Coinciding with the That Luang Festival celebrations, government officials have planned several activities to promote the launch of “Visit Laos Year 2018” on October 28.
In an effort to boost tourism and attract foreign travelers to the country, Mr Soun Manivong, Head of Tourism Promotion Department, Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism has stated that the Visit Laos Year 2018 campaign is scheduled to kickoff at the end of this month.
“Since tourism is a key world economic driver, recording rapid growth, countries have focused attention to the tourism sector as a main foreign exchange earner,” said Mr Soun. He added, “In the Lao PDR, the government has promoted and developed the tourism industry since 1989, contributing a constant growth in the sector.”
Laos has seen a 35 percent increase of foreign visitors annually between 1990 and 2000. Since then, this number has continued to increase moderately by 15 percent every year.
However, in 2016 foreign visitor arrivals witnessed a 10 percent year-on-year decrease, with 9.8 percent less foreign visits as compared to the same period last year.
Several national activities promoting Visit Laos Year 2018 have been scheduled. Meanwhile at provincial level, festivals, off road car caravans, art and cultural events have been announced to take place over the next twelve months by provincial governments.
