A research study submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Business Administration, School of Management

Research Studies Project Report (M.B.A.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2000

In the stronger competitive climate in the region, Lao PDR needs to develop all its business .. sectors to be able to cop with the world economy advancement. Moreover, the change in the nature of employment towards more knowledge-based, greater skill and empowerment is now more required than ever before. Human resources are becoming the key aspect of the most dynamic and challenging of all business development in Lao PDR; Tourism is one of the main pillars of national economy, which provides the significant national revenue in all countries, especially in developing countries like Lao PDR where the natural resources and its particular life style are attracting the tourists from around the world. Hotels have the major role in order to support the tourism by providing the accommodation facilities to the international guest who are far away from and contribute much to the tourism industry growing. There is the rapid rise of the hotel business in the country for responding to the tourism demand. Unfortunately, on the basis of the findings of the interview and the survey, at the present, the hotel industry in Lao PDR still needs to prepare its manpower and human resource management system for improving the service quality and develop the hotel industry to be in the hotel international standard. Therefore, the objective of this research is to find and suggest the most appropriate patterns of human resource development in the hotel industry in Lao PDR in order to develop the manpower performance and improve the quality of the services in the industry.