Laos Aims to Attract 4.6M Tourists Next Year
Source: Xinhua News
The Lao government is preparing for Visit Laos Year 2024 and expects to attract at least 4.6 million visitors next year, which will generate a revenue of 712 million U.S. dollars.
It is anticipated that more than half of this number of tourists will be foreign nationals, who will spend over 400 million dollars, Lao News Agency (KPL) on Monday quoted Lao Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism Suanesavanh Vignaket as saying.
To fulfil this goal, the government will promote the Southeast Asian country’s most colorful festivals to attract visitors, such as the That Luang Festival in the Lao capital Vientiane, the Lao New Year celebrations, and celebrations in northern Luang Prabang province to mark the end of Buddhist Lent.
The Lao Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism also has 25 other provincial activities lined up for the Lao Event Tourism Calendar. The ministry is submitting these plans to the government for approval.
The Visit Laos Year 2024 tourism promotion is aimed at bringing more foreign tourists to Laos and creating jobs for people across the land-locked country while bolstering foreign currency earnings.
The ministry is partnering with tour companies and airlines to draw up a list of suitable activities for tourists and select a logo and theme to promote Visit Laos Year 2024, with the final selections to be made by the end of July 2023.
In November and December 2023, the ministry will hold a press conference and the opening ceremony of Visit Laos Year 2024.
During Visit Laos Year 2018, visitor arrivals topped 4.1 million, up 8.2 percent compared to 2017. During Visit Laos-China Year 2019, Laos welcomed 4.58 million international tourists, representing an increase of nine percent over 2018.
Laos recorded about 1.29 million tourists in 2022. It welcomed more than 1.1 million foreign visitors in the first four months of 2023, an increase of 204 percent compared to the same period in 2022, according to a report.
