Ecotourism Laos has embraced social media by launching a Google Group for donor organizations, government agencies, NGOs and the private sector to exchange information on current projects and issues relating to ecotourism development in Laos. This social media forum allows participants create a new topic or post, reply to a post, start a discussion, or place an announcement. However, no business advertisements are allowed.
The archives keep growing at STDP Laos' Web-based Knowledge Center's Visitor Information library, with the addition of six new items to its expanding inventory of guidebooks, brochures, maps, and information panels produced by the LNTA-ADB GMS Sustainable Tourism Development Project.
Check out these new downloadable publications:
- Champasak Province Poster Map.
- Don Khong (Champasak Province) Information Center Panels.
- Tad Lo (Salavan Province) Information Center Panels.
- Ban Nyor (Oudomxay Province) Interpretive Panel for Natural Cotton Dyeing.
- Ban Nyor (Oudomxay Province) Promotional Brochure.
- Green, Clean, Safe and Friendly Vang Vieng Awareness Materials (Lao Language Poster and Booklet).
Houaphanh Villagers Open Community Lodge:
Villagers turned the key in early March on a community lodge in the Tham La area in mountainous northeast Houaphanh Province's Nakout village in Viengthong District. Villagers, who operate the guesthouse, contributed the construction materials for the USD9,500 sustainable project, and received support from the Asian Development Bank. Learn more about La Cave in the next issue of What's New @ Ecotourism Laos.
Capital Cycling:
Newly established Vientiane ByCycle takes visitors to the capital away from the main tourist sites to experience a side of the city few take time to see. The half-day "Quick Scan" presents a 30-km ride through schools yards, along temples, and into markets, and gives participants the chance to "taste some of the many peculiarities of the Lao kitchen, see and feel the Mekong River and also get a good impression of the 'new rich' in the city and their exuberant estates!" The 6.5-hour "Inside Out" tour follows the Mekong, rumbles over dirt roads through villages, and passes twinkling temples, while also taking in the capital's classic attractions including That Dam, Paluang Temple, and Victory Monument.
For more information, visit: www.vientianebycycle.com.
Tribewanted Seeks Investors for Viengxay Cave Project:
Tribewanted, a UK based for-profit company focusing on growth through partnerships and its online marketplace, is seeking USD250,000 over 18 months to develop and manage Tribewanted Viengxay, in exchange for a 10% equity share in Tribewanted Ltd. The company's mission is to build sustainable community tourism projects in places that benefit locals and inspire visitors, and generate sustainable change within and beyond the village.
For more information, visit: www.tribewanted.com.
To download the prospectus, click here.
To download information on Tribewanted's Viengxay project, click here.
FAO Dines on 5-Star Insect Cuisine:
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) were treated to an insect lunch during a seminar, "Edible Insects for Food and Nutrition Security", at Vientiane's Settha Palace on 29 March. Chef Ralf Haupt created a menu that included insect sushi, ant egg larp, and cricket spaghetti to complement the seminar's theme that insects as food can help combat malnutrition and reduce the demand for producing food for billions of people.
For more information on the FAO, visit: www.fao.org.
To read a summary of the seminar, click here.
Unique Lao Cookbook Hits the Shelf:
"Lao Cooking and the Essence of Life" is now available at Monument Books in Vientiane, Luang Prabang, and Pakse, or online at tropicaldesignfz.net/book. In the 207-page book, with accompanying DVD, Xaixana Champanakhone unveils several recipes for Lao food, and ties the country's top dishes with Lao culture in a personable narrative, while presenting easy-to-follow recipes. "There is to-date no book available about Laos food, which is written with insight, respect, and deep appreciation in discovery of the wonder that is Lao people's attitude to life," said author Xaixana.
For more information, visit: tropicaldesignfz.net/book.
To read an article on the book, click here.
Luang Prabang Goes Online:
Luang Prabang, the renowned UNESCO World Heritage site, has launched a website to provide travelers with heaps of information on natural, cultural, and historical attractions and activities in the province. The site presents a choice of accommodation with a booking engine, restaurants, places to shop, and local tour agents, as well as extensive travel information. Visitors will also find information on the province's history, heritage, handicrafts, and community-based tourism initiatives.
To view the site, visit: www.luangprabang-tourism.org.
Lao Tourism in The News
Mekong Dam Scheme Ignites Controversy:
Construction of the USD3.5 billion Sayabouly Dam on the Mekong River is set to begin, pitting Southeast Asian neighbors against one another and raising a furor among environmentalists. The dam, the first of 11 proposed hydropower development projects along the Mekong, is a cooperative effort between the Lao PDR government and a Thai company. Thai officials say it will bring cheap and plenty of electricity to the kingdom, while Vietnam and Cambodia are opposed to the project, saying it will harm the region's biodiversity and negatively affect the 40 million people who depend on the river for their livelihoods.
The Bridge Construction Bureau of Thailand's Highways Department reported that construction of the third Lao-Thai Friendship Bridge, connecting Thailand's northeast Nakhon Phanom Town to Thakhaek in Laos's Khammouane Province, was ahead of schedule, and the governments are eyeing a late-2011 opening. The bridge aims to boost trade and tourism among Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, and southern China.
The bridge is also part of the Asian Development Bank's East-West Economic Corridor project that links Myanmar to Vietnam's central region via Thailand's Udon Ratchathani Province and Thakhaek. A fourth Lao-Thai Friendship Bridge should be completed in 2014 connecting Chiang Khong in Thailand's Chiang Rai Province to Houei Xai in Bokeo Province and Lao Route 3 to Yunnan, China.
Festivals & Events
Rockets to Rock Laos:
Every May, Lao people across the country gather in fields near their villages to launch homemade rockets during Boun Bang Fai (Rocket Festival). These wood and bamboo projectiles are not glorified fireworks, but true missiles that vanish into the sky, and villages compete for the "best decorated" and the "highest traveling" rocket. The Rocket Festival is held on various dates throughout the country, and it is best to check with provincial visitor centers for the correct days and locations.
For Muang Sing District in Luang Namtha Province, Boun Bang Fai, being held this year on Saturday, 7 May, is the biggest festival of the year, and it attracts people from around Luang Namtha and Bokeo Provinces as well as Yunnan, China. Those attending will not only see spectacular launches, but they can try local food, watch the religious ceremony, mingle with different ethnic minorities, and just plain jump into the party.
For more information on Muang Sing's Rocket Festival, click here.
Celebrating Buddha's Birth:
On Tuesday, 17 June, Buddhists across Laos will gather at local temples or venture to more prominent religious sites to celebrate Boun Visakhaboucha, the birth date of Buddha, with candlelight processions.
For more information, visit: www.tourismlaos.org.
Celebrity Chef Bobby Chinn to Cook Up a Storm at MTF:
Celebrity Chef Bobby Chinn will talk and cook at the Mekong Tourism Forum 2011 (MTF) in the emerging destination of Pakse, Laos, on 27-28 May. Chef Chinn's appearance at the MTF is an ideal fit for this year's theme, 'Destination Mekong: The Making of a Star', as he grew to international fame with Restaurant Bobby Chinn in Hanoi and his World Café Asia television series.
Chef Chinn will appear on 27 May during the Forum in an engaging one-on-one interview on stage. During the Forum's food festival that evening, he will give cooking demonstrations and exchange cooking tips with MTF delegates, who will have the chance to sample Chef Chinn's cuisine. Meet Chef Chinn and find out about tourism in the Mekong region at this year's MTF. A special Early Bird registration fee for the Forum of just USD200 applies until 30 April. From 1 May the full fee of US$300 will be charged.
For more information, Email: [email protected].
To register for the Mekong Tourism Forum, visit:
www.mekongtourismforum.org.
To learn more about Bobby Chin, visit:
www.bobbychinn.com.
Lanith's and Quarterly Symposium Spotlights Social Networking:
Networking, through social media and face-to-face interaction, and its role as a powerful tool for doing business in the travel trade, highlighted Lanith's (Lao National Institute of Tourism and Hospitality) Quarterly Symposium held on Friday, 18 March, in Vientiane. e-Hotel Alliance Managing Director Brinley Waddell kicked off the symposium, noting that social media has changed the way business is done, as it enables open conversations and interaction among travellers and a business. Skål Club Bangkok President Robert John Lee followed by stressing the continued need for traditional forms of social networking.
Lanith Team Leader Education Maeve O'Brien informed participants she recently returned from Singapore, where most of the core teaching team is enrolled in a hospitality certificate programme. Lanith Team Leader Industry Training Mike Loose presented Lanith's "Passport to Success", which targets up-skilling the current workforce through short, mostly half-to-three-day training modules covering "six labour divisions". Lanith Chief Technical Advisor Peter Semone stressed the two-prong education/skill training approach Lanith is taking to meet ASEAN best practices.
For more information, visit: www.lanith.com.
To read the entire press release, click here.
HCMC to Host Mekong Show:
The 7th International Travel Expo Ho Chi Minh City will take place under the theme "Four Nations, One Destination" from 14-17 September, at the Saigon Exhibition & Convention Centre. This year's core theme, "Four Nations, One Destination", reflects Vietnam's aspirations to be the preferred gateway to its Mekong region neighbors: Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar. Organizers hope to attract 11,000 visitors, while the trade component of the show will have 270 booths and around 210 tourism businesses.
Source: Paphada Apimonton
For more information, visit: www.vietnamtourism.gov.vn
Awards
Skal Opens Applications for "Sustainable Development Tourism Awards":
The 80-year-old, Spanish-based Skål International, the largest hospitality networking organisation in the world, is accepting applications through 30 April 2011, for its 10th annual "Sustainable Development Tourism Awards". These awards highlight best practices in tourism around the world and also serve the purpose of acquainting the world with this new concept that emphasizes the importance of the interaction of the physical, cultural, social environment, and traveler's responsibility. The winners will be announced at the 72nd Skål World Congress in Turku, Finland on 19 September 2011. Skål International has more than 20,000 members in its 862 clubs in 85 countries, including 63 clubs in Asia, its fastest growing region,
For more information, visit: www.skal.travel.
To read the entire press release, click here.
To download an application, click here.
