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LATA News LATA, the Lao Association of Travel Agents will announced details of training programmes available in 2007. The first programme will be an intensive 4 day course on marketing for travel agency managers. It will be held in both Vientiane and Luang Prabang in between May 9 and 17. The EU-funded training will be led by experts Leeds Metropolitan University and have a special emphasis on marketing to attract European business.
LATA President Mme Vayakone Bodhisane (Diethelm Travel) said:
“This training follows on from a detailed Training Needs Analysis undertaken by SNV Netherlands Development Organisation. As a result we believe that the training programmes devised will be very relevant for travel agents operating in Lao PDR.”
Further training for member travel agents and their staff is planned during 2007 on such issues as customer care, IT skills for travel agents, business management and taxation. Please check the LATA website for updates. www.latalaos.org LATA project manager, Mr. Soulideth, has decided to step down from LATA project to undertake a new position. We wish him well in his future career.
LATA is currently recruiting a new project manager. For more information regarding the position please visit www.latalaos.org
Ecotourism Forum is one of the biggest events in Laos. It will highlight the ecotourism products and services with the Mekong region. This event is believed to be one of the most important events for many local tour operators and agencies in Laos; as there will be many international agencies and tour operators participating.
The president of LATA, Mm Vayakone Bhothisane, strongly encourages its members to actively involve and participate in this biggest ever forum in Laos. The 2007 Ecotourism Forum will bring many positives message to the Lao tourism industries and development.
The president urges that “this is the great opportunity for LATA members to showcase their products and services to not only Asian country members but also to the international markets”. Members can also learn a lot from other ecotourism providers about the success for developing ecotourism program as part of this event objective. LATA will be supporting the event and encourages its members to exhibit.
The Board of LATA continues to lobby the official authorities concerned to implement as soon as possible the tourist Tax for 1 USD per person. Tax will be not applied to Tours Companies who wish to purchase Buses with seats more than 35 seats.
Further more, the concept of a common entry ticket or ‘passport’ to Luang Prabang attractions has also been put forward.
LAO PDR News
A new road connects the most northern part of Laos to China , and Thailand expects to be linked by next June, once construction is completed after almost four years of work.
The R3 road, currently under construction, will link Kunming to Bangkok via Luang Namtha and Bokeo provinces in Laos . The Laos News Agency reported that construction is almost 90% complete.
The R3 Road Project runs via the Houysai district in Bokeo province and the Boten district in Luang Namtha province, a 222-km stretch.
Chief of Bokeo province’s communication, transport, post and construction department, Loadounheun Thoungkasen, reported the Lao government is committed to improving this road to meet international standards for connecting the neighbouring countries, in line with country's master plan and unlocking its potential as a landlocked country.
Mr Loadounheun added that more than 200-km of the R3 road is an important economic link for the sub-region, and will also help improve the living conditions of the indigenous people along the route.
The Bt1 billion R3 Road Project is being constructed via a trilateral-agreement among Laos , China and Thailand .
Source: Lao News Agency
VIENGXAY, LAOS, March 6, 2007 -- A collection of dramatic caves that provided shelter to 23,000 Laotians during nine years of aerial bombardment in the Indochina War, has now been opened to the public. Between 1964 and 1973 Laos became caught up in a secret war that remains largely ignored in world history. Up to 480 caves in Viengxay district in Houaphanh province were transformed into a de facto cave city. The caves were used to house leaders and fighters of the Phathet Lao army. Many caves had specialist functions such as hospital, shop, school, printing house, government office, bakery and theatre. In the hospital cave, patients were treated by Cuban doctors.
Today, five of the caves are open to the public. More caves will open soon. The surrounding area is a remote and scenic province of karst mountains, tall waterfalls, hot springs and a protected forest that is home to tigers and leopards. The area is rich in ethnic villages, silk weaving and archaeological sites. In the surrounding hills villagers live in simple wooden huts. Some still hunt with crossbows. Some weave intricate textiles on elaborate looms. Many grow rice on steep hillsides or in lush green paddies.
“At the height of the bombing it was impossible to imagine that tourists would one day wish to visit this place to learn about our experience,” says Mr Phonekeo Latsachanh, who lived in one of the caves in Viengxay from 1964 to 1973. At the time he worked as an official in the cave designated as a trade office. “It’s important that Lao people can now tell foreigners their story,” he says.
Houaphanh province is the poorest in a country where 40% of the population survive on less than US$1 per day. Locally, tourism is now being heralded as a vital tool in the fight against poverty. The development of Viengxay has the support of the Laotian government. The Prime Minister’s office has a permanent representative on the committee set up to oversee developments at Viengxay, the physical birthplace and spiritual cornerstone of modern-day Laos.
The Lao government has asked the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the Netherlands Development Agency (SNV) and the Asian Development Bank to develop the location as a tourist destination and world peace site that focuses upon poverty reduction and the needs of local people.
Over 20 tourism and heritage trainers have been brought in by international organisations to deliver practical advice that will help villagers benefit from the expected growth in tourism. Former war heritage sites such as the Cu Chi tunnels near Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) in Vietnam and the Killing Fields Memorial at Choeung Ek near Phnom Penh in Cambodia attract hundreds of international visitors daily.
The Lao government hopes to create similar interest in Viengxay where the Lao National Tourism Administration (LNTA) is recording oral histories that visitors can listen to while they walk around the network of caves. The plan is to develop Viengxay as a national heritage town to be explored on foot.
“The Lao vision is to recreate the caves and tell the people’s story,” says UNWTO’s Dr Harsh Varma who believes events at the cave system were remarkable. “Viengxay was a triumph of ingenuity and comradeship in the face of what many historians believe was the longest and most intensive aerial bombardment in world history.”
However, visitors to this remote corner of northeast Laos must not expect an easy journey. While helicopters can be hired to Viengxay’s airstrip and the airport at XamNeua, 29 kms away, the nearest airport with scheduled flights to Vientiane is Xieng Khouang, a six-hour drive from Viengxay.
An increasing number of budget travellers have been finding their way to Viengxay from both Luang Prabang and Xieng Khouang on Laos’ public bus system. Some visitors prefer to be driven in from the Vietnamese border, 55 kms away. Viengxay is a 300-km or eight-hour drive from Hanoi, and four hours from Mai Chau in Vietnam – an increasingly popular mountain destination with many hill-tribes.
Accommodation in Viengxay reflects the township’s remote frontier status. There is one simple hotel with 16 rooms and three basic guest houses with a combined total of 26 rooms. Forty-five minutes away in Xam Neua, the provincial capital, there are three hotels offering a total of 45 rooms. Xam Neua has 16 guest houses.
“For tourists who take the time to reach Viengxay and the nearby attractions throughout northeast Laos, we can promise a very enriching and educational experience,” says Mr Somphong Mongkhonvilay, Chairman of the LNTA. “Viengxay will be an increasingly important part of the Northern Laos Heritage Route,” he says.
The Heritage Route Mr Somphong is referring to links the World Heritage site of Luang Prabang to Houaphanh and the mysterious Plain of Jars in Xieng Khouang.
The LNTA is due to unveil plans for Viengxay’s ‘cave city’ development to international travel agents during the Lao Ecotourism Fair, July 26-29 in Vientiane. European film and TV documentary makers have already visited Viengxay and other programme makers are due to visit in the near future. In May, the UNWTO and SNV will help fund familiarisation trips for travel agents and foreign media.
With an average of only 10 visitors a day to the five open caves, Mr Siphan Vangduayang, Director of the Memorial Cave Office in Viengxay says: “We need more visitors. We had over 20,000 people living here all those years ago. We have room.”
Distant Sayaboury province hosted, a three-day Elephant Festival on 17 to 18 February.
The Elephant Festival wasorganised to raise awareness for the need for action to protect the Asian elephant as part of Laos ’ and the region’s cultural and natural heritage. The festival will take place in Viengkheo Village in the Hongsa district of Sayaboury province.
Sayabury province, the National Tourism Administration, Institute for Cultural Research and ElefantAsia Association are organising the festival with support from the US Fish & Wildlife Service, French Fund for Global Environment, the Foundation Nicolas Hulot pour la Nature et l'Homme, the Foundation 30 million d'Amis and Guilde Européenne du Raid.
The programme included an opening ceremony with an elephant parade, a mahout demonstration, elephant races, a circus show, an elephant “Baci” ceremony and lectures from specialists from the Laos Elephant Conservation centre. Elephant training, an elephant drawing contest, a photographic exhibition a documentary film entitled “Caravan Xang” and a fair are also on the activity menu. LATA was represented at the event.
The district of Hongsa, and Viengkeo village have always been known for elephants. However, Hongsa is quite remote and getting there requires a day’s travel. Travel agents supporting the event include Green Discovery, AU FIL DU MEKONG, Diethelm Travel Lao, Exotissimo Travel, Lao Youth Travel, Dok Champa Travel and The Gibbon Experience.
Travelers could book a package with AU FIL DU MEKONG Co. Ltd. (SOFIMEK) based in Luang Prabang at its official website: www.elefantasia.org/docs/festival. The company organised boat and land transportation, transfers to Hongsa and accommodation at Elephant Lodge in Hongsa.
A home-stay programme is also being hosted by the villagers in Hongsa, with 150 households ready to welcome two to four guests for the night. Gilles Maurer, ElefantAsia recommends booking in advance by contacting hin(French or English) at, Tel: 020 541 87 30.
Source: www.elefantasia.org/docs/festival.
Regional News
Venue: Impact Muang Thong Thani, Bangkok, Thailand
Schedule: 7 – 10 June 2007
Since 2001 Tourism Authority of Thailand and Thai Tourism Industry play host to Thailand Travel Mart, Thailand biggest annual travel mart which has continue to gain a recognition as an important distribution channel to present quality tourism products as well as a platform for travel trade to meet and exchange ideas on tourism trends of Thailand and beyond.
This year’s TTM 2007, targeted 300 quality invited buyers from key and emerging markets and 400 sellers from Thailand and the Mekong Region countries. In addition, TTM2007 will be held in conjunction with Thailand Tourism Festival for Thai consumer which will help to boost the publicity of the event. Trade and Consumer Days • June 7-8 (Thursday and Friday), are Thailand Travel Mart (TTM) or “Trade Days” – the show will be opened to Trade Buyers only. • From evening of June 8 onward to June 9-10 (Friday – Sunday), are “Consumer Days” – the show will be opened to the publics. More than thousands of Thai consumers and expatriates expected to visit TTF to shop and book for their holiday and travel. • Sellers are invited to participate for both Thailand Travel Mart and Thailand Tourism Faire as this will be a good opportunity of conjoined events to meet with both travel business partners for negotiation and trade deals as well as consumers to promote and expand direct sell channel. For more infor
mation: http://www.thaitravelmart.com/trade_calendar_detail.asp?id=115
LATA members are strongly encouraged to have their own stands at this event, so that there is a bigger Lao presence. It is an ideal opportunity to sell to overseas tour operators without having to go to the expense of traveling to Europe or Japan.
Source: TTG
ASIAN Trails has landed its first Kuoni account since being gobbled up by the European giant last year, with the Bangkok-based operator inking the contract for the massive Scandinavian market last week.
On November 1, Asian Trails takes over an account - which includes Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos -. In December, Kuoni will begin its first charter service from Scandinavia to Vietnam, with a fortnightly flight from Stockholm to Ho Chi Minh City. Bangkok-based Asian Trails managing director, Mr Roger Haumueller, said: "The Kuoni Scandinavian account is the biggest in terms of the number of clients, with most going to beach destinations." He said Asian Trails was set to land another major Kuoni account and was confident of eventually securing more quality accounts for the region. East West Siam now handles Kuoni's Thailand account, while Asia Link is Kuoni's ground handler for Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos. Mr Haumueller said Asian Trails had not lost any major accounts in Thailand since the Kuoni sale, but was about to lose a plump account that encompasses Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar Source: TTG
Kasikorn Research Centre expects the second Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge - opened on 20 December to link Mukdahan, Thailand to Savannakhet, Lao PDR - will significantly boost Thai arrivals to Laos by 30% to 460,000 in 2007, while a 28% jump to 320,000 in Laotian trips to the kingdom is expected. KResearch reasons that the predicted escalation in cross-border visits is due to greater travel convenience, enhanced by the similarity in the two countries’ languages and culture. New tourist destinations in Laos have also drawn great interest from foreign tourists, including Thais.
Southeast Asian tourist destinations are also expected to rise in popularity with Thai travellers, with a surge in road travel, particularly caravan tours via the new bridge, which will open new tourism destinations in central and southern Laos , and onwards to Vietnam.
Source: ETTR Exclusive three-year deal gives Galileo agents full access to Lao Airline’s fares and inventory, while the airline expands its distribution network. Galileo Asia, a subsidiary of Travelport, announced the signing of an exclusive agreement with Lao Airlines, the national air carrier of Lao PDR. Lao Airlines uses ATR 72, Y-12 and MA-60 aircraft to fly between its base at Vientiane 's Wattay International Airport and cities throughout Laos . The airline also serves destinations in neighbouring China , Cambodia , Thailand and Vietnam .
Under the terms of this exclusive three-year deal, Galileo-connected travel agents will have full access to the airline’s domestic fares and associated inventory. In addition, Lao Airlines will make available to Galileo all fares, reservation booking classes, associated inventory and all other data Lao Airlines provides on its flights, both domestic and international, through any distribution channel, including its own reservation system.
Another major benefit of the Galileo-Lao Airlines link-up is Lao’s agreement to develop and implement its electronic ticketing capabilities using the Galileo system first, before any other GDS.
Lao Airlines commercial director Rada Sunthorn said, “This partnership with Galileo will enable us to improve the service and level of choice that we deliver to our domestic agents by providing Galileo’s automated reservation, ticketing and fares distribution system. At the same time, the link-up with Galileo provides Lao Airlines with a much larger distribution network through Galileo’s GDS in the region, thus allowing us to be more accessible and expand our sales potential into markets, where we have not been represented before.”
Source: TTG |
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