Kapok flower festival attracts more tourists to Bokeo
VIENTIANE - The annual Dok Ngiew (kapok flower) Festival in Tonpheung district, Bokeo province has attracted over 60,000 tourists from Laos and neighbouring countries to learn about the unique Lao culture.
The event took place from January 26-31 featuring a number of activities including a trade fair, beauty contest, food contest and other cultural performances.
The event was organised by Bokeo provincial authorities and Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone (SEZ) and attended by Deputy Prime Minister Mr Somsavat Lengsavad, Dok Ngiew Kham Group President Mr Choi Wai and other high-ranking officials.
The aim was to promote tourism in the province and generate income for local people while preserving the traditional culture of local people. The event takes place each year to coincide with the blooming of the kapok flowers which grow naturally in the district. Director of Bokeo provincial Department of Information, Culture and Tourism Mr Somphone Keomany told Vientiane Times yesterday that tourists from Thailand, Myanmar, C hina and other European countries also attended the event.
“The new thing for this year's festival celebration is that we organised a food festival, allowing local people to show off how wonderful their foods are among foreign visitors,” he said.
“The festival directly generated revenue for local people and the economy while creating activities for tourists to stay in Bokeo province longer.”
Since the opening of a bridge across the Mekong River between Bokeo and Chiang Rai province of Thailand in 2012, more tourists have visited the province.
But the main challenge for the province is how to keep tourists staying longer so that local people can benefit from the growth of the tourism industry.
Mr Somphone said “We are improving the quality of our hotels and other facilities as well as opening new tourism sites to welcome the rising number of tourists to the province.”
Mr Somphone said before the opening of the bridge across the Mekong, the number of tourist arrivals in the province was just 70-80,000 people annually but the figure rose to 170,000 people in 2015.
Bokeo province is an entry point for many tourists arriving from Thailand before they make their way to other parts of Laos and to southern China. The province lies on Road R3A, part of the major highway running from Kunming in China through the northern Lao provinces of Luang Namtha and Bokeo to Thailand.
