Lao tourism to generate USD435m this year

The Lao tourism industry expects to generate foreign exchange of US$435 million this year, according to recent forecasts by the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism.

The ministry’s Tourism Development Department unveiled the latest tourism industry growth projections this week, showing that the number of tourist arrivals in 2012 will reach 2.9 million, representing an increase of about 6 percent over 2011.

The increase in tourist arrivals in 2012 is anticipated to generate foreign exchange inflows of about US$435 million, an increase of about 7.3 percent over 2011, making tourism the second largest foreign exchange earner in Laos after mining.

Other top five foreign exchange earners for Laos are hydro-electric power, garment production and timber and agricultural products.

According to the department, about 2.7 million tourists visited Laos in 2011, generating an estimated US$406 million. Tourist arrivals in 2011 were up 8 percent over 2010.

Of all tourist arrivals, about 1.5 million tourists visiting Laos in 2011 were from Thailand, about 561,000 from Vietnam, 150,000 from China, 50,000 from the United States, 44,000 from France, 37,000 from Japan, and 35,000 from the United Kingdom.

Korean tourist arrivals numbered 27,000 in 2011, while Australian and German arrivals numbered 31,000 and 21,000 respectively for the same period.

The number of tourists from Vietnam, the Republic of Korea and Japan saw remarkable growth of 30 percent, 27 percent and 11 percent respectively in 2011. However, the number of tourists from Thailand saw only four percent growth while tourists from China even saw a 7 percent drop.

Tourist numbers from the United States and France saw minor changes, with 0.62 percent growth and a 0.99 percent drop respectively. The number of tourists from Australia represented a year-on-year increase of 4 percent; the corresponding figure for German tourists was -6 percent.

The Tourism Development Department also reports that in 2011, Vientiane received the most tourist arrivals (1,154,501) followed by Savannakhet province (1,124,905); Vientiane province (469,978); Champassak (393,921); and Luan g Prabang (274,506).

The provinces receiving least visitors were Xekong in the southeast, at 21,465, and Saravan, also in the southeast, at 21,985.

With regard to points of entry, the most popular entry point was the Lao-Thai Friendship Bridge linking Savannakhet in Laos and Mukdahan province in Thailand. This bridge experienced 752,825 crossings, with most of those transiting to/from central Vietnam.

The second busiest point of entry was the Lao-Thai Friendship Bridge linking Vientiane and Thailand’s Nong Khai province with 743,361 crossings, which was followed by the Dansavanh checkpoint on the Lao-Vietnamese border, the gateway to Danang and Hue cities in Vietnam, with 190,518.

Wattay International Airport in Vientiane had 179,242 entries and Huayxai, the entry point into Laos after crossing from Thailand’s Chiang Rai province to the R3A Road linking w ith Kunming, China, had 138,763. Luang Prabang Airport welcomed 89,500 tourists in 2011, it was revealed.

Source - laovoices