Myanmar arrivals to spiral with VoA
Myanmar will begin a new visa-on-arrival (VoA) scheme this Friday, aimed at facilitating business travel to the country, however tourists do not qualify for the scheme.
The democratising government is taking one step at a time, as Immigration Department Director-General Maung Maung Than told the Associated Press on Monday that the 70-day visas will only be available to business travellers of 27 countries including the UK and the US at a cost of US$50. The service will first be run at the country’s main entry point, Yangon International Airport, and later in Mandalay and the capital, Naypyitaw, reports Mizzima.
With the introduction of this policy, the number of tourist arrivals at Rangoon International Airport is expected to spiral to 1.5 million in 2012 from 359,359 in 2011, according to official statistics.
This will put further pressure on the country’s tourism infrastructure, transport services and human resources, and investors from across the world are queuing at the gates to be part of the economic explosion.
India is one of the latest international partners to join the furore. A decision to enhance flight connectivity between Myanmar and India was taken during the ongoing visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Nay Pyi Taw, where leaders jointly expressed satisfaction that progress is being made on the Kaladan Multi-modal Transit Transport Project.
As the international neighbours move towards heightened flight connectivity, it is expected that the airlines operating such routes will be allowed to go beyond Myanmar, so that they can cater to passengers travelling to other destinations in Southeast Asia, helping to boost load factors and make the operations viable. Bus connections are also in the pipeline, but have been shelved until road infrastructure has been sufficiently developed to support the services year-round.