Khit/Yoon (NSS) - April 5

The Myanmar Tourism Federation (MTF) anticipates that domestic travel during the Thingyan period will exceed inbound foreign visitors.

Following the Covid-19 outbreak, there has been a decrease in inbound tourism during Thingyan, and domestic traveler numbers have also declined.

"The inbound rate was stable before the Covid-19 outbreak, but it has decreased since then. Some Thai visitors used to participate in the Myanmar Thingyan Festival by purchasing travel packages. However, in recent years, inbound tourist numbers have declined. Additionally, countries like Thailand have been successful in attracting visitors, whereas our water festival is currently not as appealing," stated Naung Naung Han, the MTF president, to The NSS.

However, local tourists continue to visit stable regions within the country. Additionally, domestic tourist visits combined with foreign tourist visits could reach their highest level in 2024.  

"Travel and tour companies are actively promoting travel packages. The travel season typically concludes after the Thingyan period, with rates peaking during this time. During the peak season, travel packages for both long and short trips, including destinations like Bodh Gaya, are in high demand," stated Naung Naung Han. 

Myanmar used to welcome a signi­fi­c­ant number of foreign tourists before the Covid-19 pandemic. Ho­w­e­ver, the current influx of foreign visitors has notably declined comp­ared to previous years, with the trend inf­l­ue­nced by the security and stabi­lity of different regions.

    While foreign tourist arrivals have shown some recovery since the October 2023 reopening, they remain significantly lower com­p­­ared to pre-pandemic levels. 

         In 2023, approximately 800,000 foreign tourists entered through border crossings with just over 300,000 arriving by air travel resulting merely in a total of around one mill­ion tourist arrivals.