VIENTIANE (Vientiane Times/ANN): Laos has asked China to advertise Visit Laos Year 2024 through the country’s media channels to ensure that people in China have full access to information about Laos, especially as Chinese tourists are an important market and ranked as one of the main tourists visiting Laos.
The proposal was made at meeting held in Vientiane last week to promote Laos-China tourism and share information about tourism in the two countries, which is part of activities in the Laos-China cooperation forum plan under the Belt and Road Initiative.
Director General of the Tourism Marketing Department, Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism, Khom Douangchantha, said more and more Chinese tourists visit Laos each year and represent a high-spending, quality market.
He suggested that Chinese business operators offer Lao tourism programmes to help Chinese tourists plan a trip to Laos and make Visit Laos Year 2024 a great success, according to the Pathetlao Daily newspaper.
Khom said “In 2019 the Lao government organised Visit Laos-China Year, which was an important event for the tourism industry. There are many tourism activities that our two ministries have jointly implemented to increase cooperation and enable Chinese tourists to visit Laos.”
“The opening of the Laos-China railway has made it possible for many more Chinese to visit Laos, Lao people to travel to China, and people from third countries to visit both Laos and China.”
“With respect to air travel, Lao Airlines and China Eastern Airlines offer flights between Vientiane and Guangzhou and Kunming. There are also other flights from China to Laos,” he added.
To accommodate Chinese tourists, the Lao government is encouraging the relevant parties to improve hotel accommodation, tourism resources, tourism products, transportation, and medical facilities to improve quality, safety, and visitor satisfaction.
Visit Laos Year 2024 is a tourism promotion campaign that seeks to advertise the country’s many tourist attractions and encourage as many people as possible to travel around the country and get to know Laos.
The country has numerous cultural attractions, historical associations, and a stunning landscapes, which can provide visitors with an enjoyable, educational and entertaining stay.
The Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism and provinces across the country have prepared a variety of activities and tourism products to attract people from around the region and beyond, including from China.
These 79 events have been laid out in a tourism calendar, which contains information about 14 national-level events and 65 local events. Tourists can use this information to make decisions on when to plan a trip to Laos.
Visit Laos Year 2024 is viewed as a direct and indirect economic boost to the country and having the potential to benefit all those involved, especially tourism-related businesses.
The government hopes to attract 2.7 million foreign visitors and earn revenue of US$401 million from the programme, according to the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism. - Vientiane Times/ANN
