Closer links urged to foster tourism


Photo: Temple in Savannakhet province, Laos

The Lao National Tourism Administration (LNTA) has urged tourist offices around the country to work together to promote popular tourist attractions.

“If all offices cooperate we hope to persuade tourists to stay longer in Laos ,” LNTA President Somphong Mongkhonvilay said on Tuesday in Vientiane province.

He said the administration planned to set up regions, each consisting of four or five provinces, and tourist operators in those regions would be asked to cooperate in promoting the various attractions in the area.



Recently, tourism offices from the five central provinces held a festival in Savannakhet province to promote tourist sites, local culture and handmade products, attracting thousands of visitors.

“This was a great event and served to showcase tourist attractions in the area. Another successful event was the Elephant Festival held in Xayaboury province earlier this month, which drew interest from the local and foreign media and advertised our tourism potential to the world,” said Mr Somphong.

He added that tourism in Laos has been developing in the last few years because the government has made it easier for visitors to get visas, as well as increasing access to neighbouring countries.



The LNTA will organis e a festival in Vangvieng district, Vientiane province, at the end of this year to promote tourism links between five southern and four northern provinces , as well as parts of Vietnam and Thailand .

“The festival will be held in Vangvieng district because it is well known among tourists worldwide,” Mr Somphong said.

He advised that provincial tourism offices should select their best tourist attractions to promote at the festival.


By Souknilundon Southivongnorath

The Science, Technology and Environment Office in Kaysone Phomvihane district, Savannakhet province, is planning to refurbish the Dinosaur Museum as a major tourist attraction next year and is seeking funding.

The Head of the office, Mr Sinouan Sihalath, told Vientiane Times yesterday that the major goal is to attract local and foreign visitors to view the area’s unique fossil history and the items that have been unearthed over the previous 70 years.

“We also hope to raise awareness among locals and visitors of the benefits and importance of museums,” he said



“By 2010, the number of tourists visiting the museum is expected to rise to 10,000 per year, up from 6,000 last year. The reason for this increase is the opening of the second Lao-Thai Mekong Friendship Bridge at the end of 2006, linking Savannakhet with Mukdahan province, Thailand,” he added.

Mr Sinouan said the museum had generated around 20 million kip in tourist revenue in the past year.

Fossilised bones have been discovered in many parts of the province and are on show at the museum, but there is much more waiting to be discovered, he said.

Dinosaurs vanished from the Earth more than 60 million years ago. In Laos, the first remains were discovered in Tangvay and Nasay villages of Xonbouly district in 1936 by French geologist Josue Heilmann Hoffet.

At that time, Mr Hoffet discovered many fossils in the area, including the remains of four-legged sauropods, two-legged theropods such as the iguanodon, and prehistoric crocodiles and tortoises.

Mr Sinouan explained that a Lao technical team from the Social Science Centre and the Natural Resource and Environment Institute had cooperated with a team of palaeontologists from the French National Museum of Natural History since 1990.

Work has continued at 16 sites in the province, with Lao and French specialists discovering fossils not only in Xonbouly, but also in Phalanxay, Atsaphone, Xayphouthong and Songkhone districts.

By PHAISYTHONG CHANDARA
Vientiantimes

Savannakhet businesses have invested about US$25 million, to build the hotel five-star ‘Savan Vegas Entertainment Hotel’ on 50 hectares of land in Nongdeun village nearby the second Lao-Thai friendship bridge, the first international high quality hotel in the region.

The five-star hotel to meet international standards of luxury in Savannakhet will be to have over 100 rooms, a casino, karaoke, restaurants, a nightclub, a swimming pool, a golf course and a football pitch to serve the increasing number of visitors, as well as to host entertainment and sporting events to this part of the country. The construction of the luxury hotel will serve to boost the local tourism industry.



The project has been invested by a joint venture with Xaya Construction Company and Laody Company. Work on the hotel is scheduled for completion in 2008.

More and more tourists are expected to visit Savannakhet after the opening of the second Lao-Thai friendship bridge last December, the new route number 9 links Savannakhet to Vietnam, and some sport events for 25th SEA GAMES that will be played in Savannakhet.

BDV-565735-BDV

This article may help you spend your US dollar wisely for your travel in 2008.
There are 10 countries in different part of the world that were awarded the cheapest destination 2007 by famous MSN travel magazine and here what they said about Laos:



Laos: Tranquility off the beaten track

Laos is one of the best bargains in Southeast Asia—and that's saying something, since most countries there are relatively cheap for travelers. Because tourism is only beginning to make inroads in Laos, visitors are not seen as mere revenue streams; locals extend a warm and genuine welcome.

Life moves at a languid pace in the former royal capital of Luang Prabang, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. There, French colonial architecture coexists with dozens of graceful Buddhist temples, and monks in brilliant orange robes stroll the streets. You can find an inexpensive guesthouse for less than $20 a night; open-air cafes along the Mekong River offer absurdly cheap French and Lao specialties.

If you're backpacking, set off into the rugged countryside for caving, jungle trekking and a taste of traditional village life. In Xieng Khouang province, don't miss the "Plain of Jars," a mysterious field lined with hundreds of ancient stone urns.

For the full lists, check out the following link

Source: http://travel.msn.com/Guides/article.aspx?cp-documentid=414811