Tourism in Meuangfeuang holds plenty of potential
Tourism in Meuangfeuang holds plenty of potential
Tourism officials in Meuanfeuang district, Vientiane province, are confident that the development of tourism facilities and adventure activities will help to attract more domestic and foreign visitors over the next few years.
One local businessman is doing a survey on the development of tourism activities and is planning to launch a pilot project for rafting and kayaking on the Lik River this year.
The businessman is planning to invest some 400-500 million kip in the development of leisure activities on the Nam Lik.
In addition, this programme is designed to be community based and has a concession period of 15 years. It is set to become operational at the beginning of next year, according to local tourism officials.
Office Head of the district's Information, Culture and Tourism Office, Mr Khamlek Thipphavong, spoke to Vientiane Times ' reporters last Friday.
He said the district's unexplored places and natural wonders are abundant compared to other districts in Vientiane province.
Mr Khamlek also said that more than 9,000 tourists came to the district last year and generated over 5 billion kip. At the same time, guesthouses, restaurants and handicraft makers were the main income earners for the tourism sector.
According to statistics, over a nine month period in 2016 more than 7,000 people visited the district and this figure was expected to rise by 4 to 5 percent by the end of this year.
�More domestic and foreign tourists will be interested in a wide range of natural attractions in the years to come. So we are now working harder to spread the message of our tourism capacity and our speial features,� he said.
Despite the tourism potential, accommodation and restaurants, Mr Khamlek admitted that foreign languages remain an issue for local tourism officials in communicating with foreign clients.
We plan to organise a training course for people from various villages in the district so they can be professionally trained in tourism service skills and gain a good understanding of English communication, Mr Khamlek said.
As a community-based tourism programme, villagers will also provide boats, tubes, rafts and transport services to the tourism programme.
Currently the district's tourism authority provides several interesting activities including riding banaboo rafts, tubing and kayaking along the Lik River, and boat trips on the reservoir of the Lik hydropower dam.
Meuangfeuang district is about 130km from Vientiane and visitors can reach it by car because it is only about 30km from Road No. 13 North.
