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
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
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.
The Women of BikingMan
2018 BikingMan Champion Rodney Soncco won this year’s opening round in Oman, dominating a field of more than 60 ultracyclers. He covered the1,050-km circuit in 38h20m,more than two hours ahead of runner up, Jason Black. Both have entered BikingMan Laos on 20-24 May. Jasmijn Muller (Photo courtesy of Total Women’s Cycling) However, the real
Lao Airlines Slices Service to Shanghai
Lao Airlines has scaled back its direct service on the Vientiane – Shanghai route, from four to one day a week, but aims to increase the operation to three weekly flights on 19 May. As reported by We Are Lao, Lao Airlines launched a weekly nonstop service on 29 January 2019 on board Airbus
Oudomxay Moves to Become Tourist Hotspot
Oudomxay is marching ahead to place the province on tourists’ radar. Deputy Director of the province’s Information, Culture and Tourism Department, Mr Bounkuan Mitmeuangxay, told Vientiane Times on Monday that the authorities are planning improvements at the Nam Kat Yorla Pa Resort, Vat Pha Chao Sing Kham and Vat Phou That Lattanamingmeuang temples. They
Horwath Examines Luang Prabang’s High-end Hotel Scene
Horwath HTL – the global leader in hotel, tourism and leisure consulting – released “Luxury & Upper Upscale Hotel Market Overview Luang Prabang” in April 2019, which spotlights upcoming supply, delves into annual occupancy rates and ADR, and provides a peek into the future. Pullman Luang Prabang According to the Horwath report, only seven
Popular ‘Amazing Race’ Comes to Laos
Season 31 of ‘Amazing Race’ kicked off on 17 April, and the next stop is Laos, with close to 8 million US viewers expected to be glued to their TVs to see who gets bounced in the Land of a Million Elephants. Amazing Race Contestants Though filmed last year, the Emmy award-winning Amazing Race
Back to the Wild for Lao Elephants
“The soft release of elephants into the wild is a scientific experiment, and the first in Laos. I can’t wait to see what happens,” said Sebastien “Seb” Duffillot, co-founder of the Elephant Conservation Centre (ECC) “It took a year to get to this point.” That day happened on 5 March, when the ECC team
Development Partner’s Projects Bland and Banal: The UN
The UN’s special rapporteur for extreme poverty and human rights, Philip Alston, visited Laos in March and got an earful. “A number of people complained to me that many of the events organised by the UN in Vientiane were very carefully orchestrated…are not designed to give a platform for diverse voices,” he said. “Rather
