YANGON — Tourist arrivals to Myanmar in first half of 2014 increased more than 40% compared with the same period last year, officials said Thursday.
Airport staff walking by an Asian Wings Airways aircraft at Yangon's international airport. Tourist arrivals to Myanmar in first half of 2014 increased more than 40% compared with the same period last year, officials said Thursday. (AFP photo)
Some 1,604,746 tourists entered the country from January to July, a 43% increase over the 1,121,795 visitors in the same period last year, data from the Hotel and Tourism Ministry showed.
Most visitors were from Asia, especially from Thailand, Japan and China, which have made up 71% of tourist arrivals in 2014, it said.
Tourism numbers have been on the rise since the country began to open up following the 2010 election that ended military rule. The tourism industry saw record-breaking arrivals of 2 million people last year.
Myanmar authorities have predicted 3 million arrivals in 2014 and 5 million in 2015.