VIENTIANE, March 17 (Xinhua) -- The number of foreign tourists visiting Laos dropped for the first time in 2016 after several successive years of visitor growth, according to the Tourism Development Department of the Lao Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism.
Laos registered average annual growth in foreign tourist arrivals of 10.7 percent on average over the past five years. But last year, just over 4.23 million foreign visitors came to the Southeast Asian country, representing a drop of 10 percent compared to 2015, the department said Thursday.
Collectively, visitors from the other nine member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) dropped by about 14 percent to just over 3 million people. Tourists from the Asia-Pacific region decreased by 11 percent to just over 3.9 million people, while visitors from the Americas dropped by 3 percent to just 86,211 people.
Visitors from Thailand and Vietnam, the main sources of foreign visitors to Laos, fell significantly by more than 400,000 and 100,000 people respectively.
An official in charge of the department's analysis section said that the Thai authorities had been encouraging people to take tours in their homeland by offering special incentives.
These included allowing Thai nationals who spend their vacation in the country to claim a reduction in their personal income tax corresponding to what they spent while on holiday. This was believed to have resulted in a decline in Thai visitors to Laos.
Additionally, the number of foreign tourists coming to Laos in the previous years was boosted by Vietnamese workers entering the country on tourist visas. But governments within ASEAN, of which Laos is a member, have tightened measures to regulate foreign workers, which is believed to have discouraged Vietnamese workers from coming to Laos, thus contributing to a drop in the number of Vietnamese entering Laos on tourist visas, Lao daily Vientiane Times quoted the official as saying on Friday.
The increasing cost of living in Laos could also be a reason for the decline, the official said, adding that living costs in neighboring countries like Thailand were lower than in Laos. He also observed that Laos needs to do more to attract tourists from Muslim countries such as by providing prayer rooms in public places along with promoting halal restaurants, saying that the absence of such facilities, especially in the provinces, could discourage Muslims from visiting Laos.
Statistics suggest that visitors from Muslim-majority countries like Brunei and Indonesia dropped by 44 percent and 17 percent to just 484 and 5,010 visitors respectively in 2016.
In addition, the Lao tourist authorities need to do more to better promote tourism, such as by creating an official comprehensive website where all tourism-related information is available. This should include tourist attractions, transportation, accommodation and related costs, the official said, adding that the absence of such a website makes things difficult for visitors.
Tour operators have occasionally commented that a lack of variety in tourist activities, underdeveloped facilities at tourist sites, and the absence of direct flights to many countries appear to discourage some people and are factors that should be addressed.
In a related move, the Lao government is accelerating its preparation of key documents necessary to secure World Heritage Status for the Plain of Jars in nothern Xieng Khuang Province and the Hin Nam No Protected Area in southern Khammuane Province.
The Plain of Jars, mostly known in Lao as Thong Hai Hin, are the prehistoric stone megaliths which attract thousands of tourists to Xieng Khuang each year. Hin Nam No is a national protected area comprising scenic landscapes, rugged karst mountains, and highly bio-diverse flora and fauna.
Currently there are two World Heritage sites in Laos including the town of Luang Prabang listed by UNESCO in 1995 and Vat Phou and associated ancient settlements within the Champassak cultural landscape, which was nominated by UNESCO in 2001.
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