Yangon airport receives 2,000 tourists every day
Play
Yangon International Airport receives a daily average of nearly 2,000 foreign tourists, according to Minister of Hotels and Tourism Htay Aung.
At a meeting with entrepreneurs from the tourism industry, Htay Aung said tourism growth is getting better.
Foreign tourists enter the country through four airports – Yangon, Mandalay, Nyaung U, and Nay Pyi Taw – in addition to many border checkpoints.
“Tourist arrivals in Yangon have increased from 2010 to 2012. The number of tourist arrivals in October was 20,000, more than in September,” said an official from the Yangon International Airport.
Last year, the airport received more than 360,000 foreign tourists while over 26,000 tourists entered through Mandalay, Bagan and Nay Pyi Taw gateways.
After suffering three consecutive years of decline, Myanmar’s tourism industry started to
recover in 2010 due to political changes in the country. It became the centre of attention after
the by-election in last April.
An increasing number of foreign companies have been making study trips to Myanmar this year to make investments, especially in the hotel and tourism sector. Most investors have been waiting for the publication of the long-awaited foreign investment law, which was approved on November 2.
New airlines have also launched routes to Myanmar in time for the peak tourist season and the number of business tourists and international tourists arriving in Myanmar has been equally increasing, according to sources from the tourism industry.
A total of 420,000 tourists arrived in Myanmar from January to early November this year, according to statistics from the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism.
Last year, the number of tourist arrivals exceeded 800,000, up more than 24,000 or 3 per cent from the same period in 2010, according to the statistics.
The statistics also show that there were 1091 hotels and guesthouses offering 44,294 rooms up to September 2012.
