The province’s five-year tourism plan hopes to attract 4 million tourists by 2025. Currently, at its midway point, Luang Prabang has seen 1.1 million tourists spending over USD 500 million.
In the last two years and five months, the UNESCO heritage site has seen only 26.4 percent of the targeted amount of tourists, primarily due to the slow rebound of tourism following the Covid-19 crisis. Over the next two years, the province aims to attract 3 million tourists yielding at least USD 566 million in tourism revenue, according to the Luang Prabang News.
Mrs. Soudaphone Khomthavong, Director of Luang Prabang’s Department of Information, Culture, and Tourism, said the province has prioritized tourism as a pillar for socio-economic development in the region.
In the first five months of 2023, a total of 437,374 tourists visited the province, with 396,742 of them being international tourists. Thailand ranked first as the country with the most people visiting Luang Prabang, followed by the United States, and China.
“Despite the COVID-19 pandemic and global financial crisis, Luang Prabang can still maintain the title of being a world heritage city and a leading destination for tourists”, said Soudaphone.
She added that Luang Prabang province authorities are periodically evaluating tourism figures and monitoring visitor feedback to maintain its standards as one of the most popular destinations in Laos that aims to provide international levels of hospitality to its guests.
The province is also developing small and medium-sized attractions with modern infrastructure and facilities for tourists where it plans to organize activities to promote Luang Prabang culture, its various festivals, and food.
