“Good Tourism” Destinations & Places in Laos

“GT” des­tin­a­tions in Laos, their spe­cial places, and the travel & tour­ism stake­hold­ers there who are keen to show­case their good, their bet­ter, and their best.

Behind Asian tourism’s success story: Risk and marketing


Behind Asian tourism’s success story: Risk and marketing. Image by Gemini.

Glob­al tourism’s centre of grav­ity has shif­ted to Asia. But how do Asi­an des­tin­a­tions main­tain their spec­tac­u­lar growth amidst nat­ur­al dis­asters, pan­dem­ics, and geo­pol­it­ic­al instability? 

Dr Dav­id Beir­man and Dr Jeff Wilks reveal the strategies behind the region’s resi­li­ence in their upcom­ing book, ‘Risk and Tour­ism Mar­ket­ing in Asia’. And Bernie Rosen­bloom shares key find­ings from his chapter on Laos.

Read More Behind Asian tourism’s success story: Risk and marketing

Villagers, tour operators collaborate on new community-based Soum-son Trail in Laos


Villagers, tour operators collaborate on new community-based Soum-son Trail in Laos

The organ­isers of a new com­munity-based trekking route in remote north­ern Laos believe that the inclu­sion and train­ing of vil­la­gers in three moun­tain ham­lets is a pos­it­ive example of respons­ible travel. Their hope is that the com­munity-based tour­ism activ­ity will enhance the qual­ity of life for the vil­la­gers. Women pion­eers On Feb­ru­ary 16, six Australian […]

Read More Villagers, tour operators collaborate on new community-based Soum-son Trail in Laos

Lasting Laos: Meet 20 certifiably-sustainable hotels and tour companies at ITB


Lasting Laos: Meet Laos' five 'exemplary' certifiably-sustainable tourism companies at ITB Berlin 2024

Travel agents and tour oper­at­ors seek­ing cer­ti­fi­ably-sus­tain­able ground con­tent in the peace­ful and beau­ti­ful emer­ging des­tin­a­tion of Laos can find exactly what they are look­ing for at ITB Ber­lin 2024: Last­ing Laos

Five exem­plary Lao tour­ism com­pan­ies are set to show­case their Trav­elife cer­ti­fic­a­tion, innov­at­ive spir­it, and com­mit­ment to sus­tain­ab­il­ity and sus­tain­able prac­tices at ITB.

Read More Lasting Laos: Meet 20 certifiably-sustainable hotels and tour companies at ITB

All aboard! High-speed train offers compelling new way to travel through Laos


High-speed train offers compelling new way to travel through Laos

The romance of train travel is alive and well in Laos. The recently-com­pleted high-speed rail­way that stretches from Vien­tiane, through Laos, and into south­ern China is oper­at­ing ‘full steam’ ahead.  This excit­ing jour­ney takes you through remote vil­lages and into the heart of rur­al Laos, offer­ing up close and per­son­al views of the Laos of today […]

Read More All aboard! High-speed train offers compelling new way to travel through Laos

You can’t furlough an elephant: How Laos’ ECC is surviving the COVID crisis

February 8, 2022

One can't simply furlough a bull elephant and his mahout. Image supplied by the Elephant Conservation Center in Sayaboury, Laos.

What would you do if rev­en­ues dried up but you had dozens of ele­phants to look after? The Ele­phant Con­ser­va­tion Cen­ter (ECC) in Say­a­boury, Laos faced this situ­ation as COVID-19 lock­downs and travel bans bit in March 2020. ECC found­ing part­ner Sébas­tien Duffil­lot shares what they did. It’s a “Good Tour­ism” Insight. [Thanks to “GT” Destination […]

Read More You can’t furlough an elephant: How Laos’ ECC is surviving the COVID crisis

Science, mahout traditions may help save Asian elephants from extinction in Laos


Elephant family crossing a river. Captive breeding technology and mahout knowledge may help save Asian elephants in Laos. Image supplied by Anabel Lopez Perez.

Asi­an ele­phants are at risk of extinc­tion in the wild and in cap­tiv­ity. That they are not repla­cing their num­bers in cap­tiv­ity may come as a sur­prise to many. This is why con­­ser­­va­­tion-ori­en­ted cap­tive breed­ing pro­grams are import­ant to the spe­cies. Wild­life bio­lo­gist Ana­bel Lopez Perez of Laos’ Ele­phant Con­ser­va­tion Cen­ter and Hol­lis Bur­b­ank-Ham­­marlund of […]

Read More Science, mahout traditions may help save Asian elephants from extinction in Laos