National Tourism Development: VSG addresses Central Committee Meeting 1/2022

The 1st meeting (1/2022) of the Central Committee on National Tourism Development was held in Nay Pyi Taw on Thursday with an address by Vice-Chairman of the State Administration Council Deputy Prime Minister Vice-Senior General Soe Win.

In his address, the Vice-Senior General said the purpose of the meeting is to cooperate among the members of the central committee to support the socio-economic development of the people through tourism and to prepare in advance for the challenges and difficulties that may be encountered.

He highlighted the impact of COVID-19 in the global and domestic tourism sector by comparing the number of tourists in the pre-pandemic period and the post-pandemic period. Myanmar received 4.36 million tourists in 2019, and after the declaration of COVID-19 as a pandemic, it received 0.9 million in 2020 and 0.13 million in 2021.

Health restrictions have been eased to make it easier for international tourists to visit Myanmar. From the first day of Myanmar New Year on 17 April, regular international flights have been allowed to operate, he said. As of 25 May, 20,657 domestic passengers and 5,561 foreign passengers arrived on regular international flights.

There is an average of nine airlines and 282 landings per day. He said there is good potential for tourism to resume as Myanmar has a lot of tourism destinations to attract tourism and traditional culture and food of the ethnic nationalities.

The Vice Senior General also added that more than 33 million people have been vaccinated against COVID-19 in Myanmar, including 0.28 million people working in the tourism industry.

He also talked about the Enchanting Myanmar Health and Safety Protocol (HSP), national-level HSP, Guest List Management System-GLMS, cooperation works of region/state tourism committee to use the Guest List Management System at the hotels, granting of national ID cards for people to enjoy local tours easily and develop the local tourism sector.

Then, Central Committee Vice-Chairman Union Minister for Hotels and Tourism Dr Htay Aung reported on tourism-related matters. Afterwards, the participants discussed the decisions made at 1st meeting, pilot projects for barrier-free tourism and other matters. The meeting was attended by Union ministers, the chairman of the Nay Pyi Taw Council, deputy ministers, tourism experts, and representatives from tourism associations through video conferencing.