"Burmese Python" Aung La Anse serves as Myanmar Tourism Ambassador
On December 29, 2018, at the meeting held at Chatrium Yangon Royal Lake Hotel, the famous Kachin boxer Aung La Anse, known as the "Myanmar Python", signed a memorandum of understanding with the Myanmar Tourism Federation and the Myanmar Marketing Association , Was officially appointed as Myanmar Tourism Ambassador by the Myanmar Ministry of Hotels and Tourism.
Myanmar’s Minister of Hotels and Tourism U Weng Maung said that the appointment of celebrities as tourism ambassadors is to support the development of Myanmar’s tourism industry. After becoming a tourism ambassador, Aung La Anse said on his personal Facebook page: “I am honored to be the official tourism ambassador of Myanmar. We sincerely invite everyone to come and see for themselves the beautiful scenery that our land offers, and to see the experience of our locals. Friendly and diverse, visit beautiful monuments and taste our delicious national cuisine."
According to the Myanmar Ministry of Hotels and Tourism, as of September 2018, Myanmar had received 2.5 million foreign tourists, which was the same as the previous year. Although the number of tourists from Thailand, China, India and Malaysia has increased by 5% to 33% year-on-year, the number of Western tourists has dropped significantly.
On October 1, 2018, in order to promote the development of the tourism industry, the Ministry of Labor, Immigration and Population of Myanmar granted visa-free treatment to tourists from Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Macau. Mainland Chinese tourists resumed the visa-on-arrival policy. Indian tourists implement a visa-on-arrival policy.