[Myanmar] Tourist Visits To Burma Top 1 Million

[News_Editor]

Tourism visits to Burma surged to a record one million visitors last year, in the wake of the political reforms and a relaxation of visitor restrictions, AFP reports. It cited government figures, which showed an annual increase of almost 30 percent. “This is a very outstanding year for the industry,†said Phyoe Wai Yar Zar of the Myanmar Tourism Board, who added that an increase of 15 percent was expected this year. The figures also show Burma has just 800 hotels with about 28,000 rooms. Officials claim Burma can handle the surge in visitors, but hotel rates and the price of domestic flights have increased sharply in 2012.

Source: Irrawaddy.org