Reopening Laos to Sustainable Tourism: Making It Lasting

Working with local companies, the "Lasting Laos" campaign and the SUSTOUR Laos Project promote sustainable travel and aid in the Lao economy's recovery from the financial blow caused by the Covid epidemic.

Many modern visitors today attempt to reduce their carbon footprints by choosing more environmentally friendly means of transportation, housing, and food, in addition to comfort and price. A small but physically diversified country, Laos is home to three UNESCO world heritage sites and some of Southeast Asia's most pristine natural beauty. The country offers tourists a range of destinations and activities, from bustling cities to serene waterfalls and old cultural monuments. The decline in international travel has nearly completely reversed.

The SUSTOUR Laos Project, sponsored by the European Union and carried out by Plan International, carries out the "Lasting Laos" campaign. Laos is assisting neighborhood businesses through these challenging times. Globally and especially in Laos, the COVID-19 epidemic has had a significant negative impact on the travel and tourism sector. SUSTOUR has aided Lao suppliers in seeing how the pandemic's "downtime" and the closing of borders might create profitable possibilities for enterprises to set themselves up for the future. While it was difficult to travel internationally starting in 2020, SUSTOUR collaborated with the Lao Visit Lao initiative to encourage internal travel.

The Lasting Laos campaign on Facebook and other social media platforms help to spread local word-of-mouth advertising that motivates more businesses to sign up for the program for themselves. The changes that businesses make to their practices as a result of meeting certification requirements are frequently "win-win" scenarios for the environment and the businesses themselves.

Budget restrictions prevented many Lao enterprises from realizing their aim of teaching staff members sustainable best practices. Due to this, incentives to encourage suppliers' attendance at these seminars include free registration fees, encouraging training and coaching for a full year, involvement in sustainable community service, and networking opportunities. While achieving sustainability targets is the primary purpose of the program, the coaching and training that are offered throughout the year frequently go above and beyond those standards to offer advice that promotes the growth of organizations more broadly.

SUSTOUR courses will provide doors to exceptional hospitality prospects for select people. Successful applicants will be invited by SUSTOUR to an industry conference on travel and hospitality in Singapore in September 2022. SUSTOUR gives those successful businesses the opportunity to acquire additional cutting-edge techniques from their counterparts overseas by paying for their travel and registration expenses. When these experts return to Laos, their accomplishments will help to promote the SUSTOUR initiative so that it may expand and benefit the country's economy and environment as a whole.