The South East Asian nation of Myanmar has begun promoting the destination amongst its key markets in the neighbourhood as travel recovery picks up pace across Asia ending a three-year-long hiatus imposed by coronavirus pandemic.

In a bid to promote resumption of international tourism to Myanmar, Myanmar Airways International (MAI) has promoted familiarisation (FAM) trips for overseas travel agents and social influencers to visit Myanmar with a focus on the culture, people, arts and sights of Myanmar.

According to a press statement, MAI had organised KOL and FAM trips from Vietnam and Thailand, in collaboration with Myanmar Tourism Federation (MTF) and Myanmar Tourism Marketing (MTM).

The statement adds that normally Tourists from Vietnam and Thailand mainly visit Yangon, Bago and Golden Rock. But during this FAM trips with the support from airlines, hotels, travel agents and restaurants, the travel agents and social influencers, they had  the opportunity to visit Bagan and Mandalay.

“Visit to Bagan was an eye-opening and wonderful experience we had during our Myanmar visit,” said Tran Viet Phuong, key opinion leader from Vietnam.  ‘‘It is amazing to see the beauty of Bagan as you watch the sun slowly set behind the ancient Pagodas.   The magic of Bagan has inspired visitors to Myanmar for nearly 1000 years,’’ Phuong added.

“These FAM trip activities are one of our initiatives to promote the tourism growth of Myanmar. Hence, we will continue to work with progressive partners in Myanmar’s travel and tourism sector to push our direct flights to position Myanmar as a key regional destination,” said Tanes Kumar, Chief Commercial Officer of Myanmar Airways International (MAI).

Tourist guides are among the most severely impacted professions during the pandemic.  For Myo Kyaw Aung, this FAM Group was his first tour guide trip since Covid-19 started back in March 2020. And he believes tour guides will return when demand grows firmer, although that may take years, says the press statement.

Just last week, the restrictions to take tests with RDT was relaxed for travellers to Myanmar by international commercial flights if they show vaccination record card as proof of being fully vaccinated.

“Recent years have been challenging for Myanmar’s tourism industry but there is still great hope and positivity and these FAM trips will showcase diverse collection of authentic experiences in Myanmar among the travel agents to develop attractive packages for the Myanmar market,” said Myo Thwin, Chairman of Myanmar Tourism Marketing.