Tourism officials have expressed strong confidence that visitor numbers will top 3.1 million people this year, up by 14 percent compared to 2011. With the year drawing to a close, officials from the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism have received unofficial figures for annual tourist arrivals from all the provinces, except for Khammuan province and Vientiane. Even without the December figures for these two areas, Laos has already registered tourist arrivals in excess of the figure of 2.9 million targeted for 2012. Director General of the Tourism Development Department, Mr Soun Manivong, said they only require another 200,000 more visitors to reach the 3.1 million mark. He was confident that once the December figures from Khammuan province and Vientiane are factored in, the target will be exceeded.