The small Lao town of Luang Prabang has been one of the biggest winners in the success of the China-Laos Railway, the 1,035-km line that connects Kunming in southwest China's Yunnan Province with Vientiane in Laos.
The railway – about 422-km of LCR lies within Laos – is a landmark project of China’s Belt and Road project. It began operation in December 2021, and up to February this year the railway handled more than 48.6 million passenger trips.
Passengers discovering the ease of rail travel have driven a Luang Prabang tourism boom. In the first quarter of the year, the province welcomed just short of 1.2 million visitors, including 459,091 domestic travellers and 708,490 international tourists.
This represents a significant increase of 722,679 visitors year-over-year, according to Soudaphone Khomthavong, director of the Luang Prabang Provincial Information, Culture and Tourism Department.
In 2024, Luang Prabang saw a total of 2.3 million tourists, exceeding its original target of 900,000 with the top 10 source markets being China, South Korea, US, Thailand, France, Sweden, Austria, Germany, Canada and Japan.