The majority of tourists travel to Luang Prabang using the Laos-China Railway as opposed to other means of transport, according to a new report.
According to the Deputy Head of Information, Culture and Tourism Department, Mr. Chansamone Thipphavanh, Luang Prabang saw 335,794 tourists visiting the province on the Laos-China Railway train until October. A whopping 85.27 percent of people chose the rail as a favorable mode of transport as opposed to taking a flight or traveling by road.
Mr. Chansamone also said that over 253,000 domestic tourists and 140,000 international tourists visited the UNESCO World Heritage town by train; and the rest commuted by boat, bus, or plane. Tourism in Luang Prabang generated a revenue of USD 138 Million until last month.
With Lao Airlines also adding more flights to Luang Prabang in its Winter Schedule and the Hmong New Year Celebration around the corner, the government expects to draw more than 100,00 tourists in the last two months of the year, leading to an income of USD 200 million.
Among Luang Prabang’s 228 official tourist sites, 111 are natural sites and 78 are cultural sites. Only 158 total tourist spots are open to the public at the moment.
Both Luang Prabang and Laos-China Railway have been getting a lot of international acclaim recently with National Geographic magazine picking Laos as one of the best places for slow travel in 2023 and saying, “The train’s promise? To expand tourism among the Lao themselves, who can now more easily explore their country’s multifaceted heritage, including the old imperial capital, Luang Prabang, a UNESCO World Heritage site.”
https://www.tourismlaos.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Luang-prabang.jpg6271200Sylivanla Vongphachanhhttps://www.tourismlaos.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Lao-Simply-Beautiful-.webpSylivanla Vongphachanh2022-11-28 15:33:402022-11-28 15:33:4385 Percent of Tourists Traveled to Luang Prabang by Train This Year
The UNESCO Heritage town of Luang Prabang in Laos will once again host a film festival, previously known as the Luang Prabang Film Festival (LPFF).
With a rich history of connecting regional filmmakers, supporting the Lao domestic film industry, and presenting an annual free festival, LPFF has been a force in the region for more than 12 years.
Organizers have recently acquiesced to a name change in order to continue to produce this year’s event, scheduled for 8 – 11 December, and will move forward using only the iconic blue chair to identify the festival.
As always, official selections for the annual program were made by filmmakers and critics from across Southeast Asia and represent a curated selection of the finest contemporary films from their respective countries. By working with talented curators with an inside understanding of their communities’ film scenes, LPFF annually presents a unique program that consistently delivers some of the strongest voices from across the region.
Presenting Partners of the festival this year include Lao Telecom, The Asia Foundation, M Money, and Beerlao; the event is produced in collaboration with the Luang Prabang Department of Culture, Information, and Tourism. Longtime partners Avani+ Luang Prabang and Sofitel Luang Prabang are supporting the event again, as well.
Of special interest this year is a pair of films with roots in the LPFF Talent Lab — both Martika Ramirez Escobar and Kavich Neang joined the inaugural lab in 2016, delivered in conjunction with the erstwhile Tribeca Film Institute. This year sees their finished projects, Leonor Will Never Die and White Building, respectively, on screens in Luang Prabang.
And a pair of Lao productions will premiere at the festival this year — Sonepasith Phanphila’s Absence of Sound, made in Luang Prabang itself, and Phanumad Disattha’s short film, Fly Sandy Fly, presented by T Plus during the festival’s opening ceremony, which starts at 6 pm on 8 December.
As always, all screenings are free and open to the public.
https://www.tourismlaos.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/311116875_5916748391693325_863448971715427693_n.jpg720509Sylivanla Vongphachanhhttps://www.tourismlaos.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Lao-Simply-Beautiful-.webpSylivanla Vongphachanh2022-11-23 10:29:002022-11-22 10:38:10Film Festival in Luang Prabang Announces Official Lineup
This is according to the information shared by the Tourism Marketing Department of the Ministry of Information, Culture, and Tourism for the first nine months of the year.
With Laos getting wonderful publicity from international magazines like National Geographic and Wanderlust, the country has welcomed 1,701,806 tourists until September. A majority of them were Lao nationals (1,037,050) but there has also been an increase in the number of foreign tourists and 644,756 of them visited Laos during this time.
More than half of the international travelers have been from Thailand (364,515), keen to get on the high-speed Laos-China Railway and travel to tourist destinations like Luang Prabang and Vang Vieng. Despite closed borders, China came in second with 18,902 of its citizens visiting Laos followed by South Korea with 9,885 visitors, the US with 6,695, and 6,379 travelers reported from Cambodia.
Travel figures for Lao nationals are also 40% more compared to 2021 which generated an income of USD 117 million. The revenue from foreign tourists was over USD 100 million.
Albeit their closed borders Chinese tourists were able to enter Laos through flights to Vientiane’s Wattay International airport, or they crossed via the Laos-Thai Friendship bridge in the capital and some also used the border crossing option in the Golden Triangle area.
Government officials expect around 300,000 international tourists in the last quarter of the year. Through exhibitions, fairs, and the development of new tourism-related products, the government has joined hands with local business to provide the best travel experience to visitors.
https://www.tourismlaos.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Laotian-Times-Feature-Image-1-Recovered-Recovered-696x364-1.jpg364696Sylivanla Vongphachanhhttps://www.tourismlaos.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Lao-Simply-Beautiful-.webpSylivanla Vongphachanh2022-11-21 10:44:242022-11-21 10:44:29Laos Gets Most Foreign Tourists from Thailand, China and South Korea in 2022
85 Percent of Tourists Traveled to Luang Prabang by Train This Year
The majority of tourists travel to Luang Prabang using the Laos-China Railway as opposed to other means of transport, according to a new report.
According to the Deputy Head of Information, Culture and Tourism Department, Mr. Chansamone Thipphavanh, Luang Prabang saw 335,794 tourists visiting the province on the Laos-China Railway train until October. A whopping 85.27 percent of people chose the rail as a favorable mode of transport as opposed to taking a flight or traveling by road.
Mr. Chansamone also said that over 253,000 domestic tourists and 140,000 international tourists visited the UNESCO World Heritage town by train; and the rest commuted by boat, bus, or plane. Tourism in Luang Prabang generated a revenue of USD 138 Million until last month.
With Lao Airlines also adding more flights to Luang Prabang in its Winter Schedule and the Hmong New Year Celebration around the corner, the government expects to draw more than 100,00 tourists in the last two months of the year, leading to an income of USD 200 million.
Among Luang Prabang’s 228 official tourist sites, 111 are natural sites and 78 are cultural sites. Only 158 total tourist spots are open to the public at the moment.
Both Luang Prabang and Laos-China Railway have been getting a lot of international acclaim recently with National Geographic magazine picking Laos as one of the best places for slow travel in 2023 and saying, “The train’s promise? To expand tourism among the Lao themselves, who can now more easily explore their country’s multifaceted heritage, including the old imperial capital, Luang Prabang, a UNESCO World Heritage site.”
Source: https://laotiantimes.com/2022/11/23/tourists-choose-laos-china-railway-as-the-best-way-to-travel-to-luang-prabang/
Film Festival in Luang Prabang Announces Official Lineup
The UNESCO Heritage town of Luang Prabang in Laos will once again host a film festival, previously known as the Luang Prabang Film Festival (LPFF).
With a rich history of connecting regional filmmakers, supporting the Lao domestic film industry, and presenting an annual free festival, LPFF has been a force in the region for more than 12 years.
Organizers have recently acquiesced to a name change in order to continue to produce this year’s event, scheduled for 8 – 11 December, and will move forward using only the iconic blue chair to identify the festival.
As always, official selections for the annual program were made by filmmakers and critics from across Southeast Asia and represent a curated selection of the finest contemporary films from their respective countries. By working with talented curators with an inside understanding of their communities’ film scenes, LPFF annually presents a unique program that consistently delivers some of the strongest voices from across the region.
Presenting Partners of the festival this year include Lao Telecom, The Asia Foundation, M Money, and Beerlao; the event is produced in collaboration with the Luang Prabang Department of Culture, Information, and Tourism. Longtime partners Avani+ Luang Prabang and Sofitel Luang Prabang are supporting the event again, as well.
Of special interest this year is a pair of films with roots in the LPFF Talent Lab — both Martika Ramirez Escobar and Kavich Neang joined the inaugural lab in 2016, delivered in conjunction with the erstwhile Tribeca Film Institute. This year sees their finished projects, Leonor Will Never Die and White Building, respectively, on screens in Luang Prabang.
And a pair of Lao productions will premiere at the festival this year — Sonepasith Phanphila’s Absence of Sound, made in Luang Prabang itself, and Phanumad Disattha’s short film, Fly Sandy Fly, presented by T Plus during the festival’s opening ceremony, which starts at 6 pm on 8 December.
As always, all screenings are free and open to the public.
Source: https://laotiantimes.com/2022/11/21/film-festival-in-luang-prabang-announces-official-lineup/
Laos Gets Most Foreign Tourists from Thailand, China and South Korea in 2022
This is according to the information shared by the Tourism Marketing Department of the Ministry of Information, Culture, and Tourism for the first nine months of the year.
With Laos getting wonderful publicity from international magazines like National Geographic and Wanderlust, the country has welcomed 1,701,806 tourists until September. A majority of them were Lao nationals (1,037,050) but there has also been an increase in the number of foreign tourists and 644,756 of them visited Laos during this time.
More than half of the international travelers have been from Thailand (364,515), keen to get on the high-speed Laos-China Railway and travel to tourist destinations like Luang Prabang and Vang Vieng. Despite closed borders, China came in second with 18,902 of its citizens visiting Laos followed by South Korea with 9,885 visitors, the US with 6,695, and 6,379 travelers reported from Cambodia.
Travel figures for Lao nationals are also 40% more compared to 2021 which generated an income of USD 117 million. The revenue from foreign tourists was over USD 100 million.
Albeit their closed borders Chinese tourists were able to enter Laos through flights to Vientiane’s Wattay International airport, or they crossed via the Laos-Thai Friendship bridge in the capital and some also used the border crossing option in the Golden Triangle area.
Government officials expect around 300,000 international tourists in the last quarter of the year. Through exhibitions, fairs, and the development of new tourism-related products, the government has joined hands with local business to provide the best travel experience to visitors.
Source: https://laotiantimes.com/2022/11/17/laos-gets-most-foreign-tourists-from-thailand-china-and-south-korea-in-2022/