Bounyong Saypanya, a director attached to Savannakhet’s tourism bureau, said figures revealed that the tally of international visitors stood at 700,000 for the first two-thirds of 2014. He continued by saying that Thais made up a large proportion of the visitors, but there were also significant numbers of people from China, the UK, Japan and Vietnam.
Mr Saypanya added that the province had 116 tourism attractions and offered something for most tastes. Highlights are the Tang Vay fossil site and the 2,000-year-old Wat Inghang Temple. The museum at the provincial capital, also called Savannakhet, contains an impressive collection of dinosaur remains.
The capital is Laos’s second biggest city, yet a relatively sleepy location which time seems to have forgotten. Its main attractions are the chance of sampling French baguettes and coffee or testing your luck at the swanky Savan Vegas casino.
The city is on the banks of the mighty Mekong River and across from the Thai town of Mukdahan. Since the Second Thai–Lao Friendship Bridge linking the two opened in 2007, the amount of tourists visiting this part of Laos has gradually risen.
Sleepy Laos province wakes up for tourists
News in Asia
The Laos province of Savannakhet and its capital city have started to attract more visitors. Local tourism officers say record numbers of international travellers have visited so far this year.