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Laos' Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism forecasts tourism will generate USD435 million (+7.3 per cent) this year, while arrivals are expected to reach 2.9 million for a 6 per cent jump over 2011.
If the revenue from tourism reaches the target, the industry would be the country's second largest foreign exchange earner after mining, according a recent Vientiane Times report.
According to the ministry's Tourism Development Department, about 2.7 million tourists visited Laos in 2011, generating an estimated USD406 million. Tourist arrivals in 2011 were up 8 per cent over 2010.
Thailand again led the pack with some 1.5 million arrivals, followed by Vietnam (561,000), China (150,000), United States (50,000), France (44,000), Japan (37,000), United Kingdom (35,000), Australia (31,000), Korea (27,000), and Germany (21,000).
Numbers from Vietnam (+30 per cent), Korea (+27 per cent) and Japan (+11 per cent) showed the highest y-o-y growth, while Chinese figures fell 7 per cent and German arrivals slid 6 per cent.
The Tourism Development Department also reported that in 2011, Vientiane Capital welcomed the most arrivals (1,154,501) followed by Savannakhet Province (1,124,905), Vientiane Province (469,978), Champasak (393,921, and Luang Prabang (274,506).
The most popular entry point in 2011 was the Lao-Thai Friendship Bridge linking Savannakhet and Thailand's Mukdahan Province with 752,825 arrivals.
The second busiest gateway was the Lao-Thai Friendship Bridge linking Vientiane and Thailand's Nong Khai Province with 743,361 crossings.
For more information, visit: www.tourismlaos.org.
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