MTF clears runway for direct Yangon-Phnom Penh flights

MYANMAR Tourism Federation is endeav­ouring to operate direct flights between Yangon and Phnom Penh in col­laboration with Cambo­dia, President U Yan Win said.

Through such bilat­eral cooperation between Myanmar and Cambodia, making the Mekong re­gion a single destination under the six-country Mekong cooperation framework will enhance tourist arrivals to the member countries.

“First of all, we are trying to operate direct flights with Cambodia. It is because Cambodia re­ceives a large number of tourists annually. Angkor Wat alone attracts about four to five million tour­ists a year. So, the direct flight connectivity with Cambodia is expected to boost tourist arrivals in Myanmar. Bilateral to multilateral initiatives in the Mekong Region will bring about tourism de­velopment,” said U Yan Win.

Furthermore, direct flights connecting My­anmar, Cambodia and Thailand will enable tri­angular tourism. It is expected that domestic and foreign tourists will flock to Myanmar’s des­tinations in the upcoming peak season. The feder­ation is observing the tourism promotion plans of other countries, how they are implementing them, and how they are sourcing funding.

Myanmar hosted the Mekong Tourism Forum for the six Me­kong countries on 14-19 June. Industry leaders and representatives from the national tourism au­thorities of Myanmar, China, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam, as well as international tourism professionals, at­tended the discussions. — ASH/KK