Senior officials from the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism, and Booknea, meet for the Booknea App Travel Presentation. - VT
VIENTIANE (Vientiane Times/Asia News Network): The Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism is considering partnering with Booknea Inc, an online Lao travel agency, to foster the growth of tourism by advertising services through the Booknea app.
For several years, advertising and the provision of information in the tourism sector has not developed to the best advantage of both tour operators and tourists themselves because of a lack of cooperation between the state and private sectors, the Director General of the Tourism Management Department of the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism, Darany Phommavongsa, said.
She was speaking at a presentation given by Booknea to explain the advantages of its app, which enable tourists to access a range of services online.
“It is clear that the direction and plans of the company are in line with goals to improve tourism.”
“Using this app, we will publish, advertise and circulate information about the travel industry in order to spur the development of tourism and benefit from digital applications,” she said.
Use of the Booknea travel app will enable the tourism industry to develop further. The government views this as a useful form of cooperation to promote business growth and socio-economic development in general, she added.
“The app will enable us to merge our tourism development policy with modern methods of advertising and online use, and will be an efficient way to deliver information to tourists.”
Director General of the ministry’s Mass Media Department, Somsavath Phongsa, talked about the importance of cooperation between Booknea and the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism.
He said they shared the same goal to develop tourism in modern ways through the use of online systems.
“Of course, when it comes from within Laos, people from other countries will definitely use the app and be able to learn about the tourism services on offer here,” Somsavath said.
Booknea is a Lao app that offers a choice of cheap hotel prices, buses, and trains, all of which can be obtained by downloading the app
