By Rupak D Sharma in Vientiane
Upon my arrival in Vientiane, the first thing I noticed about the city was its remarkably low population density.
It was Friday morning when I reached there but the streets gave an impression as if it was a weekend. When the weekend finally rolled in the next day, the thoroughfares looked completely deserted.
If this was the situation in the capital city, I wondered, how empty would other parts of Laos look.
With all these thoughts in my mind I was waiting for a friend in front of KP Hotel when I started seeing into foreign tourists. One, then another and another. In the span of around 20 minutes, when I stood there, I realised that on average every fourth person that I had come across was a foreigner.
I didn’t know what to make out of it at first but later this explained a lot about the correlation between Laos’ scanty population and booming tourism industry.
Laos: An Intro
Laos, a landlocked country hidden between China, Thailand, Burma, Cambodia and Viet Nam, is spread in an area of 236,800sq km and has a population of 6.52 million. In other words, only 25 people live in 1sq km of land compared with 253 persons per sq km in Viet Nam, 122 in Thailand and 78 in Cambodia.
This is one of the reasons why the country is a haven for tourists looking for destinations with little distractions. This is also the reason why it is favoured by those who have become tired of hopscotching crowded and bustling places of Southeast Asia.
With treasures such as the 700-year old scenic city of Luang Prabang in the central north, the Plain of Jars in the north, the 4,000 Islands in the south and plenty of archaeological wonders and breathtaking scenes, the country can be called a huge showcase of riveting sights and idyllic spots that can keep one engaged for days.
The place is not over priced either. Average accommodation costs in fine hotels are US$40 per night and Beerlao, one of the tastiest beers in the region, is priced at $1 in most restaurants.
But what adds more charm to all these is its relaxed and welcoming people, whose innate hospitality moved me more than once during my sojourn.
This incredible mixture of low population density, hidden treasures, inexpensiveness and people’s benevolent attitude are giving a shot of adrenaline to its tourism industry.
Tourism’s Benefits
For a less industrialised economy like Laos, where around 27 per cent of the population do not earn $1 a day, tourism offers a lifeline and provides the much needed foreign currency required to execute development works and reduce incidents of poverty.
Last year, a total of 1.6 million foreign visitors thronged Laos—up 23 per cent from 2006 and more than double of 2001—bringing in $233 million to the country.
The foreign receipts helped the country to narrow the current account deficit to 15 per cent of the GDP (of $4 billion) and maintain a sound foreign exchange reserve of $530 million.
Vayakhon Badhisane, president of Lao Association of Travel Agents, told AsiaNews that benefits of tourism have also started to trickle down to the poor, “which is now visible in less-developed areas of the country”.
Due to the influx of foreign travellers, residents in rural areas have started opening convenience stores, restaurants, small souvenir shops and other businesses, she said. “This, on one hand, is augmenting their incomes and improving living standards, while, on the other, enhancing their entrepreneurial skills and bringing them into the mainstream of development.”
A recent Asian Development Bank report said a significant investment is also being poured into accommodation and other facilities to cater to the needs of rising number of tourists, generating additional employment opportunities. Laos currently has 211 hotels and 1,120 guest houses and resorts. According to ADB, every additional hotel room creates two jobs directly and several indirectly.
Repercussions Of Boom
But the paradox is that tourism, which has become a chief agent in keeping the economy vibrant, is also ripping the country off of its precious, priceless and irreplaceable treasures.
Luang Prabang, the most famous destination in Laos, is an example where intrepid tourists are turning the city ugly and trampling on the cultural heritage.
Some years ago Unesco warned of Luang Prabang, a World Heritage Site, turning into “another tourist town where softdrink billboards dominate the landscape, where the sound of tour buses drowns out the soft temple prayers, and where the town’s residents are reduced to the roles of bit-players in a cultural theme park” if proper measures were not taken to preserve its cultural legacy and authenticity.
The overflow of tourists in Luang Prabang is also pushing the natives to move to other places by leasing their lands to guest house, restaurant and massage parlour owners.
These newcomers usually snub the idea of supporting the monasteries, which largely depend on the people’s offerings. Many fear if this trend continues, the number of people enrolling for monks may shrink drastically, delivering a severe blow to the age-old tradition, which is considered the pride of the city.
There are also fears that the growing number of incoming tourists may lure many looking for quick bucks into prostitution and degenerate the ecosystem resulting in depletion of many land and aquatic species that are found in abundance in Laos.
Glimmer Of Hope
As many reports have said “supply of distinctive, living ethnic cultures combined with an exemplary natural environment is diminishing throughout the world” due to booming tourism. And Laos seems to be falling victim to this trend.
But when supply declines, demand goes up. Since Laos’ natural and cultural heritage is not deteriorating at a fast pace, the country still has the opportunity to capitalise on the fundamental economic theory and make tourism a sustainable income generating source.
For that, it must do more to preserve its pristine spots and ethnic traditions.Published in Asia News
