Graduates of ‘China Ready’ Programme ready to support tourism businesses in Lao PDR

Four representatives from the Ministry of Information Culture and Tourism (MICT) have been awarded the ‘China Ready’ Certification Award by the China Outbound Tourism Research Institute (COTRI) after successfully completing the ‘China Ready’ training programme. The specialised programme, delivered online, provides tourism businesses with insights into the Chinese visitor and how to meet their cultural service and culinary needs, as well as marketing techniques to support businesses to win business from the post-COVID-19 Chinese market.

The Vocational Education and Skills Development Adviser from the Skills for Tourism Project, Mr Phouvanh Phommalangsy presented the Awards to Mme Darany Phommavongsa, Ms Bouavanh Soukhathammavong, Ms Douangchay Phothichack and Mr Lae Keoluangta, congratulating the graduates on becoming recipients of the ‘China Ready’ COTRI Certification Award. Mr Phommalangsy stated that “the ‘China Ready’ training has come at a critical and urgent time for the tourism sector as it prepares to reopen its doors to the post-COVID-19 Chinese travel market”.

Accepting the certificate, MICT Director General of the Tourism Management Department, Mme Darany Phommavongsa said, “The impact of COVID-19 on the tourism sector has been devastating. China has one of the fastest-growing outbound travel markets in the world and the Chinese market may be the key to the recovery of the tourism sector in Lao PDR. This training equips the MICT to work with tourism businesses across the country to help them capitalise on this growth by training them in how to meet the specific needs of the Chinese visitor”.

“It is important that those in the tourism industry are ready in terms of how to deal with Chinese tourists,” noted Ms Bouavanh Soukhathammavong, Technical Officer, Institute of Mass Media, Culture and Tourism (IMCT). “The ‘China Ready’ Programme provides a very good professional platform helping non-Chinese individuals and businesses to better welcome, understand and engage with Chinese visitors”.

IMCT is rolling out the China-Ready Training Program to tourism businesses across Lao PDR. Focusing mainly on four key areas – cultural awareness, industry specific information, language and promotion of the Chinese market, – participating tourism businesses will be better prepared and equipped to welcome the Chinese tourism market and meet its expectations.

Mme Darany Phommavongsa concluded, “with many challenges on the horizon for the tourism industry, including uncertainty around post-COVID-19 recovery, IMCT is urging businesses to focus on the potential that China, as the biggest outbound tourism market in the world, can offer. Tourism businesses can now prepare to become ‘China Ready’ to ensure that they will be ready to extend a warm, safe and personal welcome to Chinese visitors”. Upskilling training on ‘China Ready’ is offered to tourism businesses by IMCT with support provided by the Skills for Tourism Project.

Since 2017 the Skills for Tourism Project has been providing capacity building opportunities to over 100 staff from the Ministry of Education and Sports, Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare and Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism.

The Skills for Tourism Project is co-financed by the Governments of Lao PDR, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and Switzerland, and is implemented by the Ministry of Education and Sports of Lao PDR and LuxDev, the Luxembourg Development Cooperation Agency.

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