Renowned tourist town Vang Vieng is seeing some 3,000 domestic tourists visit every week following the relaxation of Covid measures.
Following the easing of travel restrictions and other measures late last year, domestic tourism in Vang Vieng has quickly rebounded, Lao Youth Radio reports.
Vang Vieng District Governor, Mr. Bounchan Malavong, told the media on Monday that thousands of tourists have been visiting Vang Vieng each week since the reopening of attractions in the district late last year.
He said that the bulk of tourism is domestic, with residents traveling from Vientiane to Vang Vieng via the Vang Vieng Expressway.
“But we haven’t seen many tourists arriving via the Laos-China Railway,” he noted.
The majority of domestic visitors travel to Vang Vieng on weekends and return the same day, with fewer overnight stays than before the expressway was built, according to Mr. Bounchan Malavong.
Although Vang Vieng was one of the first tourism sites proposed by the government under its Green Zone Travel Plan reopening scheme, no foreign visitors have been recorded visiting the district as part of the program, according to Governor Bounchan.
“Local authorities in our district have also had to deal with domestic visitors failing to comply with Covid-19 prevention and control measures,” said Mr. Bounchan.
“Enforcing strict measures among tourists is difficult, especially with tourism is just now reopening, and we sympathize with enterprises that have been without income for a long period,” Mr. Bounchan Malavong added.
The Vang Vieng Expressway, linking the nation’s capital with the town of Vang Vieng, stretches some 109 kilometers, cutting travel time from four hours to just one hour.
Motorists are able to travel at speeds of 80 to 100 kilometers per hour when using the expressway.
