The China-Laos Railway, linking the Lao capital Vientiane with Kunming, the capital of southwest China’s Yunnan Province, has helped to significantly boost tourism in the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia, which is experiencing a surge in both domestic and international arrivals.
Since its launch in December 2021, the 1,035-kilometer rail line has helped to connect the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and Laos’ strategy to convert itself from a landlocked country to a land-linked hub in the Indo-China Peninsula.
“The railway has brought benefits to tourism in the country, not only from visitors from China of course, but also other international tourists who are visiting Vientiane and then being able to connect on up to Luang Prabang and other important tourist sites. And then it has also brought a surge in domestic tourists,” said Steven Cleary, a Vientiane-based analyst.