As many airlines are fly­ing from Myanmar to Thailand with the lowest airfares, visitors from Thailand to Myanmar will increase, the UMTA forecast.

“There are seven or eight flights daily between Myanmar and Thailand. The Thailand trav­ellers will flock to Myanmar in the coming tourism high sea­son,” U Naung Naung Han, chair of the UMTA elaborated.

In addition to Thailand trav­ellers, China is ranked second and Russia is placed third in tourist arrivals in Myanmar.

In the monsoon season, hotels and airlines slash their price. The round trip for the Myanmar-Thailand flight is es­timated at US$150. Visitors from Thailand are mostly seen in My­anmar at present.

More than 450,000 tourist arrivals to Myanmar were reg­istered in the H1 (January-June) 2023 and the majority of them were from China and Thailand, Daw Myo Myo Than, director of the Directorate of Hotels and Tourism highlighted.

Visitors from China, Thai­land, the Republic of Korea, Ja­pan, India, Viet Nam, Malaysia and Singapore arrived in Myan­mar in the H1.

“The tourist arrivals ex­ceeded 450,000 in the first six months this year. The number of arrivals has grown compared to that of the previous year. Myan­mar has resumed international flights since April 2022 and over 230,000 tourists entered My­anmar,” Daw Myo Myo Than shared information.

Myanmar has been grant­ing ordinary passport holders from 100 countries and China Taipei, Hong Kong SAR and Macao SAR e-Visas for tourist purposes, and from 54 countries and China Taipei, Hong Kong SAR and Macao SAR e-Visas for business. Tourists from some re­gional countries are granted visa exemption for certain periods. Myanmar has implemented and developed community-based tourism and eco-tourism sites in regions and states and more tourism destinations will be ex­plored. The Directorate of Hotels and Tourism, the UMTA and the Myanmar Hoteliers Association are exerting concerted efforts to enhance Myanmar’s tourism sector.

Translated/EM