Myanmar highlights on development of sustainable tourism

Monday, January 8, 2018

Myanmar’s Second Vice President U Henry Van Thio wants to focus on creating new tourism routes and attractions while exploring the sustainable tourism development plans in the country. U Henry Van Thio, who is also Chairman of the Central Committee for the Development of the Natural Tourism Industry, wants to combine innovation with its abundant natural resources to create more choice for tourists.

He said that while promoting Myanmar to the world as a place of interest, it is required to provide convenient and safe services and safe food to visitors. He continued saying that despite the abundance of natural scenery and tourist attractions, the number of visitors to Myanmar still remained below expectation.

He mentioned about the major concerns such as availability of visa-on-arrival, direct international flights and visa-free entry to nationals of targeted countries.

President of Myanmar Tourism Federation U Yan Win suggestively said that the government supply funds for tourism development, open border entrances and give visa exemption to visitors from member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as well as from China, Japan and South Korea.

In 2016, more than 2.9 million international  tourists visited Myanmar which became 3.1 million, an year-on-year increase of 20 percent by 2017.

Keeping parity with the theme of UNWTO, Myanmar has adopted a policy of sustainable development of tourism. Myeik Archipelago in southern Tanintharyi region, made up of more than 800 islands, is attractive for eco-tourism, such as hiking, bird watching, diving, trekking and snorkeling.

Meanwhile, Myanmar’s Tourism Federation has called for preserving Indawgyi Lake, the country’s largest fresh water lake northernmost Kachin state, also a heaven for birds, to promote eco-tourism.

The country is striving to enlist Bagan as one of the world’s cultural heritages which is dotted with thousands of religious edifices and pagodas.

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