Laos, Malaysia Discuss Tourism:

Representatives of Laos' travel industry met with their Malaysian counterparts in early July in Vientiane to discuss ways to boost tourism between the two countries.

The meeting was designed to enable travel agents and representatives from the travel trade from both counties to meet and exchange business plans with the view to increase tourism between the two countries, according to the Malaysian Ambassador to Laos Than Tai Hing.

Since low-cost carrier Air Asia started direct service to Vientiane from Kuala Lumpur in December 2007, Laos and Malaysia have seen a significant increase in travel between the two countries.

In 2010, Malaysian arrivals in Laos climbed 11 per cent from 14,000 in 2009 to about 15,500. The number of Lao tourists visiting Malaysia was around 38,000 compared to 35,000 the year before. The figure is expected to surpass 40,000 this year.

Laos is currently preparing to launch Visit Laos Year and host the ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF) in 2012.

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