Thingyan week – a blessing for hotels and travel businesses in the Rakhine State of Myanmar

Saturday, June 18, 2022

Thingyan week in the mid of April 2022 proved to be a blessing for hotels and travel businesses in the Rakhine Stateof Myanmar. The traditional New Yearbreakwitnessed more than 16,000 domestic visitors drop in the state’s tourist attractions. Others considered celebrating the Thingyan water festival, similar to the one prepared by the influentialArakan Army.

Sixteen thousand visitors during a week might be not much, but it is three times the number of tourists who visited Rakhineduring thewhole of 2021. Flights and hotels were fully booked, regardless ofcosts doubling since the coupof last year. It was a respite for the tourism industryof Rakhine, which has struggled a lot in the recent years. Compared to that, 170,000 travelers came toRakhine in 2017; 14,000 came in 2018, right after the Rohingyapredicament; 140,000 dropped in 2019 and 50,000 visited in the year 2020.

Other tourist spotswitnessed similar rushes. The temple town of Bagan witnessed more than 200,000entrances. Mon State’s well-knownKyaiktiyo pagoda witnessed 45,000 tourists. Hotels were seen to be completely booked close to popular beaches in Chaungthar, Myeik archipelagoand Ngwesaung. Travelers also chose to visitShweSettaw, Inle Lake, along with hilly destinations like Kalawand PyinOoLwin. Yangon witnessed traffic jams with visitors embarking on road trips or came back to visit their family.

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