Myanmar to resume international tourism early next year

YANGON – Myanmar has rolled out plans to resume international tourism early next year, according to the Hotels and Tourism Ministry today.

In the first phase of reopening tourism, the ministry expects to welcome visitors from regional countries. In this connection, it needs to make alignment with their reopening plans, travel bubbles, or travel corridor schemes, its Public Relations and Information Department told Xinhua.

“We are making the necessary consultations with government agencies and private associations to systematically receive international visitors when airports and borders reopen,” a department official said.

The country suspended operations of international commercial passenger flights – excluding relief flights, medical evacuation, and special flights – and the issuance of all types of visas for foreign nationals from all countries, following the first two Covid-19 positive cases reported on March 23 last year.

According to a recent release by the Information Ministry, land border crossings with Thailand will reopen next month ahead of the resumption of international air travel by the end of the first quarter (Q1) next year.

Information Minister Maung Maung Ohn said, “Once our vaccination programme reaches targets, and if global infection rates drop, we intend to resume international air travel in Q1.”

Latest figures released by the Health Ministry stated over 10.4 million individuals are fully vaccinated, while over 4.91 million have received their first vaccine jab as of November 20.

The Hotels and Tourism Ministry had launched the health and safety protocol for tourism-related businesses to render services to visitors in August this year.

The pandemic halted the tourism and hospitality industry, forcing some hotels and guesthouses to shut down their businesses.

According to ministry figures, 1,228 out of total 2,259 licensed hotels and guesthouses are now running in the accommodation sector, which is one of the hardest-hit areas by the Covid-19 outbreak in the country.

The ministry had launched the Covid-19 Tourism Relief Plan last year to put the tourism sector back on track.

The relief plan consists of three main phrases – survival, reopening, and relaunching.

“The Hotels and Tourism Ministry implemented Phase 1 and Phase 2 before the third wave started in our country. Currently, the spread of Covid-19 has gradually decreased, and we will proceed to the next phase for the recovery of tourism in Myanmar,” the official said.

Myanmar received approximately 100,000 visitors up to September this year, down by 88% compared with the same period last year where it received about 900,000 visitors due to travel curbs over Covid-19 in the country.

“We are reluctant to talk about the exact number of visitors to Myanmar, but if the Covid-19 pandemic situation is under control, we will receive a certain number of visitors from regional countries, Asia, and Europe,” the official said. – Bernama, November 24, 2021