Mizzima

Hot-air balloon operators in Myanmar’s former tourist Mecca of Bagan are having to adjust their operational plans due to a substantial drop in foreign tourist numbers due largely to the fall-out from the 2021 Myanmar military coup.

Four hot-air balloon companies used to provide services for panoramic birds-eye views visitors in the beginning of this tourist season but only three companies namely Balloon over Bagan (BOB), Oriental Ballooning Bagan (OBB) and Shin Than Thu (STT) are still providing their services and this looks set to change.

OBB will reportedly suspend their service in the last week of February and BOB will suspend its business on 11 April.

The passengers of these balloon services are mainly foreigners and the number of foreign tourists visiting Bagan had dropped significantly since 2019, prior to the COVID-19 restrictions and then the 2021 coup.

These companies typically charge US$150-170 per head or 470,000 kyat in Myanmar currency. Each trip typically carries 16 passengers and each company flies 2-4 balloons daily.

In the past these balloon companies flew 180 passengers daily and each company flew up to seven balloons daily.

In this tourist season, the majority of the tourists are reportedly from Russia, China, Japan, France, Italy, Germany, Korea and Thailand.

Some speculate that Myanmar tourism business will not recover this year because of the crisis and armed conflicts.

The domestic tour operators assume that the business will take years to revive, having suffered from the Covid fallout and then the coup. 

The Military Council expects about 500,000-1,800,000 tourists to visit the country in 2023 and they said last year that they would give priority for security, stability and COVID-19 prevention work.