Laos experienced a sharp drop in visitor arrivals last year, mainly due to a decline from neighbouring Thailand.
According to the latest data, reported by the state-run Lao News Agency (KPL), the landlocked Southeast Asian country welcomed 3.14 million international arrivals in the first nine months of 2016, which marked a decline of 10% compared to the same period in 2015.
Arrivals from Laos’ largest source market, Thailand, fell 12% to 1.46m last year. Despite this, Thailand still contributed almost half (46%) of all arrivals to Laos during the nine-month period.
Overall, arrivals from ASEAN countries decreased 14% while those from non-ASEAN countries increased 4%.
