likely increase as efforts are made to reduce The predominance of low yield regional
the proportion of the workforce engaged in agri- visitors can potentially tilt Laos’ tourism car-
culture, forestry and fisheries and increase rying capacity scale in an unsustainable
the%age of the national workforce engaged in angle, which may eventually destroy the deli-
service sectors (LNTA, 2006). cate balance between economic, environ-
The outlook for Lao tourism is positive and mental and social factors encompassed in
the industry is currently working towards tourism (LNTA, 2009).
meeting a number of challenging demand-side It would be unfortunate if Laos could not
targets that will see overseas visitor numbers enjoy the long term economic and social devel-
reach nearly 3.5 million in 2015 and as many opment benefits associated with tourism.
as 4.1 million by 2020 (LNTA, 2011). Especially when it is widely recognised that
In addition to growing tourism arrival the benefits of tourism can generate scarce
numbers, Laos is challenged with increasing foreign exchange, create jobs for semi-skilled
tourism revenues by escalating high-end and unskilled labor, develop the arts, encou-
tourism demand from short, medium and rage handicraft and export industries, and sub-
long haul markets (LNTA, 2009). Regional sidize the development of transportation
demand, which is defined as visitors originat- infrastructure (Baum and Szivas, 2008).
ing from Cambodia, China, Myanmar, Thai-
land and Vietnam, produced 84.3% of Laos’ Stakeholder Roles in Destination Human
visitor arrivals in 2010, but only 44.6% of Resource Development
tourism-related revenues (LNTA, 2011). This
is due in large part to their relatively short The leading public sector institution for
length of stay which is typically less than two tourism in Laos is the LNTA, which is

5. 4 Peter Semone
Table 2 Regional vs. Other Market Earnings Comparison (in USD)
2009 2010
Arrivals % Revenue % Arrivals % Revenue %
Total 2,008,363 100.0 267,700,224 100.0 2,513,028 100.0 381,669,031 100.0
International 299,986 14.9 138,570,880 51.8 394,539 15.7 211,626,975 55.4
Regional 1,708,377 85.1 129,129,344 48.2 2,118,489 84.3 170,042,056 44.6
Source: Statistics Report (LNTA, 2011).
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charged with developing, marketing and regu- Unfortunately, the human element of
lating the sector on behalf of the central gov- tourism development is often neglected, par-
ernment. Each of Laos’ 17 provinces has a ticularly at the destination level. Liu and
Provincial Tourism Department (PTD), Wall (2006, p. 162) are rightly critical of this
which support the LNTA in executing neglect when they state that “tourism’s
tourism development, marketing and policy human resource issues are poorly conceptual-
at the provincial and district levels. The ized and the many studies of tourism develop-
LNTA also has a training department, which ment approaches, both theoretical and
offers occasional short courses in tour practical, provide no consolidation of useful
guiding and basic hospitality skills in Vien- recommendations to situate the human dimen-
tiane and the Provinces. sion as an integral part of a comprehensive
The literature suggests that government planning framework for tourism”.
plays a critical role in ensuring tourism is The private sector is an important stake-
developed in an appropriate manner. Richter holder and an immediate beneficiary of good
(1985, p. 203) notes the centrality of public destination HRD practices. When government
sector involvement in tourism: “The crucial formulates policies and national tourism
question is not whether government’s play a plans, it is important to ensure that the
role in tourism development, but what kind various perspectives of tourism industry stake-
of role is played”. According to Hall (2000), holders are considered, as individual organiz-
government should help to shape the econ- ational needs and business objectives of
omic framework for the tourism industry, private sector companies cannot be over-
provide the infrastructure and educational looked and may differ from the macro destina-
requirements for tourism, establish the regu- tion level plans and objectives (Baum and
latory environment in which business oper- Szivas, 2008). Baum and Szivas (2008,
ates, and take an active role in promotion p. 787) point out the fragmented nature of
and marketing. Baum and Szivas (2008) tourism: “Multiproduct characteristics create
suggest that responsibility for tourism rests diversity within tourism but they are also
with all stakeholders, but in particular the founded on substantial sectoral interdepen-
state and its agencies, which control the dencies built around the notion of a tourism
nation’s policies. destination, which for most visitors, often sub-

6. A Case Study: Enhancing Laos’ Tourism Sector Performance 5
sumes the individual business components tourism and hospitality education is that it is
within it”. However, owners of tourism expected to dance to a tune of a fragmented
businesses are driven by different objectives. and heterogeneous sector where there are
Many tourism businesses are established or few commonly defined needs at a technical
purchased with the needs and preference of or knowledge level”. Leiper, Hobson and
the owners and their families being paramount Lewis (2007) also use dance as a metaphor
(Getz, Carlsen, & Morrison, 2004). There- for this relationship by suggesting that edu-
fore, the culture of tourism is not necessarily cation providers and industry should openly
collectivist and each sub-sector tends to think “tango” together, and not expect everyone to
and operate in an autonomous manner so necessarily march to the same drummer. The
that the “big picture” management of case made by Failte Ireland (2005, p. 81) is,
tourism whether in terms of marketing or “In the absence of an active dialogue
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quality is challenging and tends to be fraught between both parties, education providers
with contradiction (Baum and Szivas, 2008). will design programmes that they believe are
Another critical stakeholder in destination appropriate, and tourism enterprises will
HRD is education and training providers. either ignore some programmes or complain
Ranked 164th globally in 2008, Laos’ edu- that they do not meet their needs”.
cation system remains comparatively weak by It can be surmised from the literature review
international standards. School life expectancy that the education-government-industry
at the primary to tertiary levels is 9 years with relationship is important and that the
education expenditure at 2.3% of GDP. Of absence of this tripartite partnership can jeo-
those aged 15 and over, 73% can read and pardise the development of an emerging
write (CIA, 2011). In 1990, Laos signed the tourism destination such as Laos.
Jomtian Declaration on Education for All
which eventuated in a Ministry of Education
(MOE) authored plan of action that empha- Research Methodology
sizes as one of its priorities the expansion of
vocational, technical and higher education to In 2008, the Government of the Grand Duchy
meet the needs of the new labor market and of Luxembourg agreed to fund Project LAO/
improve the economic rates of return (MoE, 020, an official development assistance
2002). The National Socio-Economic Develop- (ODA) project implemented through the
ment Plan 2006–2010 recognised that in com- Agency for Luxembourg Development
parison with other countries in the region, the Cooperation with the stated objective of
investment in HRD is low in Laos and that pro- strengthening human resources in the hospital-
moting economic development with human ity and tourism industry. The LNTA and
development is a critical success factor for the MOE were assigned as the official Lao
country (Government of Laos, 2006). counterparts.
In fact, the literature suggests that a critical In late 2008, the LNTA with technical
success factor for destination HRD is a strong support from Project LAO/020 commissioned
linkage between the private sector and edu- a study to assess and appraise the human
cation providers, but this does not always resource practices in the hospitality and
occur. As Baum, Amoah, and Spivack (1997, tourism sector. The scope of the fieldwork
p. 227) argue, “One of the difficulties for included nine distinct strands. Table 3 sum-

7. 6
Table 3 Lao Hospitality and Tourism HRD Research Strands
Peter Semone
Strand # Target Audience Objective Methodology and Sample Size
1 HR Managers in the Industry Gain an understanding of HR practices in Laos’ Personal interviews, two small focus group
hospitality and tourism sector. meetings and select questions in survey.
2 All Tourism Enterprises Gain insight into the nature and scope of HR Questionnaire administered by native Lao-speaking
Downloaded by [Mr Peter Semone] at 19:03 29 September 2011
issues and practices among hospitality and interviewer to owners and/or managers of 317
tourism enterprises in Laos. companies in five provinces of Laos.
3 Small and Medium Sized Gain an understanding of HR issues and 17 focus group seminars were held with
Enterprises challenges unique to small and medium sized representation from 150 small and medium sized
enterprises, which are predominant in Laos. enterprises (SME) in five major tourism provinces.
4 Representative and Gain an understanding of professional industry Personal interviews with representatives of LHRA
Professional Bodies group issues and challenges as they pertain to and LATA.
sector HRD.
5 Hospitality and Tourism Gather insight into perception of the value of Questionnaire administered by native Lao-
Programme Graduates education received from hospitality and tourism speaking to 224 graduates of hotel and tourism
programmes in the country and its applicability education programmes, some of which are
to a career in the sector. currently employed in the sector and others who
are not.
6 Students Currently Enrolled Gain insight into the current training and Eighteen focus groups were held with a total of 292
in Hospitality and Tourism education provision and possible gaps in students attending private and government
Programmes delivery which may exist. tourism schools and colleges across the country
sharing their insight.
7 Tourism Education Providers Gain an understanding of the type of education and 14 Vientiane-based public and private schools were
training programmes that are on offer in Laos. interviewed by telephone.
8 Women and Ethnic Identify optimum training topics and delivery Twelve focus groups were staged with a total of
Minorities in Tourism modes for women and ethnic minorities, 125 persons participating.
especially in rural communities.
9 Regional Tourism HRD Identify best practice in hospitality and tourism Desk/Internet research was conducted covering
Initiatives HRD in Laos and throughout ASEAN. regional school programmes and curricula, other
HRD focused donor projects and ASEAN HRD
initiatives.

8. A Case Study: Enhancing Laos’ Tourism Sector Performance 7
marises the content of each strand, respective and the resultant work readiness of students
research methodology and sample sizes. graduating from these programmes. The
Vientiane-based Unity School of Manage- findings of the nine strands of research
ment (USM) was engaged to assemble a Lao- provide a snapshot of Laos’ tourism landscape
speaking survey team to administer the and evoke a number of topical HR issues and
surveys, telephone interviews, personal inter- challenges prevalent in the sector, which are
views and focus groups. The team consisted summarised below.
of three international consultants and two
teams of eight experienced Lao social science
researchers. Each team had its own leader Tourism Sector Characteristics
and work plan. In order to capture primary
data to support the overall research, two ques- The LNTA (Lao National Tourism Adminis-
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tionnaires were developed and administered tration) estimates that there are some 3,124
by the survey teams to 317 tourism-related registered private sector establishments in the
companies (Strand 2) and 224 past hospitality Lao tourism sector, many of which are
and tourism graduates (Strand 5) in five of members of either the Lao Association of
Laos’ key tourism provinces, including: Vien- Travel Agents (LATA) and the Lao Hotel
tiane Capital, Vientiane Province, Luang and Restaurant Association (LHRA) (LNTA,
Prabang, Champassak, and Khammouane. 2011).
The questionnaires were developed based on During two separate interviews for Strand 4
similar surveys conducted in other parts of research, common needs emerged from the
the world and were pre-tested for validity leaders of LATA and LHRA in respect to the
and understanding. They were administered macro-level needs of their members. These
through a face-to-face interview process include: a greater variety of industry training
resulting in a response rate of 100%. programmes, improvements in the quality of
Primary data was also collected through tele- the existing sector-education provision, and
phone and one-to-one meetings with a increased awareness by the government and
number of professionals from the tourism the community of the importance of tourism
and education sectors. Secondary data was as a generator of national income and a
collected from focus groups. For direct inter- creator of jobs. The organisations responded
views and focus groups, a list of questions positively to any initiatives to improve
and guidelines was prepared and pre-tested human resources in the tourism and hospital-
prior to the research teams conducting field- ity sector, such as Project LAO/020.
work. Strands 2 and 3 provide evidence that the
majority of businesses are small and medium
sized enterprises (SMEs) with 73.2% of the
Findings 317 companies surveyed reporting to be
family-run businesses with fewer than ten
The research provides an insight into the hos- employees. 16.4% of surveyed firms reported
pitality and tourism industry’s structure, being foreign-owned, but locally managed
current and future human capital needs, and and 8.5% reported being joint ventures. The
existing HR practices. It also appraises the gender ratio is nearly 50/50 with women pre-
current sector-specific education provision dominant in the following positions: recep-

9. 8 Peter Semone
tionist (52%), reservations (75%), cashier repeated continually and that workers are
(66%) and housekeeping (100%). Meanwhile highly sensitive to criticism.
representation at senior management level is The research also provides insight into the
male dominated. Males also reportedly have characteristics that companies are looking for
higher levels of education. Young people in employees and provides a baseline for edu-
under the age of 24 occupy three out of the cation providers in developing their desired
five dominant tourism-sector positions, graduate profile according to industry needs.
namely: receptionist, reservationist and These include: foreign language skills, practi-
cashier. cal experience, computer literacy, interperso-
In terms of women and ethnic minorities, nal skills, basic knowledge, a good work
the focus groups organised under Strand 8 ethic and a positive attitude towards work.
indicate that in rural areas they tend to have
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greater tourism-related opportunities than
men. This is due to the fact that women Employment Practices
engage in a variety of activities along the
tourism supply chain such handicraft Strand 1, 2 and 3 research indicates that pro-
production that provide women with greater fessional HR managers are not the norm in
possibilities for self-employed. For jobs that Laos’ hospitality and tourism businesses.
are directly related to tourism, such as hotels Dedicated HR personnel were found in only
and restaurants, it the focus groups indicated 21 out of the 317 hospitality and tourism
that gender stereotypes and prejudices limit firms surveyed (7%).
women’s access to higher and more diversified Recruitment procedures appear to be fairly
positions in the tourism sector. standard considering the high ratio of SMEs.
77% of owners/managers report simply
waiting for employees to “walk in” to seek
Assessment of Current Workforce and employment. 61.2% count on their relatives
Desired Graduate Profile to fill vacancies and 42.3% find their employ-
ees through friends’ recommendations. Larger
Many owners/managers of companies sur- companies or foreign managed companies
veyed for Strands 2 and 3 raise concerns tend to use additional means such as advertise-
about the inadequacies of their current staff ments and recruitment agencies, particularly
and note that employees have insufficient for management positions.
skills (69.1%) in a general sense and insuffi- The research highlights that three main cri-
cient language skills (71.9%) in particular. A teria are critical for employers when recruiting
quarter of those surveyed report employees staff. Those with the highest response fre-
are not sufficiently committed to their work. quency include: language skills (57.7%), per-
This is combined with a generally low under- sonality traits (15.4%) and professional
standing of the world both in Lao terms and experience in the tourism sector (6.6%). Aca-
with reference to the world from which their demic qualifications relating to the tourism
visitors arrive. Further concerns relate to train- sector are identified by just 5.3% of employees
ability and a willingness of staff to take aboard as a main criterion. This, as will become
what they are told to do and how to do it. evident, has serious ramifications for the
There is a perception that advice has to be relationship between industry and education

10. A Case Study: Enhancing Laos’ Tourism Sector Performance 9
providers and is a real indictment of the exist- businesses, report a preference for training
ing education provision in the country. staff themselves in-house. Yet when compa-
In terms of contracts, more than half of the nies need to train management staff on
surveyed companies (52.4%) do not have all general subjects such as HR and tourism man-
of their staff under contract. Meanwhile agement, there is a preference to send them
82.6% of companies report having job descrip- abroad. This is due to the lack of quality train-
tions for all positions in their establishments. ing options available in Laos for both basic
In regards to salaries, the research points to and specialised topics. Large businesses
a tourism sector that is relatively well devel- prefer on-site training with foreign consultants
oped in terms of its systems, and is competitive and exchange training programs with other
in terms of payments made to employees at all businesses, either in-country or abroad, while
levels. The research shows that 65.6% of the SMEs show a clear preference for public train-
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companies do have a salary and grading scale ing providers and public tourism schools due
for all employees. The average salary in the to cost factors.
tourism industry is between 500,000 and As for future training, 72.8% of the compa-
1,000,000 Lao Kip per month (approximately nies surveyed indicated a readiness to pay for
US$60 – 120). Additionally, many tourism all employees while 26.1% will pay only for
sector employees earn extra money from tips, management staff. Preferred training topics
service charges, incentives and commissions. include: HRD/HRM (77.6%), receptionist
On the topic of career paths and appraisal (62.4%), hotel management (56.7%) and
systems 84.9% of surveyed companies feel tourism management (53.6%). In general,
that they offer good career paths to their tourism businesses show a readiness to pay
staff. However, given the SME dominance of for training with a preference for short-term
tourism businesses, the extent to which mean- training, participatory workshops, evening
ingful career development is possible is ques- training, training on weekends or during low
tionable. Complementary to claims about season with qualified teachers and high train-
career paths, 73.2% of companies report ing standards. Many employers are hesitant
having a formal appraisal system, but it is dif- to invest too much in training due to the high
ficult to see how this can work effectively given employee turnover rate.
the scale and scope of the businesses involved.
Existing Hospitality and Tourism Education
Current Training Practices and Needs Provision
According to the outcomes of Strand 2 and 3 The research in support of Strand 7 indicates
research, 52.4% of firms surveyed conducted that the Ministry of Education is the primary
some sort of training activities, of which provider of post secondary education. The
53.9% reported moderate change in their MOE operates a national network of 21 tech-
employees’ subsequent performance. The nical and vocational education and training
most common forms of training include: on- (TVET) schools, eight teacher-training col-
the-job training, use of in-house trainers, in- leges, and three universities. There are also a
house training with foreign consultants and number of private schools scattered through-
external training. Employers, especially small out the country offering certificate, diploma,

11. 10 Peter Semone
bachelor and master degrees. Tourism edu- appears to be low awareness among owners
cation is widely offered through this public and managers of available sector education
and private school system in Laos, but is gen- programmes and a general consensus that the
erally considered ineffective in producing the current education provision does not meet
quality of graduates desired by the country’s the private sector’s demand for skilled labour.
hospitality and tourism industry. None of the
hospitality and tourism education providers
report having accreditation with any recog- Donor Aided Project with a Tourism HRD
nised international college or university. All Component
hospitality and tourism schools suffer from
inadequate practical facilities and a lack of Under Strand 9, a number of notable projects
Lao language instructional material. There were identified through desk research including
the review of project documents and work
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are estimated to be fewer than 100 hospitality
and tourism teachers in the country and they plans. On a national level, organisations such
generally possess a low level of practical as the Asian Development Bank (ADB), New
skills and theoretical knowledge. Zealand Aid (NZAid), the German Develop-
Strands 5 and 6 research show that students ment Cooperation (DED), Netherlands Devel-
perceive TVET schools as preparing them opment Organisation (SNV) and the World
better for jobs in tourism as compared with Bank’s International Finance Corporation
private school students, at least for jobs that (IFC) have or have had projects with a tourism
require few qualifications. The number of sector-related HRD component. The ADB sup-
public tourism school graduates attaining a ported Mekong Tourism Development Project
job in the tourism sector is higher than that and Sustainable Tourism Development Project,
for students in private tourism schools. Stu- with its train-the-trainer and regular industry
dents from public and private schools training initiatives in the Lao provinces,
compete for the same jobs, yet students from seemed to be the most embedded and widely
private schools have more difficulties finding accepted of these projects in terms of HRD.
work in the hospitality sector. As students On a regional level, Southeast Asian
from vocational public schools have more countries have agreed to develop common com-
practical training, they find jobs more easily petency standards for tourism professionals
than private school students. Out of 292 stu- and a common tourism curriculum with the
dents surveyed, only 18% found a job in the goal of mutual recognition of tourism pro-
tourism sector. fessionals within the region. The programme
In fact, very few sector workers appear to is being implemented under the auspices of
have any formal education or training. Based the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
on responses of SME owners and managers, (ASEAN) with Australian Aid (AusAID) pro-
only 42 (.72%) of the estimated 5,831 employ- viding initial financial and technical support.
ees working at 317 companies surveyed have
any sort of degree from a hospitality and Conclusions
tourism education programme, indicating
that tourism schools may be providing more A number of HR-related issues and challenges
employees to other economic sectors than to endemic to Laos’ tourism industry emerge
hospitality and tourism industry. There through the research findings. If not remedied,

12. A Case Study: Enhancing Laos’ Tourism Sector Performance 11
Laos’ tourism sector runs the risk of not LNTA, to promulgate policy initiatives
achieving its anticipated role in contributing aimed at improving sector service quality, sus-
to the country’s economic and social develop- tainability and profitability. The Strategy calls
ment. They can be summarised as follows: for developing a skilled pool of sector human
resources among the existing and future work-
. The quality and scope of the country’s exist- force. It is also recognised that broad national
ing education and industry training pro- awareness of tourism’s positive and negative
vision is insufficient to meet the hospitality impacts by the greater community is impera-
and tourism industry’s current and future tive. In short, if tourism is to become a
labour needs: means of economic and social development
. Improvements in service quality are required in Laos, then greater attention must be given
to improve Laos’ destination competitive- in tourism plans to the needs of industry and
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ness and sector profitability; residents alike. In a country like Laos this
. There appears to be demand by tourism can only effectively be done through strong
enterprises for a variety of short term flexible public sector involvement, which should be
training options; spearheaded by the LNTA and involve all
. The existing workforce is deficient in on-the- levels of the Lao Government (LNTA, 2009).
job skills, motivation, problem solving abil-
ities, and general communication;
. Existing hospitality and tourism education Pillar Two: Stakeholder Collaboration
programmes at the diploma and bachelor and Coordination
level face a myriad of challenges ranging
from a lack of qualified instructors to substan- Pillar Two recognises that a consultative
dard instructional materials and facilities; and process should exist that is inclusive of
. The hospitality and tourism industry is per- various government departments at the
ceived as low paying and there is a general national and provincial level, public and
lack of awareness among young people of private development cooperation partners,
available career opportunities in the sector. the private sector at the enterprise and associ-
ation level, and the education community. It
To remedy these issues and challenges, sys- proposes the formation of a HRD Implemen-
temic changes are required in how tourism is tation Commission with broad stakeholder
coordinated, marketed, planned and regulated engagement. Only through this sort of an inte-
in Laos. The HRD Strategy 2010 –2020, grated approach to HRD will Laos be able to
which was co-authored by the author of this enhance service quality and thereby enhance
paper, outlines three strategic pillars that can its visitor profile and achieve higher tourism
augment improvements in tourism sector revenues (LNTA, 2009).
service quality (LNTA, 2009). Canada and the Republic of Ireland provide
good examples of best practice in this sort of
destination level HRD collaboration.
Pillar One: Public Sector Leadership Through a co-ordinating body known as the
Canadian Tourism Human Resource Council
Pillar One of the Strategy reasserts the impor- (CTHRC), the planning and execution of
tance of public sector institutions, such as the training and development of human resources,

13. 12 Peter Semone
as well as the setting of standards and certifica- tained investment in both hardware and soft-
tion, and the advocacy of tourism human ware supportive of destination HRD.
resource development issues are affected har- Education and training currently being pro-
moniously at Canada’s national level. In vided in Laos’ public and private education
Ireland, CERT was established in 1963 and institutions needs dramatic improvement in
functions as the state agency formally respon- terms of teacher quality, curriculum design,
sible for the recruitment, education and train- delivery methods and adaptation to industry
ing of personnel for all levels of the hospitality needs. Industry sees the current education pro-
and tourism industry (Amoah and Baum, vision as being not practical enough and deliv-
1997). ered by teachers who have neither the
Implementation of this type of consultative necessary industry work experience nor the
body in Laos requires clear recognition of the skill base. At the same time, many employers,
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roles of each of the stakeholder partners in and the industry associations express a strong
relation to workforce development; identifi- interest in becoming involved in curriculum
cation of potential synergies that may exist development, and in initiatives to strengthen
between various partners and stakeholders; the links between companies and educational
sharing of resources and responsibilities; and institutions. However, the current feeling is
ultimately to the development of inclusive that instead of a partnership, there is a lack
action and work plans. To ensure continued of willingness from the public sector, giving
transparency and momentum, it is suggested the impression that the education system is
that this consultative body should meet on a focusing on the quantity rather than quality.
quarterly basis in an open public session to In short, the quality of hospitality and
report on progress in implementation of tourism training and education initiatives in
common HRD initiatives. There should be a Laos require significant improvements in
designated moderator and part of the session quality if industry HR demand is to be sated.
devoted to direct dialog with the stakeholder Accomplishing this entails developing a com-
community, where questions can be answered, petency based industry-training programme
ideas gathered, objections noted and that is nationally recognised by all tourism sta-
addressed, and a sense of co-operation fos- keholders; enlarging hospitality and tourism
tered. curricula at the diploma, bachelor and post-
graduate levels to be better aligned with indus-
try employment demands; increasing the
Pillar Three: Development of Sector capacity of Lao teachers and trainers; and
Education and Training Provision developing national and provincial centres of
excellence dedicated to sector education and
Pillar Three calls for responding to industry training.
HRD needs through various education and If all Lao tourism stakeholders were to
training initiatives aimed at improving skills follow this approach to destination HRD and
and competencies among the existing work- engage in earnest in their respective roles,
force, while preparing the future workforce then there is a distinct possibility that by
with the requisite knowledge, skills and atti- 2020 the sector can produce a billion dollars
tude required by the service sector in the in export revenue with a wide scope of benefi-
future. This necessitates significant and sus- ciaries.

14. A Case Study: Enhancing Laos’ Tourism Sector Performance 13
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