Tourism body reviews impact of Thai unrest

The Lao National Tourism Administration (LNTA) is asking tour operators nationwide to evaluate the impact of the political unrest in Thailand on their business.

LNTA Tourism Marketing and Promotion Department representative Mr Saly Phimphinith said on Friday the department would coordinate with other tourism agencies to collect information on bookings and assess whether the political demonstrations had affected tourism in Laos.

“After we have received the information, we will see what we can do to address the situation. But I don't expect there has been much of an impact in Laos because the high season ends this month,” he said.

“If the demonstrations had taken place in the middle of the high season, we would have felt a direct impact because most people coming to Laos pass through Thailand on their way here.”

More than 50 percent of visitors to Laos are Thai nationals. The department is keen to know if the ongoing unrest in that country has made any difference to the number of visitors to see what could be done to address such a situation proactively in the future.

“We're not able to evaluate the impact yet because all flights are operating normally. Meanwhile, people are still coming here from Vietnam, Cambodia and China,” Mr Saly said.

Visitor numbers from these countries were normal for the time of year, especially at the various border crossings, because travel to Laos was easy.

“We expect to have 2.2 million visitors this year, which is 200,000 more than last year when 2 million people came to Laos,” he said.

Board of Directors of the Lao Association of Travel Agents, Mr Soulideth Syphankham, said he believed the number of tourists coming to Laos would drop slightly because the international airport in Bangkok was the main point of transit for regional travellers.

“But we haven't seen any sign that Europeans have cancelled their holidays here, even though they also have to come through the airport in Bangkok. Of course, if the airport had to close like it did during the demonstrations in 2008, it would definitely have a direct impact on the number of tourists coming to Laos,” he said.

Thai tourists living in provinces that bordered Laos were still coming here as normal.

The owner of a travel agency in Luang Prabang province, Mr Toun, said “Normally, European travellers who have booked a flight via a Thai airport don't cancel their holiday plans, but people who are planning to visit only Laos may decide to cancel.”

He said most of his clients come to Laos through Vietnam or Cambodia. However, a client family in Europe had recently cancelled their visit to Luang Prabang.

“Tourists from overseas mostly plan to visit the Indochina countries and Thailand. They don't just want to visit only one country when they visit the region.”

“So, if tourists have made bookings in various countries in the region, if something goes wrong they cancel their whole trip,” he said.

The World Heritage listed town of Luang Prabang received a travel award for 2009 after being voted best tourist destination by readers of the UK's Wanderlust Travel Magazine in its annual poll.

By Panyasith Thammavongsa
Vientianetimes