Post by LUD on Sept 16, 2005 22:55:57 GMT -5
Milking the cash cow
A minibus driver, restaurant owner or even a hotel gardener all proudly talk about the distinction of living in a world heritage site. They tell you their hometown Luang Prabang is different from any of the other sites designated by Unesco. ``We live in it,'' the gardener at the Grand Hotel told me as he trimmed the grass. He owns a simple wooden house wedged between two boutique lodges that have been spruced up internally with modern plumbing and rooms plucked out of a hospitality magazine.
His street is currently under renovation funded by a grant. Rough concrete slabs and stretches of mud and rubble are being replaced with small red bricks pavestones clearly designed to maintain that heritage look.
In the cool winter months his street will be packed with international travellers who stroll through old Luang Prabang admiring its quaint wooden houses and ornate temples.
They may stop at one of the open-front terrace restaurants where the smell of freshly ground local coffee beans drifts on the cool morning air. Usually a mist covers the town at dawn as a line of saffron-robed monks from all the town's temples walk through the streets. Led by the eldest monk who is reportedly in his 80s, possibly 500 monks pass by the main street and riverside lanes where residents and tourists pay respect. Only sticky rice is presented in this traditional daily sai bat alms-offering procession. Households deliver curries, meat, fish and fruit directly to the temple later in the morning.
After 10 years sporting World Heritage status, Luang Prabang residents know what makes their town different. Cambodia's Angkor Wat might be more famous but no one lives there any more. It's a memorial to a golden era long past, hoteliers and travel agents point out. ``Here in Luang Prabang the culture lives on.''
Surprisingly Luang Prabang's 15th century temples continue to maintain the religious traditions in a land that since the '70s adopted a ******** creed.
But despite the traditions, its residents are savvy enough to know there is ample revenue to be earned from heritage. They agree that only 12-seat minibuses should be allowed in the old town leaving the larger tour buses waiting outside the town for the trips to Vientiane. They even accept that buildings should be limited in height to just two storeys. But that doesn't mean that behind the facade of old wooden buildings living in a heritage town is uncomfortable.
A survey of the tiny wooden residences converted into boutique guesthouses reveals an investment that is not far from what you would expect to find in a four-star hotel room. Accommodation comes with satellite TV, fancy spa-like bathrooms, soft, comfortable beds and furnishing. The only giveaway is the slant of the wooden floors and perhaps a few creeks and groans of the ancient timbers as you tread the stairs or hallways.
Some of the purists boast that their guesthouses are not TV or wireless enabled. While most of the rooms are air-conditioned the emphasis is on escaping CNN and BBC for a few days for the pleasure of a good novel read from the comfort of a wooden rocking chair.
Riverside guesthouses are perhaps the most deceiving in appearance. From outside they defy the engineering report that probably forecast structural failure in just weeks. They are rickety with uneven floors and stairs winding to a maze of rooms none of the same dimensions.
Immediately an hotelier from the Holiday Inn or Inter-Continental stables would dismiss the properties as an impossible mess to manage. Switches are not in the right places and despite everyone paying the same US$100 a night, the rooms differ quite significantly even on the same floor. It means potluck for the guest. Or you adopt the old-fashioned technique of checking out all the vacant rooms before actually signing in.
If there is a drawback it's the fact that many of the estimated 2,000 rooms in small hotels and guesthouses are not that easy to book. Of course, the most popular ones are featured on the Internet web sites such as Asiarooms.com or Hotelclub.com (Asiahotels.com), but that still leaves many of the most attractive small guesthouses relying on chance _ the walk-in or repeat guest. At this time of the year that's not a problem as most of the hotels and guesthouses are lucky if they can report 10% occupancy. But from November through to end of April, hotels and guesthouse owners report there's not a bed to be found in this old town. They can charge US$200 to US$400 a night from tiny rooms overlooking the river to an opulent suite on a hill. If the travel entrepreneurs of this town have a failing, it's the natural arrogance that season after season of success brings. Rates float on success rising to very limit of consumer tolerance.
To celebrate its success as the only ``living heritage site,'' Luang Prabang's provincial authority is organising a 10-year anniversary to mark its Unesco designation.
Set for November 28-30, the town will open the courtyard of its National Museum, formerly the royal palace, for a grand dinner and cultural celebration.
Set in a courtyard directly in front of the royal temple, VIPs will be hosted for dinner while the town handicrafts will be on display at the adjacent night bazaar.
According to city hall officials, this will be the first time that the National Museum will be opened for a social function. But it won't be the last.
In April 2006, tourism investors and representatives from the six countries of the Mekong region will meet for the inaugural Mekong Tourism Roundtable. Luang Prabang's governor and the Lao National Tourism Administration will host the 150 tourism executives again at the National Museum courtyard against the backdrop of the town's most famous landmark.
An inaugural event, the Mekong Tourism Roundtable will bring together in Luang Prabang, tourism-related investors looking for business ventures in the six member countries and government representatives who can identify the opportunities and procedures.
Many of the options presented at the roundtable will follow on from the Asian Development Bank Mekong Region Strategy, a US$750,000 10-year plan that identifies hundreds of viable tourism projects ripe for private investors.
The options span the Mekong region members _ Yunnan and Guangxi in China, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Burma (Myanmar).
Source: Bangkokpost newspaper
A minibus driver, restaurant owner or even a hotel gardener all proudly talk about the distinction of living in a world heritage site. They tell you their hometown Luang Prabang is different from any of the other sites designated by Unesco. ``We live in it,'' the gardener at the Grand Hotel told me as he trimmed the grass. He owns a simple wooden house wedged between two boutique lodges that have been spruced up internally with modern plumbing and rooms plucked out of a hospitality magazine.
His street is currently under renovation funded by a grant. Rough concrete slabs and stretches of mud and rubble are being replaced with small red bricks pavestones clearly designed to maintain that heritage look.
In the cool winter months his street will be packed with international travellers who stroll through old Luang Prabang admiring its quaint wooden houses and ornate temples.
They may stop at one of the open-front terrace restaurants where the smell of freshly ground local coffee beans drifts on the cool morning air. Usually a mist covers the town at dawn as a line of saffron-robed monks from all the town's temples walk through the streets. Led by the eldest monk who is reportedly in his 80s, possibly 500 monks pass by the main street and riverside lanes where residents and tourists pay respect. Only sticky rice is presented in this traditional daily sai bat alms-offering procession. Households deliver curries, meat, fish and fruit directly to the temple later in the morning.
After 10 years sporting World Heritage status, Luang Prabang residents know what makes their town different. Cambodia's Angkor Wat might be more famous but no one lives there any more. It's a memorial to a golden era long past, hoteliers and travel agents point out. ``Here in Luang Prabang the culture lives on.''
Surprisingly Luang Prabang's 15th century temples continue to maintain the religious traditions in a land that since the '70s adopted a ******** creed.
But despite the traditions, its residents are savvy enough to know there is ample revenue to be earned from heritage. They agree that only 12-seat minibuses should be allowed in the old town leaving the larger tour buses waiting outside the town for the trips to Vientiane. They even accept that buildings should be limited in height to just two storeys. But that doesn't mean that behind the facade of old wooden buildings living in a heritage town is uncomfortable.
A survey of the tiny wooden residences converted into boutique guesthouses reveals an investment that is not far from what you would expect to find in a four-star hotel room. Accommodation comes with satellite TV, fancy spa-like bathrooms, soft, comfortable beds and furnishing. The only giveaway is the slant of the wooden floors and perhaps a few creeks and groans of the ancient timbers as you tread the stairs or hallways.
Some of the purists boast that their guesthouses are not TV or wireless enabled. While most of the rooms are air-conditioned the emphasis is on escaping CNN and BBC for a few days for the pleasure of a good novel read from the comfort of a wooden rocking chair.
Riverside guesthouses are perhaps the most deceiving in appearance. From outside they defy the engineering report that probably forecast structural failure in just weeks. They are rickety with uneven floors and stairs winding to a maze of rooms none of the same dimensions.
Immediately an hotelier from the Holiday Inn or Inter-Continental stables would dismiss the properties as an impossible mess to manage. Switches are not in the right places and despite everyone paying the same US$100 a night, the rooms differ quite significantly even on the same floor. It means potluck for the guest. Or you adopt the old-fashioned technique of checking out all the vacant rooms before actually signing in.
If there is a drawback it's the fact that many of the estimated 2,000 rooms in small hotels and guesthouses are not that easy to book. Of course, the most popular ones are featured on the Internet web sites such as Asiarooms.com or Hotelclub.com (Asiahotels.com), but that still leaves many of the most attractive small guesthouses relying on chance _ the walk-in or repeat guest. At this time of the year that's not a problem as most of the hotels and guesthouses are lucky if they can report 10% occupancy. But from November through to end of April, hotels and guesthouse owners report there's not a bed to be found in this old town. They can charge US$200 to US$400 a night from tiny rooms overlooking the river to an opulent suite on a hill. If the travel entrepreneurs of this town have a failing, it's the natural arrogance that season after season of success brings. Rates float on success rising to very limit of consumer tolerance.
To celebrate its success as the only ``living heritage site,'' Luang Prabang's provincial authority is organising a 10-year anniversary to mark its Unesco designation.
Set for November 28-30, the town will open the courtyard of its National Museum, formerly the royal palace, for a grand dinner and cultural celebration.
Set in a courtyard directly in front of the royal temple, VIPs will be hosted for dinner while the town handicrafts will be on display at the adjacent night bazaar.
According to city hall officials, this will be the first time that the National Museum will be opened for a social function. But it won't be the last.
In April 2006, tourism investors and representatives from the six countries of the Mekong region will meet for the inaugural Mekong Tourism Roundtable. Luang Prabang's governor and the Lao National Tourism Administration will host the 150 tourism executives again at the National Museum courtyard against the backdrop of the town's most famous landmark.
An inaugural event, the Mekong Tourism Roundtable will bring together in Luang Prabang, tourism-related investors looking for business ventures in the six member countries and government representatives who can identify the opportunities and procedures.
Many of the options presented at the roundtable will follow on from the Asian Development Bank Mekong Region Strategy, a US$750,000 10-year plan that identifies hundreds of viable tourism projects ripe for private investors.
The options span the Mekong region members _ Yunnan and Guangxi in China, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Burma (Myanmar).
Source: Bangkokpost newspaper