Tourism, an obvious source of hard currency, came to a
temporary halt following the 1988 uprising, but quickly
recovered after 1992, as a result of liberalised visa
regulations and an expanding tourist infrastructure.
Pre-1988 tourism peaked in 1986-87 at 41,000 arrivals per
year. During the restrictive 1990-92 period the incoming
stream slowed to around 4000 per annum. By 1992-93 is was
back up to 22,000 and in 1994-95 around 60,000 people
reportedly visited Myanmar.
In 1996-97 the government mounted a feeble Visit Myanmar
Year campaign - and despite their efforts to encourage
tourism, visitor numbers peaked at 180,000, far short of the
hoped-for half a million. Since 1996 visitor to Myanmar
appear to have dropped back to perhaps as few as 100,000 to
120,000 mainly due to steep declines in intra-Asia travel
influenced by economic considerations. French, German,
Italian, Japanese and American tourists top the list, though
no one nationality has sent more than 1500 tourists in any
year.Yearly receipts earned via tourism so far amount to
less than US$1 million, much of which is spent by business
travellers.
Tourism growth is hampered by a number of factors, including
the deficiency of hotel, restaurant and transportation
infrastructure outside the Yangon-Mandalay-Bagan-Inle Lake
quadrangle. Other significant factors include the lack of
repeat visits due to the offensive two tiered pricing system
for hotels and the high admission fees to historic and
religious sites. The country's poor human rights image
record also acts as a deterrent to tourism.
