Posted by Global New Light of Myanmar Date: July 07, 2017in: Local News
Myanmar’s national landmark Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon. Photo: Pho Khwar
The Ministry of Religious Affairs and Culture is preparing to propose that Shwedagon Pagoda be designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2020, according to a report in the City News Daily yesterday.
An estimated 300,000 tourists visited Shwedagon Pagoda during the past five months of 2017, according to official statistics from the Shwedagon Pagoda board of trustees.
“The number of tourists who have visited Shwedagon Pagoda has increased this fiscal year, compared to previous years,” said an official from the Shwedagon Pagoda board of trustees. “If we can put the pagoda on the list of World heritage, the number of tourist will increase.”
There were 78,054 tourists in January, 77,062 tourists in February, 64,005 tourists in March, 40,789 tourists in April and 36,674 tourists in May.
Thai tourists were the most numerous, followed by Chinese visitors.
The number of tourists to Myanmar has increased by 30,000 visitors during the first five months in 2017 compared to the same period of last year.