January 5, 2008

LAOS/TOURISM
Chinese firm to build five-star hotel in Luang Prabang
Yunnan Copper Mining, a Chinese state-owned company, is scheduled to start construction of a five-star hotel with investment of 5 million U.S. dollars in Laos' Luang Prabang province, one of the country's hottest destinations for foreign tourists, in August, according to Lao newspaper Vientiane Times on Thursday.

Covering an area of 40 hectares, the 200-room hotel will feature Lao traditional architecture to maintain the charm of the world heritage town of Luang Prabang in the northern province, and include a gym, entertainment venues, a healthcare center and sport clubs.

Deputy director of the Luang Prabang Tourism Administration, Khamtan Somphanvilay, said investment of Chinese companies in tourism facilities in the province was initiated in 2006 when Lao President Choummaly Sayasone visited the Chinese province of Yunnan.

The Luang Prabang province is now home to 178 guesthouses with 2,000 rooms and 30 hotels with 600 rooms. The maximum number of tourists it is able to host is around 3,000 people, said president of the Guesthouse and Hotel Association in Luang Prabang, Khoun Chanthaboupha.

Courtesy Xinhua

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