Before that, on December 17, the newspaper Laotian Times Citing the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism, Laos announced that the country will open in 3 phases. The first phase will be from January 1, 2022, the next phase from April 1, 2022, and the last one from July 1, 2022.
In phase 1, Laos will open its doors to 17 countries, including Vietnam and many neighboring ASEAN countries, besides some European countries, China, the US, Australia and Canada.
Before the COVID-19 epidemic, Laos welcomed about 4.7 million tourists a year. However, visitor arrivals fell by 80% in 2020. Laos’ growth also slowed to 0.4% last year, the lowest in three decades.
“Many hotels in Vang Vieng are empty and have had to temporarily close for the past 2 years because no one has visited. After the new year, hopefully everything will be better,” said Alex Tran, owner of a hotel in Vang Vieng.
According to newsnpr.org
