Some Lessons Learned for the South Central Provinces, Lao People's Democratic Republic

communication, culture, history, foreign languages, tour guides, etc. for human resources as well as those directly serving the tourism industry.

Third , focus on disseminating, introducing and popularizing laws on tourism and organizing activities to guide the implementation of these legal documents from the provincial to grassroots levels.

Fourth , the work of innovation and equitization of state-owned enterprises has been given attention and implemented according to plans and strategies to improve the health and efficiency of state-owned enterprises in the tourism sector.

Fifth , creating inter-sectoral, inter-regional, and inter-national connections in tourism activities, between localities and the central government in tourism management and development has had positive changes.

Sixth, maintain continuous control over tourism activities to create market stability, create awareness of legal discipline in tourism activities in the provinces to promote tourism business activities.

2.3.5. Some lessons learned for the South Central provinces, Lao People's Democratic Republic

From research and experience surveys of Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and the northern provinces of Laos, the following lessons can be drawn for the South Central provinces of Lao PDR:

Firstly, continuously improve production relations through building strategies - planning - plans, having synchronous solutions and creating an open and transparent environment to increase attractiveness for investors.

Second, strongly promote the development of productive forces by strengthening management, improving professional qualifications and quality of human resources in the tourism industry, at the same time, modernizing information and communication technology, propaganda, and promoting tourism domestically and internationally. In the current period and the next 10 years, there should be mechanisms and policies to prioritize and encourage the training of high-quality tourism human resources to serve the tourism industry well, especially for the South Central Coast tourism region.

Third, focus on investing in infrastructure systems and technical facilities serving tourism and upgrading tourism resources in accordance with specific and comprehensive planning for each stage and period.

Fourth, diversify and develop many types of tourism and diversify tourism products, especially those with unique local characteristics, to increase attractiveness and attract more tourists.

Fifth, strengthen the connection and coordination between relevant parties: government, businesses, people and actively coordinate and link with domestic and foreign organizations on the work of preserving cultural and historical relics and protecting the environment.

Sixth, overcome emerging weaknesses in tourism activities such as: encroachment on natural landscapes, environmental pollution, social evils, etc. to create a clean, civilized, polite and sustainable tourism environment.

In short, tourism is a service industry with its own unique characteristics. The advantages from tourism are huge, have a pervasive effect, and contribute to solving many problems such as capital, employment, income, and social stability. Based on the research on tourism development experiences in the northern provinces of Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, and Singapore, the lessons learned about success and emerging problems are very meaningful for tourism in the South Central provinces to develop better and better. However, in the application process, it is necessary to pay attention to the specific characteristics of the country and the region to propose appropriate perspectives and development policies to bring about higher tourism efficiency.

Chapter 3

ECONOMIC STATUS OF TOURISM IN THE SOUTH CENTRAL PROVINCES OF THE LAOS PEOPLE'S DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC

3.1. NATURAL, SOCIO-ECONOMIC CONDITIONS AFFECTING THE TOURISM ECONOMY OF THE SOUTH CENTRAL PROVINCES OF THE LAOS PEOPLE'S DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC

3.1.1. Natural conditions

- Geographical location: The South Central provinces are located between the Mekong River and the Truong Son mountain range; a narrow strip of land, extending along the banks of the Mekong River. The South Central region has a total area of ​​52,952 km2 ( accounting for about 22.36% of the country's area), bordering 2 countries; the East borders Vietnam, the West borders Thailand, the South borders Salavan province, the North borders Xay Som Bun province, Xieng Khouang and the capital Vientiane.

- Regarding climate and weather: This is also a factor that has a significant impact on tourism. Climate creates each type of weather and is one of the factors that determine the seasonality of tourism activities. The climate in the South Central provinces includes two sub-regions, the hot and humid western plains, the cool and pleasant eastern midland mountains. The highest temperature is 40.5 0 C, the lowest is 5.6 0 C, the average for the whole year is 26.3 0 C. The weather in the South Central provinces is divided into two distinct seasons: dry season and rainy season. The dry season is from November to April, the rainy month is from May to October. Rainfall

The average is 2,853 mm/year. The most suitable time for tourism activities is from November to March, when the weather is cool. This is the most favorable condition for tourism development in the region.

- Regarding hydrology: the South Central provinces share the characteristics of the entire Lao territory with a dense river network. Ten major rivers flow through this area, namely the Mekong River, the San River, the Ka Ding River, the Thon River, the Bang Phay River, the Hin Bun River, the Cham Phon River, the Bang Hieng River, the La Nong River and the Xe Pon River, of which the most important is the Mekong River - the largest river in Southeast Asia. The Mekong River originates from the Tibetan plateau (China) and flows through the territories of five Southeast Asian countries (Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam) and then flows into the East Sea. The part flowing through Laos from North to South is 1,660 km long, of which the part flowing through the South Central provinces is about

545 km. The Mekong River is an important waterway for Laos in general and the South Central provinces in particular. The river network in this area is quite developed, providing hydroelectricity and aquatic products for the people, providing irrigation water for crops and being important waterways contributing to tourism development.

- About natural resources:

+ Land resources: In the South Central provinces, land resources are very diverse in species and there is a large area of ​​unused land. Land resources include: alluvial soil, flooded soil, river sand, saline soil, acidic soil, red-yellow soil, infertile soil... favorable for the development of agriculture, forestry and livestock farming.

+ Water resources: The South Central region has abundant rivers and water supplies, favorable for building river ports, fishing and aquaculture, and can meet the daily needs of residents.

+ Forest resources: In the South Central region, there are very rich and diverse forest resources, which are considered one of the great strengths for developing the forestry industry. This region has many high-quality trees such as: incense trees, rosewood trees, red trees... which have provided an important part of wood and forest products for export abroad.

+ Mineral resources: The South Central region is rich in valuable mineral resources such as gold, copper, lead, anthracite, limestone, and kaolin, which are exploited in large quantities in this region.

From the above characteristics, it can be seen that the South Central provinces have very suitable geographical conditions for the economic development of the South Central region, especially in the tourism industry, creating favorable conditions for the people of the South Central region to promote creativity, contributing to promoting human strength in the socio-economic development process of the South Central region.

3.1.2. Political, economic and social conditions

Political conditions: Under the wise leadership of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party and the Lao PDR, the two main tasks are to continue to preserve and develop the country. The South Central provinces, thanks to the efforts of Party committees, authorities at all levels and ethnic people, have contributed to protecting the "country and local territories". The South Central region has maintained national security and defense,

political stability, social order and safety in the South Central region, ensuring people's peaceful life, production and business activities, creating trust for foreign investors and international tourists to visit anytime, anywhere in the South Central provinces.

- Socio-economic conditions:

Continuing to implement the Party and State's economic innovation policy is: developing a multi-sector economy, operating under a market mechanism under State management, opening up and integrating into the regional and international economy... In the past 5 years, the South Central provinces have actively developed socio-economics, the economy has been continuously developed at a high and steady rate, the growth rate (2016-2020) is about 12.50%, GDP reached 117,077.48 billion kip, equivalent to 23,415.496 billion kip/year, average GDP 19,314,000 kip/person, equivalent to 2,146 USD/person. The economic structure such as: "agriculture, industry and services have a positive shift towards increasing commodity production, closely linking agricultural production with processing industry, applying advanced science and technology to create momentum" for the cause of industrialization and modernization in the future. In the South Central provinces in 5 years (2016-2020), the agricultural sector accounts for 32% of GDP, increasing by 7.22%, the industrial sector accounts for 37.66% of GDP, increasing by 10.88% and the service sector accounts for 30.33% of GDP, increasing by 9.54%. Specifically, see table 3.1.

Table 3.1: Economic structure of South Central provinces (2016-2020)

South Central Coast

Economic structure
Agriculture		Industrial		Service		Total GDP (billion kip)	Average (USD)	Rate (%)
Occupy	Increase	Occupy	Increase	Occupy	Increase
Bo Li Kham Xay	36%	3.5%	34%	10%	30%	8.8%	26,496.34	2,060	11.51%
Kham Muon	21 %	10.76%	45%	10.97%	34%	9.31%	37,571	2,199	12.6%
Sa Van Na Khet	39%	7.41%	34%	11.67%	27%	10.24%	53,010.14	2,181	13.4%
Total	32%	7.22%	37.66%	10.88%	30.33%	9.54%	117,077.48	2,146.66	12.50%

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Source: [79]; [82]; [ 84]

Through table 3.1, the proportion of agriculture, industry and services tends to increase. In terms of growth rate, GDP increases quite steadily each year, and average income per capita still increases each year.

3.2. ECONOMIC SITUATION OF TOURISM IN THE SOUTH CENTRAL PROVINCES OF THE LAOS PEOPLE'S DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC

3.2.1. Current status of productive forces in tourism economy in the South Central provinces, Lao People's Democratic Republic

3.2.1.1. Current status of human resources in the tourism sector in the South Central provinces, Lao People's Democratic Republic

* Human resources in the tourism industry in the South Central provinces, Lao People's Democratic Republic

Developing the tourism economy requires a large human resource with many different levels of qualifications due to the characteristics of the industry and the target customers with very diverse needs.

- The labor force in the tourism industry is divided into 3 groups with different characteristics:

+ Group of workers in charge of State management of tourism: Workers in this group play an important role in building the tourism development strategy of the country and each locality, advising on planning tourism development policies. They represent the State to guide and help create conditions for tourism enterprises to operate effectively; inspect and supervise business activities. Thus, this group performs the task of State management of the development of the tourism service industry, requiring training, fostering and improving professional expertise in the capacity to build strategies, planning, and development plans for the tourism industry; the capacity to understand the tourism industry in particular, and legal documents in general, to carry out the task of inspecting, supervising, and orienting the development of the tourism industry.

+ Group of laborers in the tourism industry: This group of laborers is highly educated, has professional and in-depth knowledge of the tourism industry, has the function of training, scientific research on tourism and plays a huge role in developing human resources in the tourism industry, affecting the quality and quantity of human resources in the tourism industry now and in the future.

+ Business functional labor group: This group of labor accounts for the largest number of laborers in the tourism industry and needs to focus on developing a sufficient number of staff and improving quality.

- The labor force working directly in tourism businesses has different characteristics and roles in the tourism business operation process and is divided into the following 4 basic groups:

+ Group of workers with general management functions but directly related to tourism services: Including heads of economic units of tourism transportation establishments, hotel businesses, tourism travel agencies, as general directors, directors, deputy directors or equivalent positions.

+ Group of workers managing economic tasks: Workers in this group have the ability to analyze current or upcoming problems in their business, the impacts of macroeconomic parameters of the economy, affecting their tasks or the business. It includes workers in the finance department.

- accounting; labor in the investment and development planning department; general department, labor in the equipment and materials department, labor in the human resources management department, etc. Thus, the tasks of labor in these departments are to organize the enterprise management apparatus, organize business accounting, organize business activities, organize labor, and determine the scale and growth rate of the enterprise.

+ Functional labor group ensures business conditions of tourism enterprises: In this group, laborers include environmental sanitation workers; security guards; goods supply staff, electricity and water repair staff; janitorial staff... in companies or tourism enterprises. They do not directly provide products and services to tourists, their task is to provide necessities and working means for workers in other departments of the enterprise.

+ Group of workers directly providing services to customers: Workers in this group are those who directly participate in the tourism business process, directly providing services and serving tourists. This group of workers is very large, belongs to many different professions and requires professional expertise. In hotels, there are workers in housekeeping; reception; table; beverage and food preparation, etc. In the tourism business, there are workers in tourism program management, tour guide and

tourism marketing etc. In the tourist transport industry there are workers in the profession of tourist transport vehicle drivers etc.

In recent years (2015 - 2019), the labor structure in the economic sectors of the South Central region has shifted in line with the general economic restructuring of the region, with agricultural labor accounting for 61.72% and industrial labor accounting for 25.41%. In which, service labor has also developed relatively well in each period, accounting for 12.95% of the entire South Central region. For details, see Table 3.2.

Table 3.2: Labor structure in economic sectors of the South Central provinces

South Central Coast

Labor structure in economic sector for 5 years (2015-2019)
General Labor (People)	Agricultural Labor			Industrial Labor			Service labor
	Quantity	Occupy	Increase	Quantity	Occupy	Increase	Quantity	Occupy	Increase
Bo Li Kham Xay	131,901	81,853	57.18%	- 10%	21,652	16.42%	16%	10,413	7.89%	8%
Kham Muon	209,066	186,797	66%	40%	3,868	2%	50%	143	0.06%	5%
Sa Van Na Khet	477,851	415,731	62%	- 4.55%	33,449	6.99%	16.89%	28,671	5%	15.01%
Total	818.818	684,381	61.72%	25.45%	58,969	25.41%	27.63%	39,227	12.95%	9.33%

Source: [79]; [82]; [ 84]

Table 3.2 shows that service labor wages in the South Central provinces tend to increase and develop strongly, but compared to agricultural and industrial labor sectors, the number is still low, especially the number of direct workers is only about 39,227 people, accounting for 12.95% and increasing by 9.33% of the total labor force in other sectors.

Regarding the quality of labor structure, due to the characteristics of the South Central localities, tourism depends heavily on the season, with the peak being the dry season, so attracting highly skilled and good workers to work stably in accommodation facilities and tourism services is very difficult, especially those with university and college degrees. Direct labor is also unstable in employment, only working seasonally and very few workers are trained through school, most of them are unskilled workers, only trained and trained on-site for 3-5 days. To solve this labor problem, the South Central provinces and related sectors have organized short-term professional training for service staff and hotel and restaurant business owners. Through the