YANGON, 30 June 2020: Myanmar’s tourism is in a holding pattern as authorities extend the ban on foreigners entering the country until at least 31 July and continue to suspend international flights.
The country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed the continued suspension of visas on Sunday with a statement on its website. The changes were first reported by Bloomberg.
Unlike neighbouring Thailand, the country’s tourism cannot fall back on a thriving domestic travel market to provide a source of revenue for tourist-standard hotels in the country’s popular destinations of Mandalay, Bagan and Inle Lake. They rely almost entirely on foreign tourists who visit during a six-month peak season October to early April
In addition, the ban on all international commercial flights to and from the country has been extended until 15 July, and it is very likely that once it expires, it will be extended to the end of July in line with the visa suspension.
Myanmar nationals also face a three-week quarantine on their return to the country via land and air border checkpoints.
Over the last six weeks, a nightly curfew has been in place from midnight to 0400.
Myanmar reported 299 cases and six fatalities up until 29 June based on data from Johns Hopkins University data.
