By ASH

Domestic travel to beach towns, hilly re­gions and the Bagan an­cient cultural zone is normal in the rainy season, according to travel agencies.

The number of local travel­lers to these regions has been increasing since October 2022 and Ayeyawady Region, Rakh­ine and Mon states hosted the highest number of visitors in April 2023, according to Myan­mar Hoteliers Association.

Moreover, the outbound vis­its of Myanmar people became the highest after April 2022, es­pecially the visits to Thailand and Singapore were higher than the previous years as well as to Bodh Gaya in Nepal and India also higher than in 2018 and 2019.

Oversea visits of Myanmar citizens

The Myanmar people visit­ed neighbouring countries such as Thailand, Singapore, Nepal and India in 2022, according to Myanmar Tourism Federation.

“Starting April 2022, the number of overseas visits of Myanmar citizens increased. The visit to Bodh Gaya in Nepal and India in addition to Thailand and Singapore was high. At that time, it was the year of tourism in Dubai of UAE and the num­ber of visitors was also high. According to the data, about 500,000 people make overseas trips from April 2022 to April 2023,” said U Soe Aung from the Myanmar Tourism Federation (Yangon Region).

Similarly, the overseas vis­its of Myanmar citizens were high during one year. The people go abroad temporarily for the purpose of medical treatment and education. Other people mainly go to Thailand, Singa­pore and India for medical treat­ment and further education.

Additionally, inbound trav­els are also on the rise and the people visited hilly regions in early 2023.

Changes in film city

The filmmaking rate in Py­inOoLwin of Mandalay Region which was known as Myan­mar’s film city previously be­comes fallen recently and movie production is mainly made in Taunggyi, Kalaw and Pindaya of Southern Shan State. There­fore, the tourist arrivals to these hilly regions are higher than in previous years.

“PyinOoLwin is described as a film city in the past. Most of the films are made there. Later, almost all the movie drama and series are made in Taunggyi, Kalaw and Pindaya. So, the vis­its of the artistes and their fans become higher. In the past, the movie-making procedures were suspended in the rainy season but now, the people do not stop and are making the whole year round. So, the arrivals of trav­ellers to these places are on the rise,” said U Sai Khun Naung, a member of the Myanmar Hotel­iers Association (Shan State).

Beach towns that host trav­ellers all year round

The beach towns are one of the famous destinations for the local travellers and the arrivals to Ngwesaung and Chaungtha beaches in Ayeyawady Region and Ngapali beach in Rakhine State were normal starting early 2022.

“Since 2022, the beach are­as have been crowded with peo­ple. The bookings were full at the beach hotels during the new year period, especially in the international new year month of January and Myanmar new year month of April. It is also full during the long public holidays. The strange thing about this year is that there are travellers during the rainy season. Nor­mally, there are no visitors to the beaches in monsoon. There are travellers to Gawringyi island in Ayeyawady Region even in the rainy season,” said U Aung Moe Kyaw, a member of the Myan­mar Hoteliers Association (Ay­eyawady Region).

Currently, the number of visitors to beach towns of Rakh­ine State declines but the arriv­als to Ngwesaung and Chaung­tha beaches in Ayeyawady Region are normal. There are over 11,000 travellers to these beaches on weekdays and over 2,000 on weekends per day.

Bagan ancient cultural zone, the main destination of do­mestic visitors

Domestic travellers mainly visit the Bagan ancient cultural zone in NyaungU Township of Mandalay Region. The place is crowded with visitors until the rainy season in 2022.

“The traveller arrivals to Bagan have not declined since early 2022. So, it eases our hard­ships of the COVID-19 outbreak to a certain extent. We also offer the same services to the local travellers as we do to the tour­ists at local service rate and so the number of travellers does not fall,” said U Zaw Weik, a ho­telier from Hotel Zone (Bagan).

There are about 3,000 visi­tors to Bagan daily in the rainy season. The visitors also visit the vicinity areas of Bagan like Mount Popa.

Between January and June 2023, the Sagaing destination, Mingun, Mandalay and heritage sites of Bagan ancient cultur­al zone in Mandalay Region, sites in Yangon, beach towns of Ayeyawady Region and Rakh­ine State, Pindaya, Aungban, Kalaw and Taunggyi of Shan State hosted more than 500,000 domestic travellers and about 30,000 tourists.

Translated /KTZH