MYANMAR’s Ministry of Hotels and Tourism is pushing for a significant liberalisation of the country’s visa regulations, and is planning to introduce an electronic visa application system from next month.
“We are trying to introduce an e-visa system from March, that would allow international visitors to apply for a visa from anywhere via the Internet, before visiting Myanmar,” said Union Minister, U Tint San.
“(Visitors) would no longer need to go to a Myanmar embassy to apply for a visa. The pilot project will begin in February before it is officially launched in March.”
The ministry’s efforts to roll out an e-visa system were first unveiled in January (TTG Asia e-Daily, January 30, 2012).
U Tint San said the ministry was also working to attract direct international flights to airports at Bagan and Ngapali “in the near future”.
“We are also in discussions with other ministries to allow tourists to enter or exit the country at any checkpoint by either air or land,” he added.
Tourists wanting to enter Myanmar by land currently a face a raft of restrictions. Only a handful of border crossings are open to foreigners and a regulation introduced in mid-2011 requires tourists to enter and exit at the same checkpoint (TTG Asia e-Daily, August 8, 2011).
