Laos, Vietnam join hands to promote tourism

Officials from four southern provinces of Laos, central and southern provinces of Vietnam, and tourism-related businesses have gathered in Champassak province to discuss measures to draw more visitors to the two countries.

An area of the Lao province of Luang Prabang (Photo: visit-laos.com)

Bounthong Bouphasavanh, Deputy Director of the Department of Information, Culture and Tourism of Attapeu province, told Vientiane Times on October 9 that Laos and Vietnam planned to promote tourism through several activities and discussed the possibilities for tourism programmes.

The two sides considered ways to improve facilities and procedures at immigration posts and agreed to inspect accommodation facilities at tourist sites to ensure their service quality.

At the meeting, participants reported the challenges they had experienced, deliberated their respective tourist hotspots, and shared ideas to increase the number of tourists.

They also discussed group tours from Laos to Vietnam and vice versa, the creation of new tourism products, advertisements to promote tourism, and ways to attract investment to improve tourist sites, Bounthong said.

Statistics from the Lao Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism showed that more than 2.2 million foreign tourists visited Laos in the first six months of 2019, up about 5 percent compared to the same period last year.

VNA