“Stay Another Day Laos” 2008 Returns

An updated Stay Another Day Laos booklet highlighting the best secrets of Laos is back by popular demand.

The 2008 edition of the Stay Another Day Laos booklet was launched in Vientiane on 26 February 2008. The launch was attended by the over 100 guests from the Lao National Tourism Administration, hotel and tour operators, featured initiatives and NGOs.

An accompanying photo exhibition will be held in Vientiane at the Treasures of Asia Gallery from the 11 March 2008.

The booklet goes beyond the realm of traditional guidebooks and features a wealth of remarkable initiatives which not only provide ideas for a richer travel experience, but also the opportunity to contribute in some way to improving the welfare of local people.

With striking orange and featuring colourful photos of Laos’ cultural, community and environmental treasures on the cover, the new Stay Another Day Laos is 30% bigger than 2007 and boasts a wider range of activities for tourists.

These include elephant trekking adventures, learning traditional weaving skills, for which Lao women are well-known, and supporting initiatives who are working to take care of Lao people and social projects around the country that make use of
renewable materials and work with disabled artisans.

The booklets will be distributed throughout Laos and internationally, and will be available at hotels, guesthouses, tour operators and restaurants.

The aim behind the booklet is to encourage travelers to venture beyond the well- trodden path and showcase unique and alternative things to do, see and learn so that benefits from tourism can make an immediate and positive difference in the
lives of the local community.

Kate Lloyd-Williams, Tourism Program Manager at IFC-MPDF says the new booklet “is the result of the great feedback we’ve received from our partners – the initiatives who said they have seen an increase in customers and sales or donations; the tourists who told us that the booklet helped them to get to know Laos better and tour and hotel operators whose guests enjoyed finding alternative things to do.” She adds, “We hope the 2008 edition will have an even better impact.”

Since opening its borders to tourists around 15 years ago, Laos has been synonymous with visions of a pristine landscape, the friendliest of people and ornate ancient temples. In other words, it represents an authentic slice at the heart of South East Asia.

However, Laos offers more than beautiful temples and stunning scenery. It is also a country of centuries-old culture confronting the challenges of modernization – an aspect which few visitors take the time to explore. With the 2008 edition of Stay Another Day Laos, visitors will be able to truly experience everything that
Laos has to offer and to get to know the country.

In addition to the booklet, travelers can also visit the Stay Another Day Laos Exhibition,held at ‘Kopnoi’ Gallery at the foot of Mount Phousi in Luang Prabang until September 2008.

For more information about the booklet, please contact Lee Sheridan at lee@stay- another-day.org or visit the website at
stay-another-day.org

Valere Tjolle