January 03

Many people have been travelling for leisure during the international New Year holiday period from 1 to 4 January, and more travellers are visiting Bagan compared to last year.

This year, during the December school holidays, the Kayin New Year festival, Christmas, and New Year holidays, visitors continuously visited the Bagan Cultural Heritage Site. After voting on 28 December, visitor arrivals began increasing steadily from 31 December onward. Hotels were lively with musical performances, and on New Year’s Eve, travellers welcomed the New Year joyfully and with peace of mind.

“The travellers have been visiting Bagan continuously since the December school holidays. After voting, visitors have been arriving in groups right up to today, and it looks like the crowds will continue until 4 January. Nearly 5,000 travellers visited Htilominlo Pagoda yesterday, and almost 8,000 today. Compared to last year, there are clearly more visitors during the New Year period. Foreign tourists have also started to arrive. What’s special is that pilgrims were able to spend the New Year happily, which is why the number of visitors increased compared to last year. Seeing these high arrivals of visitors creating more job opportunities for local people makes us very happy,” said U Tin Hla Oo, secretary of the board of trustees of Htilominlo Pagoda.

All the 18 famous pagodas and temples – Shwezigon, Culamani, Dhammayangyi, Htilominlo, Alotawpyae, Shwesandaw, Ananda, Thatbyinnyu, Gadawpalin, Buu, Maha Bodhi, Pyathetgyi, Manuha, Mya Zedi, Lawkananda, Dhamma Razaka, Hngetpyittaung and Ashe Tuyintaung – were also crowded with visitors.

“During the New Year period, nearly 100,000 domestic and international tourists per day are visiting the Bagan region, as can be seen from the visitor numbers at the 18 major pagodas and temples. Yesterday, over 18,000 tourists visited Shwezigon Pagoda, and today the number exceeded 26,000. Since tourist arrivals are continuing, the numbers may increase even more on Independence Day. Foreign tourists are also arriving. At 5 am on New Year’s Day, , we held a consecration, offered early meals to 30 monks, and donated rice to 3,000 monks and nuns,” said U Thein Aung, chairman of the pagoda board of trustees of Shwezigon.

This winter, due to cooler weather making travel more comfortable, visitor arrivals increased. Consequently, sales of local products, lacquerware, and food items were strong. Services such as horse carts, bicycles, and electric motorbikes performed well, and traditional painting and sand painting businesses were also in better condition than last year.

“We can see that there are more travellers than last year because families, private schools, and travel companies are visiting Bagan continuously. We provide hand-painting and sand-painting lessons to students from private schools staying at hotels, and we also paint pictures that children like for a minimum of K5,000 per person. This year, we have had to paint much more. It is not like what you hear online. There are no problems here; everything is peaceful. Being able to say “Happy New Year” joyfully this year has supported tourism development and helped the local economy. That’s why local people are happy about the increased traveller arrivals at the end of the year and the beginning of the New Year,” said U Aung Zeyar, a hand-painting artist from Minnanthu village.

The Bagan cultural zone boasts more than 3,000 pagodas and temples, with over 400 major ancient monuments concentrated in one area that attracts both domestic and international visitors. It was officially recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site on 6 July 2019. Starting 10 December, visitors have been arriving gradually in Bagan, and during the New Year period, hotels and guesthouses were fully occupied. Monasteries were also crowded with visitors. — Nyein Thu (MNA)/KTZH