Myanmar saw a 25 per cent year-onyear increase in tourist arrivals during the first five months of this calendar year when compared to 2016, according to the statistics released from the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism.
The visitor influx from January to May reached 1.5 million, resulting in a 25 per cent increase over the same period of the year before. In 2016, the total number of tourists arriving in Myanmar was only 2.9 million for the whole year despite officials had projected to receive more than 5 million visitors. The result was a 38 per cent decline from 2015.
In the years prior to 2016, Myanmar enjoyed a steady upward trend in tourist entry that the country registered 791,500 arrivals in 2010; 816,400 in 2011; 1.o6 million in 2012; 2.05 million in 2013; 3.08 million in 2014 and 4.68 million in 2015.
Tourism in Myanmar is among a set of prioritised sectors designated to derive the country’s economy. The nation launched a Tourism Master Plan in 2013. As a labour-intensive industry, tourism in Myanmar is forecast to generate over a million new jobs by 2020.
