VIENTIANE, 7 June 2019: Laos welcomed 259,000 Chinese tourists during the first quarter of the year, according to Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism Bosengkham Vongdara.
Lao News Agency reported the Minster presented the update during the opening of the 7th Ordinary Session of the National Assembly’s 8th legislature.
Bosengkham said Chinese tourist arrivals increased 16% when compared with the same quarter last year.
Laos and China are cooperating this year on a campaign to bring more Chinese visitors to Laos under the ‘Visit Laos-China Year’ banner.
According to the Laos News Agency, Laos recorded more than 4.1 million foreign visitors in 2018 with an estimated revenue of more than USD811 million. The amount represented an increase of 8.2% compared to 2017 and is based on exit surveys at airports that quizzed travellers on their spend during their stay in the country.
More than 800,000 Chinese visitors visited Laos last year, up by 26% compared to 2017.
Visit Laos-China Year 2019 is expected to bring more than 1 million Chinese tourists to Laos, according to Minister Bosengkham, who told the assembly there were economic constraints in major source markets impacting on growth forecasts.
Overall, he expressed optimism that the cooperation with China would help to make up for the shortfall in other markets mainly in Europe.
