From Vientiane, Laurent Granier, director of the local travel agency Laos Mood Travel, member of the Nomadays collective, shares his professional daily life and the current situation in Laos at the time of coronavirus.
"We will keep the agency alive with whatever means we have, among business partners, like in our early days when we lived by making do, community and family solidarity, and on our savings."
"2020 was shaping up to be a great year for our team of 15 Laotian and French collaborators. We were looking forward enthusiastically to October 10th, which would mark our 10 years of existence.
In Laos, the busiest season of the year runs from October to April. So when we first heard about coronavirus in early January, we were in full swing, operating the trips we had organized a few months earlier.
Like all agencies, we faced our first cancellations. Between managing postponements and cancellations of bookings, there were also operational emergencies to handle for visitors on site. Borders were closing, access was becoming more restricted to Vietnam and Thailand (the 2 main entry and exit gateways to Laos), and certain contradictory information changed daily. Our operational managers and travel advisors did a tremendous job persuading our last visitors to cut short their vacations and go home. Laos was also preparing for a total "lockdown". Our last travelers left on March 21st.
As of March 20th, all schools and all non-essential services were closed. Then the stop of international flights, cross-border road routes, inter-provincial bus and van services. Laotian workers who returned from Thailand by land were quarantined in makeshift camps: public facilities under medical supervision. No more visa issuance, ban on public alcohol sales from April 13th to 20th.
The festivals and festivities of the Laotian New Year in mid-April were also canceled. We entered the Lao Buddhist year 2563 in a confidential manner, in all intimacy, practicing worship only from our homes.
The lockdown in Laos is extended until May 3rd. At Laos Mood Travel, we decided to continue teleworking until May 18th. Life is getting by as best it can around "home schooling", Zoom and WhatsApp conferences, Messenger, Skype chats, etc. And we only go out for essentials: access to care and food shopping.
Our agency is a small business with no debt. We manage money responsibly. Also, with a few major concessions, we can hold on until the end of June. Beyond that and without revenue, we will keep the agency alive with whatever means we have, among business partners, like in our early days when we lived by making do, community and family solidarity, and on our savings. While we await more visibility and are able to operate again. And especially to rehire our collaborators, and get the tourism economy going again which is suffering in silence.
Where will we be on October 10th, 2020 for our 10 years? How many will we be? For now we are living day by day, impossible to answer with certainty, except for the fact that we will continue to exist. We think of our collaborators, families, friends, local partners, clients, colleagues… and we thank them all for their support in these troubled times. Let's keep hope."
