Published on : Monday, January 28, 2019
The government had set a target of five million tourist arrivals last year and an income of $900 million; however, as per the latest estimate, only 4.18 million people visited Laos.
The final figures are yet to be presented, according to the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism.
The number of people visiting Laos last year increased by 8.2 per cent compared to 2017, and most tourists came from Thailand, Vietnam and China.
The number of tourists from Thailand increased by seven per cent compared to 2017, with visitor numbers from China increasing by 26 per cent. In contrast, the number of visitors from Vietnam dropped by three per cent.
The average number of tourists from the Asia-Pacific region increased by about nine per cent compared to 2017, going up from 3.63 million people to 3.94 million people.
Tourism is one of Laos’ major economic strengths. In 2015, Laos received 4.6 million visitors, which generated $725 million, but dropped slightly a year later in 2016, earning $724 million from 4.2 million tourists.
Improving the tourism sector will help Laos gain much-needed additional revenue.
The growth of the tourism sector is also integral to the development of tourism-related infrastructure, such as airports and road links.
Tags: Laos expects tourism