The Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) opened its doors to international tourists in 1989 and, since then, the tourism industry has developed rapidly to become one of the country’s largest earners of foreign currency. The Lao PDR possesses a beautiful, virtually untouched natural environment and a population that still practices their rich traditional culture — these two characteristics form the basis for the promotion of tourism development in the Lao PDR. The government has taken important first steps to implement social and environmental policies and programmes, particularly in co-operation with various international organizations and non-governmental organizations, in order to promote sustainable tourism development. However, additional measures are needed to achieve sustainable tourism development.

7 p. : graphs, table