Myanmar expects 3 mln tourist arrivals by year end

YANGON, June 22 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar expects 3 million's tourist arrivals by the end of this year, sources with the hotels and tourism authorities said Sunday.

The number of such arrivals already reached 1.2 million in the first five months of the year, it said.

To meet with the growing number of foreign tourists, efforts are being made to build more hotels, especially five-star ones, with foreign investors.

According to the latest official statistics, there are so far over 900 hotels, motels and inns in Myanmar with over 38,700 rooms available.

Of the total, six are graded as five-star hotels, 17 four-star, 83 three-star, 116 two-star and 102 one-star.

Amog them, 26 are foreign-invested hotels, which are located primarily in Yangon and Mandalay.

Since the civilian government took office in 2011, tourist arrivals soared, reaching 1.06 million in 2012 and 2.04 million in 2013.

Of the foreign visitors, those from Asia accounted for 70 percent,while those from Europe, America, Africa and the Middle East are also growing, figures show.

source: Global Post

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/xinhua-news-agency/140622/myanmar-expects-3-mln-tourist-arrivals-year-end