According to the Travel and Tourism Department, which is part of the government’s Ministry of Information, Culture, and Tourism, Laos saw a total of 2.6 million foreign visitors between the months of January and August. Additionally, the country saw around 2.3 million domestic passengers during this same time period.
Laos had the most number of visitors from other countries from Thailand, followed by Vietnam and China, which came in second and third, respectively, in terms of the number of visitor countries. The research shows that Thailand is the nation with the highest number of tourists, despite the fact that particular tourist data from each country were not revealed.
South Korea, the United States of America, France, the United Kingdom, Russia, Japan, and Germany are some of the other significant providers of information.
In the month of August alone, Laos recorded around 400,000 local travelers visiting various regions of the nation, in addition to welcoming over 500,000 tourism visitors from other countries. In comparison to the same time period the previous year, there was a rise of 18.8 percent in foreign tourism, while there was an increase of 84.22 percent in domestic travel.
To this point in the year, it is expected that domestic visitors have contributed around 388.3 million dollars, while international tourists have produced an estimated 801.3 million dollars.
Laos has allowed people of 36 nations to enter the country without the need for a visa, including important markets such as China, Japan, Indonesia, and Vietnam. This move is intended to further enhance tourism.
In addition, as part of the “Visit Laos Year 2024” campaign, the country permitted Chinese tourists to enter the country without the need for a visa. Additionally, multiple-entry visas were made available to travelers from countries such as Australia, New Zealand, the United States of America, Canada, and several European nations, and the length of stay for tourists from these countries was increased from 30 to 60 days.
The government of Laos continues to have a positive outlook on the future of tourism, as shown by the fact that it has established a goal to receive at least 4.6 million foreign tourists in the year 2024, with an anticipated income of USD 1.3 billion.