International visitor arrivals to Laos plunge 60% in first half 2020

LAOS, July 24 (Vientiane Times/ANN): International tourist arrivals to Laos in the first six months of this year were down 60 percent compared to the same period last year due to the closure of border checkpoints to prevent the Covid-19 outbreak.

According to a report by the Tourism Marketing Department, Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism, international visitor arrivals dropped from 2,228,459 for January to June in 2019, to 886,447 for the same period this year.

Visitors from Asean member countries plunged from 1,462,985 to 555,475. In particular, tourists from neighbouring Thailand plummeted from 942,470 to 350,098 while local visitors fell from 468,632 to 186,174.

Meanwhile, the number of Chinese tourists also dropped from 261,199 to 138,457, South Korea decreased from 46,967 to 40,207, and Japan dropped from 44,559 to 11,081, according to the official report.

In Laos, all parts of the local tourism industry have been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, including hotels, resorts and guesthouses, tour companies, and the nation’s many tourist sites. In addition, many major events have been cancelled or postponed.

The government initially planned to attract about 4.7 million international visitors in 2020 and generate revenue of more than US$900 million.