Burma took in fewer foreign visitors last year than every other nation in Southeast and East Asia with the exception of North Korea. However, a new dawn of political reform in the Golden Land has alerted travelers to the prospect of visiting this beautiful and hospitable country.
Hailed by everyone in the Western press as one of the best places to visit in 2012, Burma’s tourism industry is ready to increase exponentially in the next three years if its inadequate infrastructure can match the demand. Ohn Myint, Rangoon's deputy director of the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism, said, “We have estimates that in 2012, we can receive 500,000 tourists through Yangon International Airport. In 2015, we will expect over 1 million tourist arrivals to Myanmar.”
The Burmese authorities are looking to neighboring Thailand—which regularly receives around 15 million visitors per year—as a model to learn from. Burma and Thailand are similar in size and population. Both are predominantly Buddhist, but with diverse ethnic minorities in the highlands. And both countries boast stunning historical sites, lush mountain retreats and hundreds of the palm-fringed paradise beaches that Western tourists would give an arm and a leg for. But while Burma's beaches are mostly inaccessible and have no resorts or amenities, Thailand's white-sand beaches and aquamarine waters are teeming with tourists from all around the world.
Now that Burma has all but assured itself of a tourism demand, NGOs and tour agents are calling on the Burmese government to ensure that the country embarks on a project of responsible and sustainable tourism, protecting local ecosystems and taking precautions against repeating the mistakes of its eastern neighbor. Many worry that an uncontrolled policy of tourism in Burma will inevitably lead to more prostitution and, before long, the arrival of thousands of sex tourists.
Burma's tourism authorities say they prefer to aim at a different influx of international visitor: the culture tourist. Perhaps it is just as well, because by far the highest numbers of visitors to the country are currently from China and Thailand, two nationalities commonly stereotyped in Burma as tour groups that, when not shopping for jade and gems, are to be found praying and making offerings at Buddhist temples.
Until Burma's beaches, nightlife and infrastructure are developed to the point they can compare to Thailand or even Vietnam, it is more likely that the country will cater more confidently for Buddhist culture tourists from regional countries.
REF: IRRAWADDY.org
