via The Diplomat, 16 June 2022: It looks like tourism in Myanmar is starting to reopen, but in the light of the coup will there still be visitors to Bagan?
Sixteen thousand visitors over the course of a week is not much, but is triple the number who visited Rakhine for all of 2021. Planes and hotels were booked out, even with prices doubling since last year’s coup. It was a relief for Rakhine’s tourism industry, which has suffered in recent years. For comparison, 170,000 travelers visited Rakhine in 2017; 14,000 in 2018, just after the Rohingya crisis; 140,000 in 2019; and 50,000 in 2020.
Other destinations reported similar surges. The temple town of Bagan welcomed over 200,000 arrivals. Mon State’s famous Kyaiktiyo pagoda saw 45,000 visitors. Hotels were reported to be fully booked near popular beaches in Chaungthar, Ngwesaung, and the Myeik archipelago. Travelers also went to Shwe Settaw, Inle Lake, and hill stations like Pyin Oo Lwin and Kalaw. Yangon saw traffic jams as visitors went on road trips or returned to visit family.
Source: Amid Conflict, Travel Flickers Back to Life in Myanmar – The Diplomat
