VIENTIANE, 21 May 2018: Asian Trails Group’s managing director in Laos, Philippe Conod, retires, 6 June, after a career in tourism spanning 38 years.
He has worked with Asian Trails Laos since 2017 and headed the company successful restructuring in Laos.
Commenting on his retirement plans, Conod said he would spend around half the year in Laos and the summer months in Switzerland.
In the meantime, Asian Trails Laos announced the appointment of Virginie Kury as general manager of its Laos operations effective 16 May.
She will report directly to Thuy Tien, who will assume the role of managing director for both Vietnam and Laos. She has been with the company for four years and began her career as French market manager at Asian Trails Thailand.
“Philippe’s endeavours to bring Asian Trails Laos to new heights has tremendously elevated our overall operations in all aspects,” Asian Trails CEO Laurent Kuenzle said.
This is Conod’s second attempt at retiring from the travel industry. He left the industry in 2012 and later returned to shore up Asian Trails’ operations in Laos.
He leaves at a time when inbound tourism in Laos faces many challenges including a decline in tours from Europe, which was the core source market for the country’s package tour business until recently.
“The country is facing many challenges like high prices, while quality of services is diminishing,” he told TTR Weekly. (There is a) “lack of qualified staff in all branches connected with tourism and also language issues.”
Conod has seen a marked drift from western markets to Asia where revenue earned is less than for European markets.
