VENTAJAS Y DESVENTAJAS DE CADA PROGRAMA

6.1.1 Economic corridors’ impacts on tourism

The tourism stakeholders’ interview results showed that 82 percent of the stakeholders agreed that the economic corridors have benefited the tourism sector in the country, nine percent of stakeholders said tourism will get benefits in the future but have not received them yet and the remaining nine percent disagreed with the statement. Following the development of the economic corridors and implementation of the GMS Cross Border Transport Agreement, tourism became an important sector in the Lao PDR attracting a significant number of international visitors. Feeder roads’ development, and infrastructure improvements such as tourist sites development and airport upgrades, helped Lao PDR tourism to grow significantly.

Table 6.1 shows the stakeholders’ perceptions of the economic corridors’ contribution to Lao PDR tourism. Eighty six percent of the interviewed stakeholders reported that the economic corridors have provided easy access for international visitors and 59 percent believed that the economic corridors have reduced travel and transportation time for the visitors. Similarly, 46 percent of the stakeholders reported that visitors are curious to experience untouched tourist sites by land routes and 41 percent believed that more businesses, such as hotels, restaurants, shopping centres and tour operators, are setting up along the economic corridors. Overall, the tourism stakeholders’ interview results revealed that the economic corridors have enhanced the visitors’ accessibility to the Lao PDR.

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Table 6.1 Stakeholders’ perceptions of the benefits of the economic corridors to Lao PDR tourism.

Benefits of economic corridors to Lao PDR tourism Percentage

agreement (n=22)

Easy access to visitors by economic corridors 86

Reduced travel and transportation time 59

Visitors are curious to know untouched sites by land route 46 More businesses are setting up along the corridors like hotels,

transportation and tour operators 41

Increased domestic and international investments in the tourism sector 27 Development on educational and socio cultural aspects of residents

along the corridors 23

Source: Tourism stakeholders’ interview, 2009

Easy access is directly related to tourism growth because such accessibility facilitates the transportation of tourism goods and the movement of visitors within the country. The interviewed stakeholders reported that, after the opening of the economic corridors, a lot of tourism products and visitors moved across the GMS countries including caravans going into Thailand, Lao PDR, China and Vietnam along the economic corridors. One of the senior managers of the LNTA commented on the benefit of the economic corridors as follows:

“Visitors used to stay overnight in Lao PDR because of poor road conditions in the country. However, following the economic corridors development, visitors pass by Lao PDR either to Vietnam or Thailand and minimum economic activities are taking place from visitors in Lao PDR. Maybe in future the corridors will benefit Lao PDR tourism if the country develops more tourist destinations along the corridors to engage the visitors. Currently, majority of Thai, Chinese and Vietnamese visitors use their own vehicles to cross Lao PDR so the Lao transporters do not benefit significantly either.”

6.1.2 Socio-economic impacts of tourism in Lao PDR

Table 6.2 shows the interviewed stakeholders’ perceptions of the tourism impacts on society, communities and the economy of the Lao PDR. Ninety one percent of the interviewed stakeholders believed that tourism is an economic gain to society and rural communities and 36 percent regarded it as an opportunity to build capacity in the tourism sector. A significant number of the interviewed stakeholders (77%) perceived that tourism benefits included creating employment for people and 55 percent said that tourism had empowered women and ethnic minorities in the country (see Table 6.2). The results also showed a significant number of visitors from Thailand, China and Vietnam who used their own transport, spent a few days

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in the Lao PDR and refuelled the vehicle in their own country, which results in relatively less expenditure from the visitors in Lao PDR.

Table 6.2 Stakeholders’ perceptions of tourism benefits to society, community and economy of the Lao PDR.

Benefits of tourism to society, community and the economy Percentage

agreement (n=22)

Economic gain to society/local people 91

Employment generation 77

Empowerment of women and ethnic minorities 55 Incentives to preserve environment and cultural assets whose value is

hard to estimate 50

Has transversal impacts in different economic sectors 50 English language proficiency and exposure to outside world 50

Opportunity for capacity building 36

Lao PDR exports have risen 18

Source: Tourism stakeholders’ interview, 2009

The interviewed stakeholders said that the Lao PDR tourism sector has provided a number of benefits to the society and community. For example, handicraft and souvenir products produced by local people are bought and consumed by international visitors. The interviewed stakeholders indicated that local and ethnic minorities are empowered and have started to manage community-based tourist destinations throughout the country. Further, in the Lao PDR, tourism is an opportunity for people residing in rural areas to develop themselves and to have access and exposure to the outside world.

6.1.3 Types of businesses developing along the economic corridors

Table 6.3 shows the interviewed stakeholders’ perceptions of the types of tourism businesses developed along the economic corridors in the Lao PDR. The results revealed that 96 percent of the stakeholders indicated that the accommodation sector benefitted most from the development of the economic corridors compared with 64 percent for the local handicrafts industry (wood carving, weaving and souvenirs-producing sectors) followed by 55 percent for the transport sector. In addition, 50 percent of the stakeholders believed that tourism-related small and medium scale businesses also benefitted from the economic corridors.

The types of small and medium scale businesses along the economic corridors in Lao PDR include guesthouses, tour operators, restaurants and service stations. There are foreign investors investing in big hotels in the country. For example, there is a casino and five-star hotel called Savan Vegas, owned by Thai investors, along the EWEC in Savanakhet, which receives 5,000 visitors every week and employs around 500 local people. Similarly, along the

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NSEC in Boten, Chinese investors have established a border trade zone including a casino, recreation centre and hotels. The interviewed stakeholders reported that visitors from GMS countries spend comparatively less time and money in the country. The results are also supported by our 2009 visitors’ expenditure survey, where GMS visitors spend less in the Lao PDR (see Table 4.4). This is because Lao PDR is regarded as a secondary tourist destination in the GMS (Harrison & Shipani, 2007).

Table 6.3 Stakeholders’ perception on the types of tourism businesses taking place along the economic corridors in the Lao PDR.

Types of tourism businesses Percentage agreement (n=22) Rank

Hotels and accommodation 96 1

Local handicrafts, souvenirs 64 2

Transport, travel/tour agencies 55 3

Gas stations and shopping centres 50 4

Other small and medium scale businesses 41 5

Source: Tourism stakeholders’ interview, 2009

Table 6.4 shows the stakeholders’ perceptions of the major linkages and impact of the tourism sector on the different economic sectors of the Lao PDR. The great majority of interviewed stakeholders (91%) said that the accommodation sector benefitted most from tourism followed by the agriculture and food manufacturing sector. Seventy seven percent of the interviewed stakeholders believed that the handicraft industry also benefitted and 68 percent said the tourism sector had significant impacts on the restaurant and food manufacturing sectors. Sixty four percent of the stakeholders believed that growth of tourism in the country contributed to the transport and communication sector followed by retail trade sector (59%).

Table 6.4 Stakeholders’ perceptions of the major linkages and impacts of the tourism sector on the different economic sectors of Lao PDR.

Major linkages and impact of tourism to different economic sectors Percentage

agreement (n=22)

Accommodation/hotel sector 91

Agriculture and food manufacturing 82

Handicraft industry 77

Restaurants 68

Transport and communication 64

Wholesale and retail trade 59

Awareness to conserve nature and preserve cultural identity 50 Financial sector (banking, insurance, etc.) 46

Construction and real estate business 32

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In terms of imports for the tourism sector, the interviewed stakeholders (73%) suggested that the Lao PDR’s tourism sector was “heavily dependent” on imports, and 18 percent of the stakeholders said the sector was “mostly dependent” on imports of foreign goods and employees. The I-O results also revealed that the multiplier leakage ratios of the tourism sector were estimated as 28 percent in 2008 and 24 percent in 2003 (see Chapter 4).

The Lao PDR relies on imported luxury goods and food and beverages but recently many food products and handicrafts were supplied domestically to the tourism sector. Foreigners who work in the country’s tourism sector are in top hotel management, tour agencies and advisors or experts to the national tourism board. Most of the foreign workers are from Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, China, Vietnam, USA and Europe. The interviewed stakeholders acknowledged that the country needs to engage more foreign workers to improve service standards, develop quality tourism products and improve hospitality expertise. The interview results revealed that the country’s local agricultural products are mostly organic but the production scale is small. Local producers cannot supply food products regularly to the hotels and restaurants and the sector has to rely on imported goods. During the interview one interviewed stakeholder commented:

“Employing foreign experts and importing tourism goods are not major problems for the Lao PDR. There is also a significant amount of domestic products consumed in the tourism sector. However, if the country prioritizes on nature based tourism or ecotourism; the country can reduce the dependency on foreign workers and employ more local people. At this stage, foreign workers in the tourism sector are essential for imparting knowledge, the transfer of technology and improving the hospitality skills of the Lao tourism professionals.”

6.1.4 Positive and negative impacts of Lao PDR tourism sector

Table 6.5 shows the interviewed stakeholders’ perceptions of the major socio-economic impacts on the tourism sector in the Lao PDR. In terms of positive impacts, 82 percent of the interviewed stakeholders reported that tourism brought positive impacts such as income generation for the community people and 86 percent believed that it is a good source of foreign currency earnings for the government. Further, 68 percent of the interviewed stakeholders claimed that tourism has encouraged the community to develop an understanding of and preservation of their culture and history in the country.

In terms of negative impacts of the growing tourism sector in the country, 77 percent of the interviewed stakeholders believed that the Lao people are slowly adopting new cultures and 64 percent claimed that the residents were duplicating unacceptable behaviour from visitors,

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which is harmful to the society (see Table 6.5). The interviews also identified other negative impacts such as increased prostitution and human trafficking (59%) and the country becoming a cheap holiday park among the GMS countries (55%).

Table 6.5 Stakeholders’ perceptions of the major socio-economic impacts of tourism in the Lao PDR.

Positive impacts Percentage agreement(n=22)

Foreign currency earnings for government 86 Income generation for community people 82 Understanding and preservation of own culture 68

Openness and exposure 55

Increased production of agriculture and manufacture goods 41

More investment (domestic and foreign) 32

Negative impacts

Adaptation of new cultures among residents 77 Destruction of natural resources/heritage (carrying capacity) 68 Bad behaviour from tourists (drugs, alcohol, half naked) 64 Growing prostitution, human trafficking 59 Becoming a cheap holiday destination in the region 55 Increased criminal behaviour among residents 27

Source: Tourism stakeholders’ interview, 2009

One of the major negative impacts is on the cultural and natural heritage sites in Luang Prabhang, where it has reached the point of not accepting more international visitors. Because the main attractions of the country are cultural and natural heritage sites, stakeholders were concerned that these heritage sites will be adversely affected with limited resources and management effort from the Lao PDR government.