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LAOS - The Academy Training Hotel and Restaurant opens its doors in Vang Vieng
During a ceremony on 2 November 2020, the Vientiane Province Technical College officially launched a new tourism and hospitality practical training facility built at the Vang Vieng campus. The facility, named The Academy Training Hotel and Restaurant, will provide tourism and hospitality students and the teachers with a modern training environment to improve practical skills.
Minister of Education and Sports, Mme Sengdeuane Lachanthaboune highlighted the “greater knowledge, skills, professional attitude and employability” students will gain at the new practical training facility. Photo by: Phoonsab Thevongsa
The Academy Training Hotel and Restaurant is a multi-purpose building offering six guestrooms and a 32-seat restaurant, with services provided by tourism and hospitality students. The five hundred thousand EUR project started in June 2019 and took twelve months to complete.
The Skills for Tourism Project - LAO/029 is assisting the Vientiane Province Technical College to establish the proper operational systems and to build capacity of the management team to enable the college running the training facility in a sustainable manner.
The opening of the new training facility occurs at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic is severely impacting Vang Vieng, a popular tourism destination in the Lao PDR. Director General of the Technical Vocational Education Department of the Ministry of Education and Sports, Mr Nouphan Outsa, stated, “Although the sector has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, Lao PDR will continue to aim for excellence in the provision of vocational and technical education. This training facility highlights that resolve.”
(From left to right) Luxembourg Embassy Charge d’Affaires, Mr Sam Schreiner, Minister of Education and Sports, Mme Sengdeuane Lachanthaboune and Deputy Director of Cooperation from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, Mr Christian Engler, officially inaugurated the Academy Training Hotel and Restaurant on 02 November. Photo by: Phoonsab Thevongsa
Stressing the tourism sector’s proven ability to recover from adversity, Chargé d’Affaires of the Embassy of Luxembourg in Vientiane Laos, Sam Schreiner restated that the donors’ shared vision behind the practical training facility remains unchanged: “improved access to work-relevant education, highly sought-after graduates and standards on par with those expected of an attractive ASEAN travel destination.”
Christian Engler, Deputy Director of Cooperation and Head of Employment and Skills Domain, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, commented: “The Academy Training Hotel and Restaurant represents an important milestone illustrating the fruitful and lasting collaboration between Lao PDR, the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg and Switzerland, which will ultimately facilitate the resurgence of a deeply impacted but resilient tourism and hospitality sector.”
As part of her remarks at the opening ceremony, Minister of Education and Sports, Mme Sengdeuane Lachanthaboune, added that, “By giving students exposure to a real service environment at the Academy Training Hotel and Restaurant, Vientiane Province Technical College will improve the quality of education, as well as ensure that graduates of tourism and hospitality courses acquire the knowledge and skills demanded by the industry”.
The establishment of the training facility builds on the Skills for Tourism Project’s aim of improving training facilities and standards of technical vocational colleges in Lao PDR.
The Vientiane Province Technical College is currently offering two-year programmes in tourism and hospitality that lead to a Diploma in Restaurant Operations or a Diploma in Travel and Tourism. There are over 130 students who enrolled in the academic year 2019, with a similar amount expected to enrol in 2020. The college also offers shorter courses in tourism and hospitality that lead to C1 accreditation.
The Academy Training Hotel and Restaurant expects to welcome Vang Vieng locals and tourists taking advantage of the Lao Thiao Lao domestic tourism marketing campaign and the soon to be inaugurated expressway.
The construction and fitting out of the Academy Training Hotel and Restaurant are co-financed by the Governments of Lao PDR, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and Switzerland, and implemented by the Ministry of Education and Sports of Lao PDR and LuxDev, the Luxembourg Development Cooperation Agency.
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