"At the end of last year, the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism said the number of foreign arrivals, including business travellers and border traders, rose by 23 percent to 4.36 million, up from 3.55 million the previous year. But the upward momentum of the industry took a big hit with the recent outbreak of the new coronavirus in China. Government data showed that Chinese nationals accounted for nearly a third of the over two million tourists who visited the country last year, a 152pc increase from the previous year. The coronavirus outbreak in China has killed 170 people since it was first reported on December 31. At least 20pc of tourist bookings from China have been cancelled, and Chinese airlines have suspended their flights to Myanmar’s key cities of Yangon, Nay Pyi Taw and Mandalay as part of the effort to contain the disease. “Group tours have been cancelled,” said U Khin Zaw, adviser to the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism. “Chinese travellers are more afraid now than when Cyclone Nargis hit the country. It affects the entire tourism sector.” U Khin Aung Tun, vice chair of the Myanmar Tourism Federation, said that before the outbreak, bookings from China reached over 200,000. “The main point is that we need to protect our country. If something happens here, the numbers of foreign tourists here may decline.” Eden, Myanmar’s leading hotel group, said that about 25 percent of its tourist bookings had been cancelled in recent days..."