The Laos Hotel & Restaurant Association (LHRA) and Singapore Hotel Association Training & Educational Centre (SHATEC) signed an MoU at ATF last Wednesday, which will see the latter providing training services to Laos’ hospitality workforce.
“The hospitality industry, and tourism arrivals into Laos, are both growing, so we need to increase the capacity and quality of our services,” Oudet Souvannavong, president of LHRA, told TTG Asia.
Later this year, SHATEC’s trainers will head to Vientiane to coach local staff over a period of three to six months, depending on each trainee’s skill level.
The curriculum will include structured learning modules in hospitality English, service delivery and excellence, soft skills and MICE programmes. SHATEC will also offer consultancy services to LHRA’s members.
Oudet elaborated: “In Laos, education for hospitality is not very well-developed. The government has a number of schools for hotels and tourism, but these institutes don’t provide enough (training) to meet the growth rate of the hotels. Hoteliers are lacking staff and the turnover rate is very high – 40 to 50 per cent.”
Ultimately, the partnership aims to empower the local workforce to pass the skills and knowledge acquired on to subsequent staff, ensuring a “sustainable” business model for the local industry, shared Margaret Heng, SHATEC’s chief executive.
