ARRIVALS of foreign visitors to Myanmar through the Yangon, Mandalay, Bagan and Muse gateways fell by 42.8 percent in September and October from the same period last year, according to statistics from the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism.

According to the ministry 23,571 foreign visitors arrived in Myanmar through these gateways in September and October, down from 41,186 in 2006.

However, arrivals increased by 5.7pc for the first 10 months of the year, with 211,662 foreign visitors entering the country this year compared with 200,320 during the same period last year.

Visitors from Asian countries accounted for the greatest number of foreign arrivals. Asian arrivals from January through October grew by 3.4pc this year compared with last year, with 124,156 arrivals in 2007 and 120,033 in 2006.

The top markets from Asia were Thailand (30,743) and China (23,341).
Western Europe delivered the next biggest share of visitors, followed by North America, Oceania, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Latin America and Africa.

From 2006 to 2007, January-October arrivals jumped by about 9pc from Western Europe, 15pc from Oceania, 27pc from Eastern Europe, 25pc from the Middle East and 8pc from Latin America.

The ministry’s figures also showed that in the first 10 months of this year international arrivals through Yangon International Airport rose by 6.5pc, from 186,133 last year to 198,158 this year.

Foreign independent traveller (FIT) arrivals through Yangon leapt by 12.7pc, from 88,119 to 99,305, while the numbers of those travelling on package tours crept up by 2.9pc – from 35,275 to 36,314.

According to the ministry 229,545 foreign visitors arrived in Myanmar via Yangon in 2004, an increase of about 16pc from 2003. While arrivals dropped to 219,704 in 2005, visitation jumped again by 11.8pc to 245,540 in 2006.