It’s not your imagination, the aiport lines probably are getting longer. The government has said it expects meet its record target of more than 4.5 million tourist arrivals this year.
U Htay Aung, Union Minister for Hotels and Tourism, told state-run newspaper Global New Light of Myanmar the number of foreign visitors had already exceeded last year’s three million.
“If Myanmar continues to keep this momentum going, the number will grow to more than 4.5 million visitors by the end of the year,” he said.
He didn’t give a precise figure, though, or mention how the general election scheduled for November – the start of peak season – might impact arrivals.
That stats are best not taken at face value. Last year, as the Myanmar Times pointed out in January, the ministry counted day-trippers who skip over the border from Thailand, China and Bangladesh.
They made up almost two-thirds of so-called “tourists” in Myanmar in 2014, according to the Pacific Asia Travel Association.
Tourists are usually defined as people who stay in a country overnight.
Even with arrival numbers increasing, Myanmar remains a bit player in the region. More than 24 million tourists visited Thailand last year, and 9 million went to Indonesia.
Photo / Coconuts Yangon
