Remove restrictions on tour operators, official says

Forcing tour operators to submit a list of visitor names to tourism police before taking tour groups on trips violates the Tourism Law, a senior government official has said.
The Tourism Police Department has continued to impose the requirement, which was mandated under previous regulations revoked by Article 103 of the law promulgated in 2013, Director General of the Tourism Management Department, Bounma Phetsavong, told Vientiane Times yesterday.

His department has submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism with recommendations to address the issue and other hindrances faced by tour operators.
Tour operators have long complained about this imposition as well as the multiple checkpoints set up on roads by police, and inappropriate charges.    
However, the Tourism Police Department said the current procedure was more straightforward compared to the previous one, and that it was necessary for security reasons.
Director General of the department under the Ministry of Public Security, Colonel Khitthavong Souliya, told local media recently that submitting a list of visitors’ names helped prevent blacklisted persons from entering Laos. Nationals from more than 20 countries are prohibited from entering Laos for various reasons. The lists, he added, would also help police with their efforts to regulate foreigners as many people entering the country as tourists did not return home but sought jobs in Laos instead.
The colonel dismissed reports alleging his men were imposing fines on tourists but said they had fined tour operators and guides who were violating the law. Some tour operators were found to have invalid business licences or employing foreigners without a work permit, while some tour guides were unlicensed.
However, Mr Bounma appeared to be unconvinced, saying “Lao embassies in foreign countries already have the names of blacklisted individuals so these people will not be given entry visas.”
Immigration officials at border crossings also have access to the names of blacklisted persons, and will not issue them a visa on arrival.
This means that foreigners who are granted entry visas should be able to travel in Laos freely except in some prohibited places.
Tourists also had the right to use the services of tour companies or travel independently around Laos, Mr Bounma said.
He underlined the need for all stakeholders to closely work together to tackle the problem, noting that there were many sectors involved. Invalid business licences were regulated by the industry and commerce sector, work permits overseen by the labour and social welfare department, and unlicensed tour guides managed by tourism authorities, Mr Bounma added.
Tourism authorities have been pushing for solutions to the problems they face, hoping to attract and facilitate more international visitors as Laos has suffered a decline in foreign tourist arrivals in recent years. However the number of tourist arrivals rose last year which was promoted as Visit Laos Year 2018.
Laos received 4.18 million foreign tourists last year, an increase of 8.2 percent compared to the year before.
Visit Laos-China Year 2019 is currently being advertised by both nations to lure more visitors from China and beyond.

By Souksakhone Vaenkeo
(Latest Update April 25, 2019)