VIENTIANE, May 16 (Xinhua) -- Places of cultural interest is the top attractions for people visiting Laos, while the capital Vientiane tops the list of places visited by foreign tourists, local daily Vientiane Times on Wednesday quoted a 2017 statistics report as saying.

The Lao Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism carried out a survey among 2,591 international visitors from April to December 2017 at Wattay International Airport and the Lao-Thai Friendship Bridge in Lao capital Vientiane, and in northern ancient town Luang Prabang and the southern province of Champassak.

Of those surveyed, 67 percent said they were interested in cultural sites, while 65 percent said they were primarily attracted to areas of natural beauty.

The survey also showed that 73 percent of all tourists arrived in Laos by land and some 26 percent of visitors arrived by air, with those in the 20-29 age group comprising 29 percent.

Of those surveyed, 60 percent said they stayed in hotels during their holiday.

The 2017 statistics report issued by the department also analysed visitor preference for destination within Laos.

More than 1.3 million foreign tourists said they visited Vientiane, followed by Champassak province in the south which attracted over 831,000 visitors, while Savannakhet province in the central drew over 724,000 people. Luang Prabang in the north ranked sixth with over 472,000 visitors. Hilly Xaysomboun province in central Laos was the least visited place by foreign tourists, with just 15,000 saying they planned to go there.

Meanwhile, domestic tourists mostly visited Champassak province with over 479,000 people saying that was their main destination. Next on the list was Vientiane province with over 353,000 visitors followed by Savannakhet province with over 341,000 visitors. Remote Xekong province in the south attracted the smallest number of Lao tourists with just over 10,000 people paying a visit.

The report also showed that Thai nationals topped visitor numbers with over 1.7 million, followed by the Vietnamese with over 891,000. There were over 639,000 Chinese visitors.

Laos hopes to receive 5 million tourists during Visit Laos Year 2018. According to the report, more than 3.8 million tourists visited Laos in 2017, generating revenue of more than 648 million U.S. dollars.

During the first three months of this year, more than 1 million tourists entered Laos.