Laos Aims To Develop Tourism Industry

The Lao government has put forward a number of incentive policies for the tourist industry and increased its investment in the sector in an effort to raise the number of visitor arrivals in the country, Lao news agency (KPL) reported.

In 2009, the Lao government approved 16 projects for restaurants and hotels with a total investment of US$44 million.

The number of businesses investing in restaurants and hotels has substantially increased, placing the tourism sector in the top five sectors to receive the largest amount of investment in Laos, totalling US$235 million during the 2001-2009 period. At present, Laos has 357 hotels and over 1,120 resorts and restaurants.

In addition to investment in upgrading its infrastructure and attracting more tourists to the country, the Lao government has also exempted visas for citizens from Japan, the Republic of Korea, Russia and almost all Asean countries. The government is also considering visa exemptions for tourists from European countries.

In the first six months of the 2009-2010 year, Laos has recorded nearly one million foreign tourist arrivals, up by 10 percent over the previous year's same period.

Sourced=bernama