Southeast Asia Information Port News (www.dnyxxg.com) – In January 2026, the 12th National Congress of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party successfully concluded, reviewing and adopting important documents such as the 10th National Socio-Economic Development Five-Year Plan (2026-2030), clarifying the future development direction. Following the congress, all ministries, organizations, and provinces in Laos have gradually translated the congress's resolutions into concrete action plans, strictly implementing them in accordance with the Party's policies and directives, with the cultural and tourism sector becoming a key area of focus.
Lao Minister of Culture and Tourism, Sounsavan Vynayakht, stated that in the next five years, the cultural and tourism sector will focus on implementing the resolutions of the 12th Party Congress and the 10th National Socio-Economic Development Plan, which presents both development opportunities and significant challenges. "The department is fully prepared to implement the Party's guiding principles and national policies, especially the Party's Resolution No. 12, to propel the social and cultural field into a new stage and achieve new results," she emphasized. She stressed that the Party and the state have always adhered to the principle of promoting economic prosperity and the development of spiritual civilization in a coordinated manner, closely integrating the two to form a synergy for development and laying a solid foundation for the country's sustainable and stable development. Specifically, the focus will be on key tasks such as promoting outstanding national culture, coordinating the development of material and spiritual civilization, and ensuring the sustainable development of tourist destinations.
In terms of cultural development and cultural economy, Laos' cultural and tourism departments will focus on heritage resources as the core driving force. Under the premise of sustainable protection, they will explore the economic value of heritage restoration and development, comprehensively manage and enhance the value of certified World Heritage sites and national heritage sites such as Luang Prabang and Xieng Khouang Plain of Jars, maximizing benefits for the public. Simultaneously, they will systematically promote the standardized use and dissemination of the Lao language, revive and promote the unique literary, artistic, and cultural values of various ethnic groups, actively cultivate new civilized customs, correct and abandon backward thinking, laziness, extravagance, waste, lack of innovation and ethics, and illegal and irregular phenomena, promote a social atmosphere of unity, mutual assistance, generosity, and friendliness, guide the public to uphold the concept that national interests are above personal interests, cultivate national pride, national consciousness, and independence among young people, and contribute to the construction of a socialist society.
Regarding tourism development, Laos will focus on a green and low-carbon approach, promote sustainable tourism development, fully activate the potential of domestic natural, cultural, and traditional resources, and help achieve the goal of attracting 22 million international tourists and generating US$8 billion in tourism revenue by 2026-2030. At the same time, the system systematically sorts out various related elements of the tourism industry, and coordinates various tasks such as administrative control, tourism management, market benefits, supply and demand balance, resource protection and development, and the integrated linkage of domestic and regional tourism. Through diverse media channels, it promotes the image of Laos tourism in an all-round and multi-faceted way, improves tourism infrastructure and supporting facilities, enriches the supply of tourism products, takes into account the participation of the public and communities, strengthens tourism safety guarantees, promotes the high-quality development of the tourism industry, and further consolidates the brand influence of Laos as the "World's Best Tourist Destination of the Year".
