25th SEA Games, Laos

Hotel rooms are still available for SEA Games fans and visitors who want to cheer for their sports stars, even though many hotels are close to being fully booked.

Many hotel owners in Vientiane told Vientiane Times yesterday their rooms were almost all reserved, while some said they were already full.

Vientiane is the main venue for the games' official delegates and sports fans coming to Laos for the SEA Games, which are scheduled from December 9-18.

Hotel, Guesthouse and Restaurant Association member Bouloud Viengviseth said rooms in about 70 percent of hotels that are members of the association have been booked by official delegates.

Being tasked to host official delegates means these hotels are almost fully booked, he said, adding that the association has more than 40 member hotels and another 40 member guesthouses.

The capital has 118 hotels with 4,207 rooms, including 898 rooms that have been reserved for official delegates from foreign countries, according to the Vientiane Tourism Department.

However, hotel rooms to be reserved for Lao delegates have yet to be confirmed, said a department official.

Vientiane also has 184 guesthouses with 2,750 rooms, which can accommodate up to 4,000 people. However, many of these rooms have already been reserved.

Both hotels and guesthouses can accommodate about 10,000 guests, including those rooms already reserved for some 1,255 official delegates.

The tourism official was unable to say what percentage of this accommodation had already been booked as individuals have booked through many channels, so the information could not be collated.

“We don't know the exact number of visitors who have booked so far. Some booked through travel agencies,” the official said.

Many people also booked by themselves on the Internet or by telephone.

The Lao National Tourism Administration estimates that about 60,000 tourists will come to Vientiane throughout December, including those passing through on their way to the provinces.

Though the number of visitors to the capital during the games might exceed the available accommodation, the administration's Vice President, Mr Sila Mounthalavong, believed Vientiane will be able to cope.

H e said many visitors might stay only for a few days, while some will just pass through and travel to other provinces.

Lao Association for Tr avel Agents President, Mr Bouakhao Phomsouvanh, said several thousand tourists from Asean nations are in or on their way to Vientiane for the regional sporting event.

Officials said many SEA Games visitors would stay with relatives during their time in Laos .



By Souksakhone Vaenkeo

The travel agencies in Vientiane were not able to reserve any room from any of the four and five-star hotels here, so that they could not entertain the requests from the big groups of SEA Games tourists who demanded to be housed in such high-end hotels.

This is because the SEA Games organising committee had ?blocked? or reserved all such rooms for their VIP guests.

The reservation manager of the Lao Youth Travel, located in Vientiane?s glitzy ?Khemkhong,? Mr Thonglith Thammavong told KPL News last week that he had hotel reservation requests from SEA Games tourist group, as many as 200 to 300 person groups from Malaysia and Vietnam, but he had to turn them down.

He added that he had made counter offers to them, for provision of rooms in one, two and three-star hotels, but as they were bent on being housed only in the most luxurious hotels in Vientiane and so he was not able to do any business with them.
While he felt sad at having to forego such lucrative business deals, but he was not deterred by the setback as he knew he could rely on the traditional tourist business and tourist arrivals to this capital city had been trending upwards for the past three weeks.

Working out in his mind on a gamut of tactics to tackle the new and novel situation, he decided on a plan of action to best serve the tourists during the SEA Games period.

He would advise them to fly from Bangkok to Luang Prabang (north) for a two or three-day stay and then relocate to Luang Namtha (north) for just one night. The next stage would be to fly from Luang Namtha to Pakse (southernmost Champassak province) for a four-night stay.

Another class of tourists, Mr Thonglith mentioned were the second tier ones who would be happy to stay in one, two and three-star hotels and any of the local travel agencies would be able to cater to their accommodation needs.

One source of business, he mentioned, would be those SEA Games tourists who come in small groups, who would not demand to be housed in five star hotels and he could house them in the second tier hotels.

Last but not least he said he would offer to help the loner or twosome walk-in tourists during the SEA Games period, by offering to house them in guest houses that charge 10 to 15 USD per night.

This is the fourth of the series of a journalist?s walkabout in Vientiane?s tourist belt to source for ?stories? from the tourist outlets, with emphasis on their modus operandi.

It so happened that the walkabout period coincided with the coming SEA Games and so this journalist walked into a travel agency.

Vientiane authorities are readying accommodation, food and tourism services for guests and athletes visiting Laos for the 25th SEA Games in December.

The capital will provide accommodation for about 4,000 athletes, and is making sure international-standard hotels and top end guesthouses are ready for visitors.

The Vientiane Tourism Department held a meeting at the National Culture Hall on Friday to discuss the preparations, as well as public security and public health.

The meeting was attended by Vice Vientiane Mayor and Vice President of the Lao SEA Games Organising Committee (LAOSOC), Mr Somvandy Nathavong, LAOSOC officials and staff from the department, hotels and guesthouses.

Mr Somvandy asked businesses to help in providing accommodation, food and tourism service during the games, which he said was a historical event for Laos .

He said Laos was satisfied its political stability would enable sound public security.

The Tourism Department has asked for more than 2 billion kip to redecorate and clean accommodations and provide food and tourism services.

Officials will check 12 hotels to make sure their standards are adequate. Hotels in five districts are still under construction but will be finished before the games. Officials will also inspect athletes' accommodation at the National University of Laos.

They will hold a meeting for businesses to respond to the call to support the SEA Games' effort and will continue checks of hotels and guesthouses for VIP guests, to be conducted by the Lao National Sports Committee and sports federation officials.

The Tourism Department will publish a Vientiane Tourism Guide Book and will hold two training courses for management staff in hotels, guesthouses and restaurants.

Hotels, guesthouses and restaurants in Vientiane will all be spruced up, with staff to wear traditional costumes to welcome guests and put Lao culture on display.

All sports venues, hotels, guesthouses, tourist facilities and other places will be tightly secured.

Public health officials will promote the need for cleanliness and hygiene and check the food provided by hotels, guesthouses, restaurants and markets in Vientiane for athletes and visitors.

Mr Somvandy said the games offered a good opportunity to develop human resources and businesses and for the Lao people to receive foreign guests.

He was confident the services offered would be up to international standards.

He advised business operators to take advantage of the event by putting up the price of rooms in hotels and guesthouses and raising meal prices.

The games represented the work of the Lao people and they should unite in hosting the event, he said.

The health unit would award certificates to restaurants if it could be determined they cooked clean food. Public health officials said they lacked money to buy some of the equipment they needed to carry out their work.

By Sangkhomsay Bubphanouvong
Vientianetimes