Travellers in the departure room of Yangon International Airport
WE have it on good authority that Myanmar’s Ministry of Hotels and Tourism is stepping up its enforcement of the outbound travel sector by making it compulsory for travel companies in the country to apply for licences to offer overseas trips for Myanmar nationals.
In general, tour companies have been offering air tickets, hotels and outbound tour packages for many years without an outbound licence. With the introduction of the new rule, many travel companies are expected to apply for the new licence, with at least one company – Myanmar Polestar Travels & Tours – already expressing the desire to do so.
Its chairman Kyaw Min Htin, who is also president of JTB Polestar, welcomes the government’s efforts to regulate the outbound travel sector and protect both customers and agents at the same time. He is also looking forward to tapping the Burmese travel interest to India’s Bodh Gaya and growing the nascent outbound market “systematically”.
At a time when Myanmar’s tourism traffic is heavily tilted towards the inbound sector, the lopsided trend looks set to reverse in the near future when it becomes easier for Myanmar nationals to travel overseas.
The door to South-east Asia’s last tourism source market is opening soon.
