Getting tourism rolling again with bullet trains

For Benny Kong, a hotel owner and co-founder of a tour company in Laos, the China-Laos Railway is poised to bring more tourists and put business back on track.

The 33-year-old Singaporean, who lives in Laos, set up the MyLao-Home boutique hotel 14 years ago after a backpacking trip to Laos. That's when he discovered there was demand for hotels in Luang Prabang, a former Laotian capital and a World Heritage Site listed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

Kong's business was growing in tandem with the tourism industry in Laos－until the pandemic stuck.