Hospitality training course opens registration

The Lao National TourismAdministration (LNTA) and the government of Luxembourg on Friday made available application forms to the public for participation in a training of trainers course in hospitality and tourism. The government of Luxembourg has funded the recently launched LAO/020 project, which seeks to assist the Lao hospitality and tourism industry through the LNTA by strengthening human resources to support the burgeoning Lao tourism industry.

A critical element of the project is to build a National Tourism and Hospitality Training Centre in Vientiane which will become the centre of best practice in hospitality and tourism training in Laos.The project hopes to open the training centre in 2010.

“We welcome all applications from people interested in becoming teachers or trainers in hospitality, whether in hotel and restaurant services, as chefs, or in other areas,” the Luxembourg Agency for Development Cooperation Hospitality training course opens registration Chief Technical Advisor, Mr Peter Semone, said at a pressconference held at the LNTA on Friday.



He explained they would select 60 applicants for a one week hospitality and training skills workshop in Vientiane in November. Then the project would select the best 20-25 trainees from the course to train those who attended subsequent courses.

“We need trainees who are genuinely interested in the hospitality and tourism industry, so we will select the only the best,” Mr Semone explained.

The project will also offer courses in intensive English language training in January 2009, in technical skills in hospitality at the Alexis Heck Hotel School in Luxembourg in mid-2009, and hotel management programmes in leading Asian hospitality and tourism schools from 2009-2010. The project may also invite candidates to participate in higher degree programmes in 2010 and beyond.

“In support of the training centre, the project will recruit 20 outstanding individuals to become part of the training centre’s core team. Successful applicants will be invited to participate in a long term training and development programme which will culminate in employment at thetraining centre in 2010,” Mr Semone said.

Mr Semone said he believed the centre would be the best place to upgrade Lao services to match the needs of the increasing number of tourists visiting the country each year. The LNTA reported that 1.7 million visitors visited Laos last year, more than in previous years. Mr Semone said half of the tourists were from European or Western countries so Laos needed to upgrade the quality of services and tourism facilities on offer. “The training centre will play an important role in supporting the development of skills and experience in this sector.”