Myanmar’s tourism is bouncing back, ever so gingerly – take it from someone who has seen two decades’ development from a front-row seat.
With more than 16 years of full-time government service in the Ministry of Hotels and 16 years of teaching in the Ministry of Education, Daw Kyi Kyi Aye has an incomparable breadth of experience in the Myanmar tourism sector. Beyond serving in a government role and advising international tourism partners, Ms. Aye has represented Myanmar as a delegate, panelist, speaker and moderator at international and regional conferences, meetings, and roundtable discussions.
In her role as a Senior Tourism Advisor of the Myanmar Tourism Federation – a confederation of private businesses in the Myanmar tourism sector – Ms. Aye has been a key player in the post-COVID rehabilitation of the industry. We asked Ms. Aye about the current state of affairs in Myanmar, the public and private-sector efforts to bring tourists back to Myanmar, and the work that needs to be done to achieve full recovery.
How is tourism in Myanmar recovering after opening up last year?
Domestic travel was the first to start recovering, with domestic traveler numbers increasing during the Thingyan holiday period in April 2022. Popular destinations like Bagan, Kyaiktiyo pagoda, popular beaches such as Chaungtha, Ngwesaung, and the Myeik Archipelago were filled with visitors during these Thingyan holidays.
More recently, there was a significant number of visitors on many pagodas around Myanmar on the full moon day of Waso which is a religious holiday. These events all indicate that Myanmar’s domestic tourism sector is slowly starting to recover.
International visitor arrivals in Myanmar have also been gradually recovering since its opening last year in April 2022. This recovery is steadily rising in terms of daily international arrivals by air although not as booming as in Thailand or other countries in the region.
This actually resulted from the severe impacts of the unstable political climate beyond the COVID pandemic scenario. In particular, the long haul European and North American arrivals declined owing to the political changes.
For the time being, the travel agents and tour operators in Myanmar have been focusing their promotion and marketing to the ASEAN, Asian and Russian markets to recover the downturn of tourism.
How has Myanmar adjusted its visa policies to encourage greater inbound travel?
Currently, Thai nationals have been allowed with border passes and/or with valid passport and visa. This is in line with the reopening of cross border tourism, travel and trade along Myanmar-Thailand and Myanmar-China, which has been reopening phase by phase for the past 10 months.
Since 2019, visa exemption has been implemented for citizens from eight ASEAN countries to visit Myanmar up to 14 days if entering and departing from Yangon, Mandalay, or Nay Pyi Taw International Airports. This policy is still in place.
The “eVisa” to the citizens of 100 countries has also resumed, and an announcement covering Visa on Arrival to target markets is expected before the end of the year for 2024.
Beyond inbound visitors from China, what other factors will help Myanmar tourism recover over the next year?
Apart from attracting the existing China outbound tourism market, the recovery of inbound tourism will be helped by ASEAN and key target markets including ASEAN +3 countries and neighbouring India.
Private sector stakeholders from the Myanmar Tourism Marketing Association (MTM) and the Union of Myanmar Travel Association (UMTA) have joined recent international fairs such as ITB (Berlin) and ITB (Asia), ASEAN Tourism Forum, and Mekong Tourism Forum (MTF) to reconnect with their target markets and make new contacts throughout 2022 and the past months of 2023. The government, through the MOHT, has given incentives to the private stakeholders to join these regional platforms and support their promotion and marketing.
Safety is a priority concern for many tourists coming into Myanmar. How are local tourism stakeholders addressing this concern?
To help Myanmar tourism recover, the safety and security issue should be enhanced in most tourist attractions, especially in Bagan, Mandalay and Inle Lake. Non-tourist areas that are off-limits to travelers should be made available, with improved safety and security of the travelers.
Two different ministries – the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism – have been jointly certifying Enchanting Myanmar Regional, State and National-level Health and Safety Protocols aligned to the WTTC guidelines for accommodation providers, transportation, travels and tours, and tourist guides at the tourist destinations.
Enchanting Myanmar Health and Safety Protocols (HSP) certification for the health and safety of hotels and tourism-related industries to gain trust in tourism Myanmar is being provided at the region/state level, national and international levels.
Down the line, we should see some other factors come into play, such as favorable government policy that clearly communicates procedures for service providers and travelers; streamlined visa processes; collaboration with international and regional tourism organizations to develop travel linkages between/among tourism destinations; and PR activities to promote Myanmar as a trusted, safe and attractive destination.
What are the latest efforts being done to promote sustainable tourism in the country?
The tourism sector in Myanmar has been constantly reviewing responsible and sustainable tourism development aligned to a variety of objectives: those of the Myanmar Tourism Law, Myanmar Sustainable Tourism Plan and the Myanmar Tourism Strategic Recovery Roadmap (2021-2025). particularly with regard to action points covering responsible tourism, community-based tourism, and authentic ecotourism tourism.
What initiatives are the Myanmar Tourism Federation pursuing to attract more visitors to visit Myanmar?
One important initiative we’re pursuing is to seek approval from the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism to establish a separate entity called “Myanmar Tourism Board”, to facilitate sustainable and responsible tourism development in collaboration with the private sector stakeholders. The Board will be able to seek funding for tourism promotion and marketing.
We also plan to organize promotion campaigns to develop tourism marketing that include digital marketing, participating in international travel fairs, and exhibitions, and targeted advertisements in key source markets by collaborating with the government bodies, travel agents, tour operators, hotels and other related stakeholders.
Further to the existing tasks, MTF should consider develop new tourism products and experiences in Myanmar such as lesser-known areas, community based tourism, and ecotourism.
By diversifying and enhancing the tourism offerings, MTF would be in a position to attract a wider range of visitors with different interests and preferences.
For more information, visit the Myanmar Tourism Federation’s official site.
