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A Case Study: Enhancing Laos' Tourism SectorPerformance Through Destination HumanResource DevelopmentPeter Semone aa Assumption University, Bangkok, Thailand

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A Case Study: Enhancing Laos’ Tourism SectorPerformance Through Destination Human Resource

Development

Peter Semone∗

Assumption University, Bangkok, Thailand

Tourism in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Laos) is a relatively new phenomenonthat 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, Thailandand Vietnam who generally tend to come in large numbers, are relatively low spendersand register short average length of stays. In order to reap the fiscal benefits of tourismand sustain the nation’s fragile cultural and ecological makeup, the Government ofLaos is being challenged to establish ways to shift the balance of its tourism demand tomore 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 willimprove tourism sector service quality, which in turn will result in increased industry prof-itability. This paper explores the existing human resource environment in Laos’ tourismsector and outlines the required actions by various stakeholders to achieve improvedsector performance and stewardship of the country’s fragile culture and environment.

Key words: hospitality, tourism, Laos, destination human resource development, servicequality, increased revenues

Introduction

There is evidence to suggest that national,

regional and municipal destination manage-

ment plans should include human resource

development (HRD) as an integral part of pro-

ducing a healthy, prosperous and sustainable

tourism industry (Baum, 1994). Despite this,

HRD is often relegated behind infrastructure,

marketing, transportation and other tourism

development priorities (Baum, Amoah and

Spivack, 1997). While tourism has gained in

the social and economic sphere of national

development agendas, sufficient attention is

Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, iFirst article, 2011

∗Email: semone2010@gmail.com

Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, iFirst article, 2011

ISSN 1094-1665 print/ISSN 1741-6507 online/11/020001–13 # 2011 Asia Pacific Tourism Association

DOI: 10.1080/10941665.2011.617049

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rarely accorded to enhancing local capacity to

take advantage of the opportunities that

tourism can create (Liu and Wall, 2006). Esi-

chaikul and Baum (1998, p. 369) explain:

“Tackling human resource issues is widely

recognized as critical to the success of inter-

national tourism but this, in practice, is fre-

quently served more by lip-service than action”.

While micro-level HRD issues faced by

tourism companies and organizations, such

as hotels, travel agencies and airlines, are

fairly well understood and manageable at the

individual business unit level, macro-level per-

spectives of HRD and its impact on good

overall destination management generally

remain an enigma (Baum and Szivas, 2008).

Macro-level HRD issues affect overall

service quality of a destination as delivered

by the myriad of service providers along the

tourism supply chain and include: dialogue

and partnership between public and private

sectors, the provision of quality education

and training curricula and programmes,

service quality measures, public awareness

campaigns, career paths and employment con-

ditions, accreditation and certification, and

tourism sector labour market research (Baum

and Szivas, 2008).

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the

current destination-level tourism-sector operat-

ing environment in Laos and to identify key

constraints, which may potentially be remedied

through improved HRD at the destination

management level. International best practices

are also explored leading to recommendations

of respective actions, roles and responsibilities

of various tourism sector stakeholders.

About the Lao People’s DemocraticRepublic (Laos)

Modern-day Laos has its roots in the ancient

Lao kingdom of Lan Xang, established in the

fourteenth century under King Fangum. For

300 years Lan Xang had influence reaching

to present-day Cambodia and Thailand, as

well as over all of what is now Laos. After

gradual decline, Laos came under the domina-

tion of Siam (Thailand) from the late eight-

eenth century until the late nineteenth

century when it became part of French Indo-

china. The Franco-Siamese Treaty of 1907

defined the current Lao border with Thailand.

In 1975, the Communist Pathet Lao took

control of the government ending a six-

century-old monarchy and instituting a strict

socialist regime closely aligned to Vietnam. A

gradual, limited return to private enterprise

and the liberalisation of foreign investment

laws began in 1988. Laos became a member

of ASEAN in 1997 (CIA, 2011).

With a per capita gross domestic product of

US$2,400, Laos is ranked among the poorest

countries in the world with an estimated

26% of its 6.4 million population living

below the poverty line. Of the 3.65 million-

strong labour force, 80% are occupied in agri-

culture and 20% engaged in industry and ser-

vices. Ranked globally 147th, Laos earns some

US$1.2 billion from exports (CIA, 2011).

Lao Tourism Performance Analysis

In recent years Laos has decidedly embraced

tourism as a priority sector for economic and

social development (LNTA, 2006). As recorded

in Table 1, in 2010 some 2.5 million overseas

visitors came to Laos generating export earnings

of just under $400 million, which accounts for

approximately one quarter of the country’s

export earnings and makes tourism the second

largest export generator after minerals (LNTA,

2011).

In servicing these visitors, tourism in Laos

employs a core workforce of some 17,000

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people with a further indirect employment effect

of up to 167,000 people or 5% of the workforce

(ADB, 2005). Tourism is expected to continue

to play an important role in Laos’ economic

and social growth and prosperity, especially in

terms of job creation. The growing demand

for community-based tourism products is

helping to create jobs in rural areas that comp-

lement employment in the agricultural sector.

In the near future, tourism’s contributions will

likely increase as efforts are made to reduce

the proportion of the workforce engaged in agri-

culture, forestry and fisheries and increase

the%age of the national workforce engaged in

service sectors (LNTA, 2006).

The outlook for Lao tourism is positive and

the industry is currently working towards

meeting a number of challenging demand-side

targets that will see overseas visitor numbers

reach nearly 3.5 million in 2015 and as many

as 4.1 million by 2020 (LNTA, 2011).

In addition to growing tourism arrival

numbers, Laos is challenged with increasing

tourism revenues by escalating high-end

tourism demand from short, medium and

long haul markets (LNTA, 2009). Regional

demand, which is defined as visitors originat-

ing from Cambodia, China, Myanmar, Thai-

land and Vietnam, produced 84.3% of Laos’

visitor arrivals in 2010, but only 44.6% of

tourism-related revenues (LNTA, 2011). This

is due in large part to their relatively short

length of stay which is typically less than two

days and low per diem spending patterns

which are on average less than US$30 a day

(LNTA, 2011). The remaining 15.7% of arri-

vals, which is defined as all markets other

than regional visitors, stay an average of

seven days and spend US$75 per day and in

2010 produced 55.4% of Laos’ tourism-

related revenues (LNTA, 2011). In comparing

2009 and 2010 figures, this trend seems to be

accelerating as revealed in Table 2.

The predominance of low yield regional

visitors can potentially tilt Laos’ tourism car-

rying capacity scale in an unsustainable

angle, which may eventually destroy the deli-

cate balance between economic, environ-

mental and social factors encompassed in

tourism (LNTA, 2009).

It would be unfortunate if Laos could not

enjoy the long term economic and social devel-

opment benefits associated with tourism.

Especially when it is widely recognised that

the benefits of tourism can generate scarce

foreign exchange, create jobs for semi-skilled

and unskilled labor, develop the arts, encou-

rage handicraft and export industries, and sub-

sidize the development of transportation

infrastructure (Baum and Szivas, 2008).

Stakeholder Roles in Destination HumanResource Development

The leading public sector institution for

tourism in Laos is the LNTA, which is

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)

A Case Study: Enhancing Laos’ Tourism Sector Performance 3

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charged with developing, marketing and regu-

lating the sector on behalf of the central gov-

ernment. Each of Laos’ 17 provinces has a

Provincial Tourism Department (PTD),

which support the LNTA in executing

tourism development, marketing and policy

at the provincial and district levels. The

LNTA also has a training department, which

offers occasional short courses in tour

guiding and basic hospitality skills in Vien-

tiane and the Provinces.

The literature suggests that government

plays a critical role in ensuring tourism is

developed in an appropriate manner. Richter

(1985, p. 203) notes the centrality of public

sector involvement in tourism: “The crucial

question is not whether government’s play a

role in tourism development, but what kind

of role is played”. According to Hall (2000),

government should help to shape the econ-

omic framework for the tourism industry,

provide the infrastructure and educational

requirements for tourism, establish the regu-

latory environment in which business oper-

ates, and take an active role in promotion

and marketing. Baum and Szivas (2008)

suggest that responsibility for tourism rests

with all stakeholders, but in particular the

state and its agencies, which control the

nation’s policies.

Unfortunately, the human element of

tourism development is often neglected, par-

ticularly at the destination level. Liu and

Wall (2006, p. 162) are rightly critical of this

neglect when they state that “tourism’s

human resource issues are poorly conceptual-

ized and the many studies of tourism develop-

ment approaches, both theoretical and

practical, provide no consolidation of useful

recommendations to situate the human dimen-

sion as an integral part of a comprehensive

planning framework for tourism”.

The private sector is an important stake-

holder and an immediate beneficiary of good

destination HRD practices. When government

formulates policies and national tourism

plans, it is important to ensure that the

various perspectives of tourism industry stake-

holders are considered, as individual organiz-

ational needs and business objectives of

private sector companies cannot be over-

looked and may differ from the macro destina-

tion level plans and objectives (Baum and

Szivas, 2008). Baum and Szivas (2008,

p. 787) point out the fragmented nature of

tourism: “Multiproduct characteristics create

diversity within tourism but they are also

founded on substantial sectoral interdepen-

dencies built around the notion of a tourism

destination, which for most visitors, often sub-

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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sumes the individual business components

within it”. However, owners of tourism

businesses are driven by different objectives.

Many tourism businesses are established or

purchased with the needs and preference of

the owners and their families being paramount

(Getz, Carlsen, & Morrison, 2004). There-

fore, the culture of tourism is not necessarily

collectivist and each sub-sector tends to think

and operate in an autonomous manner so

that the “big picture” management of

tourism whether in terms of marketing or

quality is challenging and tends to be fraught

with contradiction (Baum and Szivas, 2008).

Another critical stakeholder in destination

HRD is education and training providers.

Ranked 164th globally in 2008, Laos’ edu-

cation system remains comparatively weak by

international standards. School life expectancy

at the primary to tertiary levels is 9 years with

education expenditure at 2.3% of GDP. Of

those aged 15 and over, 73% can read and

write (CIA, 2011). In 1990, Laos signed the

Jomtian Declaration on Education for All

which eventuated in a Ministry of Education

(MOE) authored plan of action that empha-

sizes as one of its priorities the expansion of

vocational, technical and higher education to

meet the needs of the new labor market and

improve the economic rates of return (MoE,

2002). The National Socio-Economic Develop-

ment Plan 2006–2010 recognised that in com-

parison with other countries in the region, the

investment in HRD is low in Laos and that pro-

moting economic development with human

development is a critical success factor for the

country (Government of Laos, 2006).

In fact, the literature suggests that a critical

success factor for destination HRD is a strong

linkage between the private sector and edu-

cation providers, but this does not always

occur. As Baum, Amoah, and Spivack (1997,

p. 227) argue, “One of the difficulties for

tourism and hospitality education is that it is

expected to dance to a tune of a fragmented

and heterogeneous sector where there are

few commonly defined needs at a technical

or knowledge level”. Leiper, Hobson and

Lewis (2007) also use dance as a metaphor

for this relationship by suggesting that edu-

cation providers and industry should openly

“tango” together, and not expect everyone to

necessarily march to the same drummer. The

case made by Failte Ireland (2005, p. 81) is,

“In the absence of an active dialogue

between both parties, education providers

will design programmes that they believe are

appropriate, and tourism enterprises will

either ignore some programmes or complain

that they do not meet their needs”.

It can be surmised from the literature review

that the education-government-industry

relationship is important and that the

absence of this tripartite partnership can jeo-

pardise the development of an emerging

tourism destination such as Laos.

Research Methodology

In 2008, the Government of the Grand Duchy

of Luxembourg agreed to fund Project LAO/

020, an official development assistance

(ODA) project implemented through the

Agency for Luxembourg Development

Cooperation with the stated objective of

strengthening human resources in the hospital-

ity and tourism industry. The LNTA and

MOE were assigned as the official Lao

counterparts.

In late 2008, the LNTA with technical

support from Project LAO/020 commissioned

a study to assess and appraise the human

resource practices in the hospitality and

tourism sector. The scope of the fieldwork

included nine distinct strands. Table 3 sum-

A Case Study: Enhancing Laos’ Tourism Sector Performance 5

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Table 3 Lao Hospitality and Tourism HRD Research Strands

Strand # Target Audience Objective Methodology and Sample Size

1 HR Managers in the Industry Gain an understanding of HR practices in Laos’

hospitality and tourism sector.

Personal interviews, two small focus group

meetings and select questions in survey.

2 All Tourism Enterprises Gain insight into the nature and scope of HR

issues and practices among hospitality and

tourism enterprises in Laos.

Questionnaire administered by native Lao-speaking

interviewer to owners and/or managers of 317

companies in five provinces of Laos.

3 Small and Medium Sized

Enterprises

Gain an understanding of HR issues and

challenges unique to small and medium sized

enterprises, which are predominant in Laos.

17 focus group seminars were held with

representation from 150 small and medium sized

enterprises (SME) in five major tourism provinces.

4 Representative and

Professional Bodies

Gain an understanding of professional industry

group issues and challenges as they pertain to

sector HRD.

Personal interviews with representatives of LHRA

and LATA.

5 Hospitality and Tourism

Programme Graduates

Gather insight into perception of the value of

education received from hospitality and tourism

programmes in the country and its applicability

to a career in the sector.

Questionnaire administered by native Lao-

speaking to 224 graduates of hotel and tourism

education programmes, some of which are

currently employed in the sector and others who

are not.

6 Students Currently Enrolled

in Hospitality and Tourism

Programmes

Gain insight into the current training and

education provision and possible gaps in

delivery which may exist.

Eighteen focus groups were held with a total of 292

students attending private and government

tourism schools and colleges across the country

sharing their insight.

7 Tourism Education Providers Gain an understanding of the type of education and

training programmes that are on offer in Laos.

14 Vientiane-based public and private schools were

interviewed by telephone.

8 Women and Ethnic

Minorities in Tourism

Identify optimum training topics and delivery

modes for women and ethnic minorities,

especially in rural communities.

Twelve focus groups were staged with a total of

125 persons participating.

9 Regional Tourism HRD

Initiatives

Identify best practice in hospitality and tourism

HRD in Laos and throughout ASEAN.

Desk/Internet research was conducted covering

regional school programmes and curricula, other

HRD focused donor projects and ASEAN HRD

initiatives.

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marises the content of each strand, respective

research methodology and sample sizes.

Vientiane-based Unity School of Manage-

ment (USM) was engaged to assemble a Lao-

speaking survey team to administer the

surveys, telephone interviews, personal inter-

views and focus groups. The team consisted

of three international consultants and two

teams of eight experienced Lao social science

researchers. Each team had its own leader

and work plan. In order to capture primary

data to support the overall research, two ques-

tionnaires were developed and administered

by the survey teams to 317 tourism-related

companies (Strand 2) and 224 past hospitality

and tourism graduates (Strand 5) in five of

Laos’ key tourism provinces, including: Vien-

tiane Capital, Vientiane Province, Luang

Prabang, Champassak, and Khammouane.

The questionnaires were developed based on

similar surveys conducted in other parts of

the world and were pre-tested for validity

and understanding. They were administered

through a face-to-face interview process

resulting in a response rate of 100%.

Primary data was also collected through tele-

phone and one-to-one meetings with a

number of professionals from the tourism

and education sectors. Secondary data was

collected from focus groups. For direct inter-

views and focus groups, a list of questions

and guidelines was prepared and pre-tested

prior to the research teams conducting field-

work.

Findings

The research provides an insight into the hos-

pitality and tourism industry’s structure,

current and future human capital needs, and

existing HR practices. It also appraises the

current sector-specific education provision

and the resultant work readiness of students

graduating from these programmes. The

findings of the nine strands of research

provide a snapshot of Laos’ tourism landscape

and evoke a number of topical HR issues and

challenges prevalent in the sector, which are

summarised below.

Tourism Sector Characteristics

The LNTA (Lao National Tourism Adminis-

tration) estimates that there are some 3,124

registered private sector establishments in the

Lao tourism sector, many of which are

members of either the Lao Association of

Travel Agents (LATA) and the Lao Hotel

and Restaurant Association (LHRA) (LNTA,

2011).

During two separate interviews for Strand 4

research, common needs emerged from the

leaders of LATA and LHRA in respect to the

macro-level needs of their members. These

include: a greater variety of industry training

programmes, improvements in the quality of

the existing sector-education provision, and

increased awareness by the government and

the community of the importance of tourism

as a generator of national income and a

creator of jobs. The organisations responded

positively to any initiatives to improve

human resources in the tourism and hospital-

ity sector, such as Project LAO/020.

Strands 2 and 3 provide evidence that the

majority of businesses are small and medium

sized enterprises (SMEs) with 73.2% of the

317 companies surveyed reporting to be

family-run businesses with fewer than ten

employees. 16.4% of surveyed firms reported

being foreign-owned, but locally managed

and 8.5% reported being joint ventures. The

gender ratio is nearly 50/50 with women pre-

dominant in the following positions: recep-

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tionist (52%), reservations (75%), cashier

(66%) and housekeeping (100%). Meanwhile

representation at senior management level is

male dominated. Males also reportedly have

higher levels of education. Young people

under the age of 24 occupy three out of the

five dominant tourism-sector positions,

namely: receptionist, reservationist and

cashier.

In terms of women and ethnic minorities,

the focus groups organised under Strand 8

indicate that in rural areas they tend to have

greater tourism-related opportunities than

men. This is due to the fact that women

engage in a variety of activities along the

tourism supply chain such handicraft

production that provide women with greater

possibilities for self-employed. For jobs that

are directly related to tourism, such as hotels

and restaurants, it the focus groups indicated

that gender stereotypes and prejudices limit

women’s access to higher and more diversified

positions in the tourism sector.

Assessment of Current Workforce andDesired Graduate Profile

Many owners/managers of companies sur-

veyed for Strands 2 and 3 raise concerns

about the inadequacies of their current staff

and note that employees have insufficient

skills (69.1%) in a general sense and insuffi-

cient language skills (71.9%) in particular. A

quarter of those surveyed report employees

are not sufficiently committed to their work.

This is combined with a generally low under-

standing of the world both in Lao terms and

with reference to the world from which their

visitors arrive. Further concerns relate to train-

ability and a willingness of staff to take aboard

what they are told to do and how to do it.

There is a perception that advice has to be

repeated continually and that workers are

highly sensitive to criticism.

The research also provides insight into the

characteristics that companies are looking for

in employees and provides a baseline for edu-

cation providers in developing their desired

graduate profile according to industry needs.

These include: foreign language skills, practi-

cal experience, computer literacy, interperso-

nal skills, basic knowledge, a good work

ethic and a positive attitude towards work.

Employment Practices

Strand 1, 2 and 3 research indicates that pro-

fessional HR managers are not the norm in

Laos’ hospitality and tourism businesses.

Dedicated HR personnel were found in only

21 out of the 317 hospitality and tourism

firms surveyed (7%).

Recruitment procedures appear to be fairly

standard considering the high ratio of SMEs.

77% of owners/managers report simply

waiting for employees to “walk in” to seek

employment. 61.2% count on their relatives

to fill vacancies and 42.3% find their employ-

ees through friends’ recommendations. Larger

companies or foreign managed companies

tend to use additional means such as advertise-

ments and recruitment agencies, particularly

for management positions.

The research highlights that three main cri-

teria are critical for employers when recruiting

staff. Those with the highest response fre-

quency include: language skills (57.7%), per-

sonality traits (15.4%) and professional

experience in the tourism sector (6.6%). Aca-

demic qualifications relating to the tourism

sector are identified by just 5.3% of employees

as a main criterion. This, as will become

evident, has serious ramifications for the

relationship between industry and education

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providers and is a real indictment of the exist-

ing education provision in the country.

In terms of contracts, more than half of the

surveyed companies (52.4%) do not have all

of their staff under contract. Meanwhile

82.6% of companies report having job descrip-

tions for all positions in their establishments.

In regards to salaries, the research points to

a tourism sector that is relatively well devel-

oped in terms of its systems, and is competitive

in terms of payments made to employees at all

levels. The research shows that 65.6% of the

companies do have a salary and grading scale

for all employees. The average salary in the

tourism industry is between 500,000 and

1,000,000 Lao Kip per month (approximately

US$60–120). Additionally, many tourism

sector employees earn extra money from tips,

service charges, incentives and commissions.

On the topic of career paths and appraisal

systems 84.9% of surveyed companies feel

that they offer good career paths to their

staff. However, given the SME dominance of

tourism businesses, the extent to which mean-

ingful career development is possible is ques-

tionable. Complementary to claims about

career paths, 73.2% of companies report

having a formal appraisal system, but it is dif-

ficult to see how this can work effectively given

the scale and scope of the businesses involved.

Current Training Practices and Needs

According to the outcomes of Strand 2 and 3

research, 52.4% of firms surveyed conducted

some sort of training activities, of which

53.9% reported moderate change in their

employees’ subsequent performance. The

most common forms of training include: on-

the-job training, use of in-house trainers, in-

house training with foreign consultants and

external training. Employers, especially small

businesses, report a preference for training

staff themselves in-house. Yet when compa-

nies need to train management staff on

general subjects such as HR and tourism man-

agement, there is a preference to send them

abroad. This is due to the lack of quality train-

ing options available in Laos for both basic

and specialised topics. Large businesses

prefer on-site training with foreign consultants

and exchange training programs with other

businesses, either in-country or abroad, while

SMEs show a clear preference for public train-

ing providers and public tourism schools due

to cost factors.

As for future training, 72.8% of the compa-

nies surveyed indicated a readiness to pay for

all employees while 26.1% will pay only for

management staff. Preferred training topics

include: HRD/HRM (77.6%), receptionist

(62.4%), hotel management (56.7%) and

tourism management (53.6%). In general,

tourism businesses show a readiness to pay

for training with a preference for short-term

training, participatory workshops, evening

training, training on weekends or during low

season with qualified teachers and high train-

ing standards. Many employers are hesitant

to invest too much in training due to the high

employee turnover rate.

Existing Hospitality and Tourism EducationProvision

The research in support of Strand 7 indicates

that the Ministry of Education is the primary

provider of post secondary education. The

MOE operates a national network of 21 tech-

nical and vocational education and training

(TVET) schools, eight teacher-training col-

leges, and three universities. There are also a

number of private schools scattered through-

out the country offering certificate, diploma,

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bachelor and master degrees. Tourism edu-

cation is widely offered through this public

and private school system in Laos, but is gen-

erally considered ineffective in producing the

quality of graduates desired by the country’s

hospitality and tourism industry. None of the

hospitality and tourism education providers

report having accreditation with any recog-

nised international college or university. All

hospitality and tourism schools suffer from

inadequate practical facilities and a lack of

Lao language instructional material. There

are estimated to be fewer than 100 hospitality

and tourism teachers in the country and they

generally possess a low level of practical

skills and theoretical knowledge.

Strands 5 and 6 research show that students

perceive TVET schools as preparing them

better for jobs in tourism as compared with

private school students, at least for jobs that

require few qualifications. The number of

public tourism school graduates attaining a

job in the tourism sector is higher than that

for students in private tourism schools. Stu-

dents from public and private schools

compete for the same jobs, yet students from

private schools have more difficulties finding

work in the hospitality sector. As students

from vocational public schools have more

practical training, they find jobs more easily

than private school students. Out of 292 stu-

dents surveyed, only 18% found a job in the

tourism sector.

In fact, very few sector workers appear to

have any formal education or training. Based

on responses of SME owners and managers,

only 42 (.72%) of the estimated 5,831 employ-

ees working at 317 companies surveyed have

any sort of degree from a hospitality and

tourism education programme, indicating

that tourism schools may be providing more

employees to other economic sectors than to

hospitality and tourism industry. There

appears to be low awareness among owners

and managers of available sector education

programmes and a general consensus that the

current education provision does not meet

the private sector’s demand for skilled labour.

Donor Aided Project with a Tourism HRDComponent

Under Strand 9, a number of notable projects

were identified through desk research including

the review of project documents and work

plans. On a national level, organisations such

as the Asian Development Bank (ADB), New

Zealand Aid (NZAid), the German Develop-

ment Cooperation (DED), Netherlands Devel-

opment Organisation (SNV) and the World

Bank’s International Finance Corporation

(IFC) have or have had projects with a tourism

sector-related HRD component. The ADB sup-

ported Mekong Tourism Development Project

and Sustainable Tourism Development Project,

with its train-the-trainer and regular industry

training initiatives in the Lao provinces,

seemed to be the most embedded and widely

accepted of these projects in terms of HRD.

On a regional level, Southeast Asian

countries have agreed to develop common com-

petency standards for tourism professionals

and a common tourism curriculum with the

goal of mutual recognition of tourism pro-

fessionals within the region. The programme

is being implemented under the auspices of

the Association of Southeast Asian Nations

(ASEAN) with Australian Aid (AusAID) pro-

viding initial financial and technical support.

Conclusions

A number of HR-related issues and challenges

endemic to Laos’ tourism industry emerge

through the research findings. If not remedied,

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Laos’ tourism sector runs the risk of not

achieving its anticipated role in contributing

to the country’s economic and social develop-

ment. They can be summarised as follows:

. The quality and scope of the country’s exist-

ing education and industry training pro-

vision is insufficient to meet the hospitality

and tourism industry’s current and future

labour needs:. Improvements in service quality are required

to improve Laos’ destination competitive-

ness and sector profitability;. There appears to be demand by tourism

enterprises for a variety of short term flexible

training options;. The existing workforce is deficient in on-the-

job skills, motivation, problem solving abil-

ities, and general communication;. Existing hospitality and tourism education

programmes at the diploma and bachelor

level face a myriad of challenges ranging

from a lack of qualified instructors to substan-

dard instructional materials and facilities; and. The hospitality and tourism industry is per-

ceived as low paying and there is a general

lack of awareness among young people of

available career opportunities in the sector.

To remedy these issues and challenges, sys-

temic changes are required in how tourism is

coordinated, marketed, planned and regulated

in Laos. The HRD Strategy 2010–2020,

which was co-authored by the author of this

paper, outlines three strategic pillars that can

augment improvements in tourism sector

service quality (LNTA, 2009).

Pillar One: Public Sector Leadership

Pillar One of the Strategy reasserts the impor-

tance of public sector institutions, such as the

LNTA, to promulgate policy initiatives

aimed at improving sector service quality, sus-

tainability and profitability. The Strategy calls

for developing a skilled pool of sector human

resources among the existing and future work-

force. It is also recognised that broad national

awareness of tourism’s positive and negative

impacts by the greater community is impera-

tive. In short, if tourism is to become a

means of economic and social development

in Laos, then greater attention must be given

in tourism plans to the needs of industry and

residents alike. In a country like Laos this

can only effectively be done through strong

public sector involvement, which should be

spearheaded by the LNTA and involve all

levels of the Lao Government (LNTA, 2009).

Pillar Two: Stakeholder Collaborationand Coordination

Pillar Two recognises that a consultative

process should exist that is inclusive of

various government departments at the

national and provincial level, public and

private development cooperation partners,

the private sector at the enterprise and associ-

ation level, and the education community. It

proposes the formation of a HRD Implemen-

tation Commission with broad stakeholder

engagement. Only through this sort of an inte-

grated approach to HRD will Laos be able to

enhance service quality and thereby enhance

its visitor profile and achieve higher tourism

revenues (LNTA, 2009).

Canada and the Republic of Ireland provide

good examples of best practice in this sort of

destination level HRD collaboration.

Through a co-ordinating body known as the

Canadian Tourism Human Resource Council

(CTHRC), the planning and execution of

training and development of human resources,

A Case Study: Enhancing Laos’ Tourism Sector Performance 11

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as well as the setting of standards and certifica-

tion, and the advocacy of tourism human

resource development issues are affected har-

moniously at Canada’s national level. In

Ireland, CERT was established in 1963 and

functions as the state agency formally respon-

sible for the recruitment, education and train-

ing of personnel for all levels of the hospitality

and tourism industry (Amoah and Baum,

1997).

Implementation of this type of consultative

body in Laos requires clear recognition of the

roles of each of the stakeholder partners in

relation to workforce development; identifi-

cation of potential synergies that may exist

between various partners and stakeholders;

sharing of resources and responsibilities; and

ultimately to the development of inclusive

action and work plans. To ensure continued

transparency and momentum, it is suggested

that this consultative body should meet on a

quarterly basis in an open public session to

report on progress in implementation of

common HRD initiatives. There should be a

designated moderator and part of the session

devoted to direct dialog with the stakeholder

community, where questions can be answered,

ideas gathered, objections noted and

addressed, and a sense of co-operation fos-

tered.

Pillar Three: Development of SectorEducation and Training Provision

Pillar Three calls for responding to industry

HRD needs through various education and

training initiatives aimed at improving skills

and competencies among the existing work-

force, while preparing the future workforce

with the requisite knowledge, skills and atti-

tude required by the service sector in the

future. This necessitates significant and sus-

tained investment in both hardware and soft-

ware supportive of destination HRD.

Education and training currently being pro-

vided in Laos’ public and private education

institutions needs dramatic improvement in

terms of teacher quality, curriculum design,

delivery methods and adaptation to industry

needs. Industry sees the current education pro-

vision as being not practical enough and deliv-

ered by teachers who have neither the

necessary industry work experience nor the

skill base. At the same time, many employers,

and the industry associations express a strong

interest in becoming involved in curriculum

development, and in initiatives to strengthen

the links between companies and educational

institutions. However, the current feeling is

that instead of a partnership, there is a lack

of willingness from the public sector, giving

the impression that the education system is

focusing on the quantity rather than quality.

In short, the quality of hospitality and

tourism training and education initiatives in

Laos require significant improvements in

quality if industry HR demand is to be sated.

Accomplishing this entails developing a com-

petency based industry-training programme

that is nationally recognised by all tourism sta-

keholders; enlarging hospitality and tourism

curricula at the diploma, bachelor and post-

graduate levels to be better aligned with indus-

try employment demands; increasing the

capacity of Lao teachers and trainers; and

developing national and provincial centres of

excellence dedicated to sector education and

training.

If all Lao tourism stakeholders were to

follow this approach to destination HRD and

engage in earnest in their respective roles,

then there is a distinct possibility that by

2020 the sector can produce a billion dollars

in export revenue with a wide scope of benefi-

ciaries.

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