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Tubing in Laos

Tubing in Laos. Community development or a village that is loosing itself to tourism?. Pre- 1995. Vang Vieng was originally only a tourist stopover on the two day trip from Vientiene to Luang Prabang. Rapid Tourism Growth. In 1996 only 1,380 tourists visited Van Vieng

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Tubing in Laos

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  1. Tubing in Laos • Community development or a village that is loosing itselfto tourism?

  2. Pre- 1995 • VangVieng was originally only a tourist stopover on the two day trip from Vientiene to LuangPrabang

  3. Rapid Tourism Growth • In 1996 only 1,380 tourists visited Van Vieng • In 1998, numbers increased to 3,600 tourists • In 2000 there were 26,620 international visitors • Currently, it is estimated that over 100,000 tourists visit the town annually

  4. Why are all these people coming to VangVieng?

  5. A small percentage of the growth can be attributed to an overall increase in tourism in Laos

  6. But... The majority of tourists come for tubing...

  7. Tubing • “Tubing has become a hallmark of VangVieng and involves floating down the Nam XongRiver on inflated (truck) inner-tubes. The VangVieng local community have organised themselves into a cooperative business association to sell tubing as an activity. • “Some 1,555 participating households are divided into 10 village units, with each village unit taking its turn on a ten-day rotation to rent inner-tubes to the tourists. After local taxes and operating costs are deducted, tubing reportedly delivers between Kip 50,000 and Kip 200,000 ($6.50-$26) per month to each of the participating households.”

  8. River Swings and Mayhem • “Born out of tubing as an activity, and encouraging ‘tubers’ to stop for food and drink and to jump into the river, there are currently 12-13 bars offering a mix of jumping points, swings, zip-wires and recently a concrete slide into the river. This entertainment is arguably the principle attraction for the fast growing Budget-tubing market. Most activities are included free when tourists stop for drinks, alcohol, food and drugs along a 2km stretch of the Nam Xong.” • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BKdnmuFoV0

  9. Tubing Related Concerns • loud music disturbing nearby residents; • serious safety issues, which have resulted in deaths, serious and mild injuries - when hitting the water, it is common practice for people jumping and falling from swings to miss people floating underneath in tubes by a matter of centimetres; • obnoxious behaviour, including the writing of obscene slogans on torsos; • tourists becoming intoxicated on alcohol and drugs and incapable of looking after themselves in a water-based and potentially dangerous environment (which was experienced first hand during the field mission); • litter problems; • parading around VangVieng town in bikinis and swim shorts while drunk and disorderly when the river-bars close. • According to police records, 4 people have died in tubing and river-mayhem activities in the last three years. An attempt was made to collect records of injuries from the VangVieng hospital, but no information was forthcoming. It was reported that many people head straight to Vientiane after serious cuts and other injuries.

  10. http://localperspectives.net/interviews/laos/mr-thanongsi • http://www.smh.com.au/travel/down-the-tube-20110727-1hzzc.html

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