The ministry reported that between 2011 and 2013 tourist arrivals rose from 800,000 to 2 million. Tin Shwe said Myanmar had already welcomed 1.8 million visitors in the first eight months of 2014 and the total for the year could well top the 3 million mark.
As Myanmar emerged from several decades of political isolation, the first legions of international tourists to arrive complained that there wasn't enough accommodation. The minister says the nation’s hotel portfolio is expanding and there are now 12,000 rooms available in Yangon (Rangoon) alone.
He continued with the statement that there were now 1,100 hotels in the country which offered international standard accommodation. The Ministry has already announced a budget allocation of US$500 million to improve tourism infrastructure in Myanmar by 2020.
The Myanmese government previously held a Visit Myanmar Year promotion in 1996, but it was generally deemed a failure. At the time, international agencies and Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party advised tourists not to visit while the military junta ruling the country was still in power.
Myanmar names 2016 as tourism promotion year
News in Asia
Myanmar’s Ministry of Tourism has stated that 2016 will be designated as Visit Myanmar Year. Deputy tourism minister Tin Shwe told parliamentary representatives last week that steadily increasing numbers of international visitors had persuaded the ministry that the time was ripe to stage the campaign.