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Q1 Arrivals Slip while Chinese/Vietnamese Numbers Soar
Domestic and foreign arrivals to Laos slid 0.5%, but still topped 1 million, in the first three months of the year compared to the same period in 2018, while Chinese visitor numbers soared 16%. Actual figures were not reported. Vietnamese visitor numbers rocketed 20% over last year’s Q1. Vietnam was the second largest market in 2018 at 867,585, a 2% drop from 2017, with China coming in third at 805,833, a 26% y-o-y leap. According to the Vientiane Times, the Tourism Development Department, Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism reported numbers from Thailand, Laos’ top market, sank 9%, and Korean arrivals tumbled 32%. In 2018, Koreans accounted for 174,405 visitors on a slight jump of 2% over 2017. Source: Siladda Souliyong, Vientiane Times Click here for full story.
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Soncco Stretches Winning Streak at BikingMan Corsica
Peruvian legend Rodney Soncco has won his 6th BikingMan race, completing the 690-km Corsica course in 30h56m. Olympian Ben Cureten from Australia crossed the finish line two hours later with a time of 33h, and Frenchman Thomas Dupin rounded out the top three, clocking in at 34h05m. The rest of the field remains on the course as of 06:00 (Lao time) with a cluster of riders within 50 km of the chequered flag. Click here for live tracking of the event, as the field will be finishing throughout the day. Next stop…BikingMan Lao on 20 May.
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What China’s Belt And Road Means For Elephants In Laos
Published by NPR Read the transcript of writer Ashley Westerman, on US radio station, Morning Edition, where she discusses what she learned at the Elephant Conservation Centre about the impact the Lao-China train will have on the country’s declining elephant population. Read the entire transcript.
