Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism Bosengkham Vongdara briefs the 7th Ordinary Session of the National Assembly's 8th legislature on the promotion of tourism sector over the past months of 2019.

(KPL) The first three months of this year recorded over 259,000 Chinese visitor arrivals in Laos, according to the Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism Bosengkham Vongdara.

The number of Chinese visitors has increased by 16% if compared to the same period last year, Minister Bosengkham told the 7th Ordinary Session of the National Assembly’s 8th legislature this morning.

The governments of Laos and China expect to see a large number of Chinese visitors visiting Laos this year which has been designated as Visit Laos-China Year.

Last year, Laos recorded more than 4.1 million foreign visitors who reportedly generated an income of more than US$ 811 million for the country. The amount represented an increase of 8.2 per cent compared to 2017.

More than 800,000 Chinese visitors visited Laos last year, an increase of 26 per cent compared to 2017.

Visit Laos-China Year 2019 is expected to bring more than one million Chinese tourists to Laos, according to Minister Bosengkham who also highlighted issues restraining growth in the tourism sector.

KPL