Myanmar lifts suspension of visa-on-arrival

Myanmar has lifted a suspension of visa-on-arrival arranged through travel agencies for visitors from regions where no Myanmar embassy is set up, the local Biweekly Eleven News reported Thursday.

Myanmar re-granted the visa-on-arrival of its kind, which was halted in last September ahead of Myanmar's general election in November the same year.

At present, as a special case, Myanmar issues such visa to travelers brought back from Cambodia's Siem Reap and China's Guangzhou after the Myanmar Airways International (MAI) launched its maiden flights to the two destinations in February and March this year.

Meanwhile, the report added that Myanmar is deliberating to grant such visa-on-arrival for 10 selected countries phase by phase, quoting the Hoteliers Association.

According to official statistics, the number of tourist arrivals in Myanmar reached 106,795 in the first three months of 2011, up 24 percent from 85,519 in 2010 correspondingly.

In the whole of 2010, a total of 791,505 travelers visited Myanmar, of whom 297,246 arrived through the Yangon International Airport. Most of the tourists came on package tour, business and social purposes.

Visitors from Thailand stood top in Myanmar's tourist arrival, followed by those from China, France, South Korea and America.

Meanwhile, travel companies from Myanmar and South Korea have recently signed a memorandum of understanding on tourism cooperation, setting a quota of 1,000 tourists from South Korea to visit Myanmar monthly.

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