Laos carves its niche positioning in Southeast Asian tourism

Can Laos go further in its tourism development while preserving its niche positioning of a destination mostly built on eco-tourism and culture? Phouthone Dalalom, Deputy Director General, Tourism Marketing Department at the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism presented during the ASEAN Tourism Forum 2026 in Cebu some of the priorities from Laotian authorities.

Development priorities and policy direction is basically to strengthen the country’s strategy for sustainable growth through 2030.

Tourism development is strongly tied to Laos’ rich cultural heritage and natural environment. The country features three UNESCO World Cultural Heritage sites (Luang Prabang, Wat Phu temple complex, and the Plain of Jars) alongside recognized intangible heritage such as traditional khene music and local craft traditions. Hin Nam No National Park, recently designated as a UNESCO natural heritage site in partnership with Vietnam, further highlights Laos’ ecotourism potential.

In late January, the country also added two sites to its national cultural heritage list in Savannakhet province in the South, recognising ancient temples That Phon Stupa and Heuan Hin.

According to Dalalom, Laos offers diverse tourism assets including more than 2,400 attractions, nearly 3,500 accommodations, and extensive adventure tourism opportunities such as kayaking, zip-lining, trekking, and hot-air ballooning in Vang Vieng. Gastronomy tourism is also being promoted, reflecting the country’s ethnic diversity and regional culinary traditions.

Laos not in a rush for providing free visa on arrivals

However, despite repeating year after year that tourism is a priority for its economic and social development, the country seems to move at a speed of a snail. This is visible in the country’s visa policy. Although travelers can now easily get e-visa in a few days, free visa granted on arrivals are limited to 17 countries -including some surprising ones such as Luxembourg or Mongolia. The government turns indeed a deaf ear to demand of tour operators for providing free visas for Laos most important inbound markets.

Marketing campaigns from Laos Tourism Marketing Department concentrate mostly on China and Thailand. Proof is the launching of a Visit Laos-China Year 2027, which hopefully will get more exposure than the Visit Laos Year 2024, which did not gain real attention on a global scale. In its presentation, Dalalom showed also that international media campaigns in 2025 were all directed towards the Thai market.

In 2025, Laos welcomed a total of 4,580,709 international visitors, marking an 11% increase over the previous year. The top five source markets were Thailand (1,484,319), China (1,157,278), Vietnam (1,129,109), Korea (182,709), and Russia (73,568).

Giving a boost to Laos offer

While in parallel to focus on sustainable and eco-friendly tourism aligned with ASEAN tourism standards, including green hotel certification and community-based tourism initiatives, they are very few new attractions or products being currently developed -especially since the opening of the high-speed rail between Vientiane, Luang Prabang and China. The latter as well as more cross-border checkpoints with Thailand are indeed compensating the lack of direct long-haul flights according to Dalalom.

The biggest enhancement to date are new tourism facilities at Nam Ngum reservoir, in the Province of Vientiane. Completed in the middle of 2025, the US$5.3 million project funded by an ADB grant was used for building a 6.3-km concrete road linking the Nam Ngum reservoir to Highway No. 10. It helped enhancing the port area, and constructing three scenic viewpoints. Shops, public toilets, a public food market as well as landscaping, street lights have been installed. A small marina is the main attraction point with boats providing tours of the reservoir.