Myanmar eyes more visitors from China

Visa policy and Mandarin-speaking guides being used help boost tourism

Myanmar is courting tourists, especially those from China－and its efforts seem to be paying off.

Total visitor arrivals in the first 10 months of 2019 increased 24 percent year-on-year to 35.2 million, according to Myanmar's Ministry of Hotels and Tourism. But Chinese tourists recorded the largest relative increase of 161 percent year-on-year.

The hike is partly thanks to the visa-on-arrival policy for Chinese nationals effective from October in 2018 for a two-year period. Local tour guides have been encouraged to learn Mandarin since 2017. Private kindergartens are also teaching Mandarin－a previously unprecedented move.