An Analytical Perspective Of Laos Tourism And Development Strategies And Policies

This paper aimed to propose some useful development strategies to the tourism industry of Lao PDR. First, the present situation of Laos’s tourism was analyzed with the aid of the data from The Tourism Development Department of Lao PDR. Next, SWOT analysis was applied to analyze the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of Laos’s tourism industry. Last but not least, the corresponding development strategies and solutions was proposed.Based on the research, we found that the tourism in Laos is developing rapidly in these few years, and become one of the pillar industries in Laos’s economy. The major tourists of Laos in recent years comprised of the visitors from Thailand, Vietnam, China, Korea and the United States.According to the SWOT analysis, the abundance of natural resources, the strategic geographical location and the unique traditional cultures are the strengths that attracts international tourists. On the contrary, the underdeveloped transportations, lack of publicity and advertisements, poor tourism management are a few reasons that threaten the tourism industries in Laos. This paper argued that Laos’s tourism should be promoted with the combination of online and offline method. The Laos government should also create a favorable investment climate in order to attract more foreign investors.