Local residents and government officials are urging  Myanmar tour guides to be more sensitive to national culture and set good examples to foreign visitors, especially when visiting Buddhist temples.

The Ministry of Culture will soon seek tenders from private firms to renovate Mandalay Palace and the moat around it to make them more attractive to tourists, an official with the Archaeology, National Museum and Library Department said.

The terraces of five more of Bagan’s more than 2,200 ancient temples have been opened for visitors to watch sunsets and sunrises over the historic area, an official from the Department of Archaeology said.

Once off-limits to tourists, the administrative capital Nay Pyi Taw is now being marketed as a destination for international travelers, the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism said.