Over half of tourists come from Thailand
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The number of tourists from Thailand in the first four months of this year exceeded 600,000, when the country welcomed a total of one million visitor arrivals.
According to the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism, based on the surge in the number of foreign tourists, Myanmar is confident that it would achieve the target number of three million this year.
As of May 6, the arrivals have reached 1.04 million.
The ministry said significant numbers of foreign visitors were from Japan, China, France, Germany and the United States.
“A lot of Americans are visiting Myanmar. From Thai side, the tourists are increasing every year,” said an official from the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism.
Although most foreign visitors spent their holiday in Myanmar, an increasing number of foreigners came to look for business and investment in comparison to last year’s arrivals.
Some two million foreign visitors spent over US$900 million last year, a record high for the tourism industry. According to the ministry’s press release, the tourism-generated earnings will likely soar even higher.
The ministry estimates that a larger number of foreign tourists will arrive because of improved tourism infrastructure such as hotel, tour itinerary, tourist destination and the implementation of Myanmar’s tourism projects.
The number of foreign arrivals stood at more than two million last year, comprising 885,476 by air, 6,086 by ship and 1.1 million through land borders.
The booming tourism industry has spawned the increase of foreign and local investment in hotel construction.
