Myanmar Joins the River Cruise Big League

The south east Asian country of Myanmar, recently opened to the world, has found itself featuring on the authoritative Cruise Trends 2015 report for two of its river cruises.

The river cruises, in Mandalay and Pyay respectively, came joint fourth in the ‘Top Five River Cruise Destinations outside Europe’ category. Fellow Asian destinations on the list included Beijing and Shanghai (both China) and Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam).

Myanmar’s place in the list suggests the country is becoming a more viable tourist destination as it opens up to the world, while the general increase in the popularity of river cruises in the wider Asian region points to an increased desire for more adventurous holiday-makers and river cruise enthusiasts.

Senior Vice President of Sales for vacation.com, Mr. Kevin Weisner says that although the top ten river cruise destinations are all still in Europe, travellers have discovered how convenient river cruises are when visiting new destinations further afield.

“We believe the growth of the European River cruise traveller has created this demand from those looking to collect new destination experiences,” says Mr Weisner, in light of the success of river cruises in China, Vietnam and Myanmar.

According to the press release, demand for both for deep water and river cruising is growing in both Europe and China, with Passau in Germany and Lyon in France having been predicted to see the largest gains, and with the top five destinations outside Europe now including those in China, Vietnam and Myanmar.

The Cruise Holidays Cruise Trends report is an annual, extensive review of real cruise bookings for the year ahead that have been planned by its network of more than 1,300 cruise-orientated travel agents across both the United States and Canada.

Images sourced via Flickr Creative Commons. Credits: Vladimir Fofanov