CNI News
18 Oct 2022
It is impossible to arrange package tours to conflict areas including Sagaing Region, Kayah State and northern Rakhine State due to instabilities there, according to tourism entrepreneurs and tour agencies.
Tours cannot be arranged to the areas due to ongoing armed conflicts, Chairman U Naung Naung Han of Myanmar Tourism Entrepreneurs Association told the CNI.
He said, “As far as I know, we cannot arrange tours to Chin and Kayah states. In Rakhine State, tourists can travel to the Ngapali Beach but they cannot visit northern Rakhine State. However, no relevant ministry has officially banned trips to such areas. We have suspended such tours by ourselves.”
It was reported that travelling has been banned in Sagaing Region, Kayah State, Chin State and northern Rakhine State but the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism has not officially announced the travel bans.
Foreign and domestic tourists.
It is expected that tourists from Thailand and Russia will visit Myanmar this year and Thai tourists started arriving in Myanmar but arrivals have halted due to delays at checkpoints and shoot-out at the Kyaiktiyo on 12th October, U Naung Naung Han told the CNI.
He told the CNI, “Foreign tourists are preparing to travel as international flights have resumed. Tourists from Thailand began to travel to the Kyaiktiyo Pagoda. However, their first trip was delayed for four or five hours at a checkpoint between the Kyaiktiyo Pagoda and Mottama Bridge. So, fewer Thai tourists come to Myanmar. Arrivals from Thailand have halted since the shoot-out.”
The Ministry of Immigration and Man Power is processing online applications of tourist visas and business visas from Russia and eight ASEAN countries except Malaysia.
The NUG and the PDF.
Foreign tourists are required to seek approvals for destinations, accommodations, times and purposes from the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism 10 days ahead of their visits, Managing Director U Thet Lwin Toe of Myanmar Voyages International Tourism told the CNI.
He said, “Tourists can travel to Mandalay, PyinOoLwin and Kalaw but they should not go to areas on the western bank of the Ayeyarwady River in Sagaing Region. Even in Mandalay, which is relatively safe for them, they will have to take care of themselves. This is also the case in Yangon. So, we have been very careful with travel arrangements and have to seek approvals for every detail of tourists from the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism ten days ahead of their arrivals. In the past, we were not required to do so.”
The tourism sector of Myanmar has suffered the impacts of COVID-19 since 2019 and again disrupted by political developments in 2021.
The sector is still affected by the current crises and tourism is unlikely to recover as long as conflicts in some areas, according to tour operators.
