Champassak tourism flourishing
Champassak tourism flourishing
Champassak province's tourism industry has seen an healthy increase to its income which has amounted to 180 million kip in the first of six months in this year.
General income has increased 53 percent compared to the same period last year, mainly thanks to the 43 percent growth in the tourism sector during this period.
Data released recently by the Champassak Tourism Department showed that revenue had grown as a result of the province's efforts to promote tourism though social networks such as facebook and the province's tourism website.
The department cooperated with Green Discovery Company to use the Boloven jungle in Pakxong for ecotourism and it has now become well-known as a destination for adventure, nature conservation and a place to learn about the real wildlife situation in southern Laos.
The Lao-Thai film Pakse with love , which was released in 2010, inspired its Thai audiences to visit the places they had seen in the film and has remained a major draw for tourism to the area since that time.
It also caused tourists from Thailand to become the most frequent visitors to the province followed by those from Cambodia and Vietnam.
Deputy Head of the Champassak Tourism Department Ms Mala Chanthalam said recently that the province is working to improve facilities, especially infrastructure development while keeping open opportunities for investors to build hotels and guesthouses to international standards as part of their efforts to prepare for the Asean Economic Community in 2015.
At the moment there are 64 hotels, 250 guesthouses and 12 resorts in the province with 10 more hotels under construction.
Ms Mala believed Champassak has the potential to become a centre for tourism in the south, serving both domestic and international tourists once their hotel and guesthouse facilities and services are improved.
Champassak province aims to double tourism in the next five years, expecting tourist numbers will comfortably reach the goal of more than 500,000 this year after the first of six months has seen around 400,000 visitors.
vientiane times
