Myanmar’s tourist arrivals reached 1 million in 2012

Published on Sunday, 06 January 2013 01:41

Myanmar finally reached its goal of attracting 1 million visitors for the first time, in 2012, according to an official from the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism.

“Preliminary figures are around 1,060,000 when we combine all the [figures] from the airport gateways including Yangon and border-entry points, but we are still checking the official statistics,” said the official.

Visitors entered the country through such important gateways as Yangon, Mandalay, Bagan, Nay Pyi Taw, in addition to many border checkpoints.

About 560,000 visitors entered Myanmar through the Yangon International Airport and the Yangon Port while another 560,000 visitors arrived in the country from the international entry points at the airports in Yangon, Mandalay, and Nay Pyi Taw.

Meanwhile, tourist arrivals from the border-entry points near Thailand and China are estimated at 400,000.

In 2006, Myanmar saw a surge in tourists coming through the gates across the country, but the tourism industry declined at the end of 2007 and continued onward until 2010 due to political changes in the country.

Tourist arrivals started rising in 2011 and it increased after Myanmar became the centre of attention after the by-election in April, 2012.

Aung Din, managing director of Nature Lovers Travels and Tours, said there was an equal increase in both business tourists and international travellers.

Statistics show that Myanmar received more than 810,000 visitors in 2011.