Inle Lake, Nyaungshwe Township, Taunggyi District, Southern Shan State, is no longer visited by foreign tourists, and the business community and people who depend on tourism in Inle Lake are facing difficulties.

Tourism in Inle Lake has been suspended since March 2020, when traffic restrictions were imposed in Myanmar due to the COVID epidemic. There were no foreign tourists until the end of April 2022 and only domestic tourists visited in April. Tourism in Inle Lake has been suspended for more than two years, and tourism operators have been forced to suspend operations.

"Now there are no passengers. Sometimes I got one or two passengers only. Some days I don’t go. I charged 40,000 kyats per trip if a passenger rent a motorboat once as fuel price is high. They can go in the lake as they wish. Some boat drivers only asked for 35,000 kyats or 30,000 kyats for a trip in the lake. Some owners even reduced the prices to have money. It is difficult to make living without tourists,” said a boat driver from Nyaungshwe Port.

Inle Lake is the second largest tourist destination in Myanmar, and tourism is one of the main livelihoods of Inle Lake. Tomatoes are grown on the floating gardens in Inle Lake, and about 80 percent of Inle Lake is cultivated.

In addition, some restaurants in Heya Ywama Village in Inle Lake have been closed due to difficulties in sustaining. Traditional Burmese arts and crafts businesses in Inle Lake such as sculpture, blacksmithing, gold and silver smith and weaving industry has been shut down for more than two years due to a lack of tourist arrivals. Ywama floating market in the village, which has been closed for two years, is reopened in 2022 making the locals to ease their difficulties, according to locals in Heya village.

The Heya Ywama Village is home to a large number of craftsmen, most of whom have been out of business for some time. Inle Heya Village is an ancient village that existed at the beginning of Inle Lake and is a unique village with a waterway and motorway.

Inle is the name of the village, and the name Inle is derived from Inle village. The four villages are Heya, Ywar Gyi Bangpon, Nang Pan and Naung Taw. Nang Pan, located on the southern side of Inle Lake, which runs from the Inle Lake East Ring Road, was designated as Nang Pan town under the previous government, so there are two towns in Nyaungshwe Township: Nyaungshwe and Nang Pan. There are only about four silversmiths living in the village, and there are few people who will be able to pass on the heritage, said U Maung Maung, a silversmith in Heya village.

In addition, in Pabe Ward, Heya Ywama Village, blacksmithing business has been shut down for more than two years due to the COVID-19 epidemic. Similarly, sculpture work has been suspended due to the lack of tourist arrivals.