YANGON, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- The ministry of hotel and tourism of Myanmar issued a total of 312 outbound tour licenses this year as of August, official media reported Saturday.

The outbound tour licenses, issued since February, were granted to local tour operators to enable them to run international trips and tour package as a part of enhancing the country's tourism sector .

Unlicensed companies, that run outbound tour, will be fined in accordance with the current law .

Hotels and tourism sector is one of the promoted sector of the country covered by the National Export Strategy .

According to the figures of the ministry of hotel and tourism, three million tourists entered the country as of August this year .

Foreign direct investment in that sector reached 2.481 billion U.S. dollars as of August since late 1988.