International Business News – Laos saw a surge in tourist numbers after travel restrictions were lifted in January as the Covid-19 outbreak waned. Data showed that in the first six months of this year, 42,197 foreigners entered Laos on tourist visas.
Most tourists arrived in May and June, when 35,983 foreign tourists were recorded after the government cancelled all entry procedures, according to the Tourism Development Department of the Lao Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism.
In the first five months of this year, 36,529 people visited Laos with an average stay of 7.9 days, spending an average of 1,245,000 kip or US$83 per person per day and earning more than US$4.55 million.
The number of domestic tourists in Laos in the first five months of 2022 was 626,825, up 2.8 percent from the same period last year. The average stay per person is 2.5 days, and the average daily consumption per person is 675,000 kip or US$45, and the estimated domestic tourist income is about US$70.79 million.
Most tourists enter Laos from the Lao-Thai Friendship Bridge in Vientiane, Wattay International Airport and Luang Prabang International Airport. A total of 5,668 tourists visited Laos from July 13 to 18, of which more than 70 percent were from Thailand. Among other figures recorded in the first five months of the year, 1,165 Chinese tourists visited Laos.