After the tourist slump created by the coronavirus pandemic and the February 2021 military coup, international arrivals in Myanmar are showing big increases. In the fiscal year 2022-23 (ending in late March), 367,368 foreigners mostly with tourist visas entered the country, an increase of 187 percent over the previous year.
Junta spokesman U Hla Myint said 13.15 percent or around 48,000 of the arrivals were Chinese nationals, but an encouraging feature was the growth in numbers from India, Russia and the Middle East. Travel agents say that Europeans, Americans and Japanese have mostly kept away on the advice of their governments as parts of the country are gripped by civil war and a lack of human rights.
U Tin Zaw Thein, a director from the hotels and tourism ministry, said there was no disorder in the areas which tourists visited to enjoy cultural attractions such as visiting ancient pagodas in Bagan or enjoying leg-rowing in Inle lake. Inbound tourists must land by air in the largest city Yangon and immigration procedures have recently been simplified. For example, a separate medical insurance policy is no longer required for foreigners who are fully vaccinated.
Myanmar authorities have pushed hard to promote foreign tourism since the pandemic faded. Foreign language courses for hotel staff have been launched and the country has been represented at several travel fairs at home and abroad. TV videos promoting temples and cultural sites have been produced for countries willing to allow the junta air time.
Prior to the pandemic, Myanmar enjoyed 4 million plus tourists a year. They were mostly Australian and European culture vultures in small groups, paying for escorted holidays to exotic locations. This market has completely disappeared and is unlikely to return any time soon. The common western view is that foreigners should avoid visiting Myanmar to deprive the military junta of funds. However, the alternative opinion is that international tourism provides sorely needed jobs and income to poverty-stricken Myanmar nationals.
