Myanmar outlines $500 million tourism plan

The Myanmar government has joined forces with Norway and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to draw up a tourism-development plan valued at nearly $500 million.

The government of Norway is funding the plan, which includes 38 infrastructure, cultural and environmental sustainability projects, the ADB reported.

As Myanmar has transitioned over the past two years from a military junta to a quasi-civilian government — implementing economic, political and social reforms — tourism has boomed.

International arrivals are forecast to reach as many as 7.5 million by 2020, a seven-fold increase over the current numbers, with corresponding tourism receipts worth up to $10.1 billion annually by then, the ADB said.

The master plan recommends strengthening tourism education and training; increasing international air arrivals in Mandalay and Nay Pyi Taw; improving the Irrawaddy River pier in Bagan to better support river cruising; and building better roads in destinations like Ngapali Beach and Inle Lake.

The plan also outlines the need for tourist police divisions to better protect tourists, and to prevent child trafficking and sex tourism.

The country’s 20-year-old tourism law will be reviewed and updated to streamline licensing for hotels, restaurants, tour operators and tour guides.

The plan comes as tourism companies continue to invest and expand in Myanmar, despite the country’s limited hotel capacity.

Earlier this week, Pandaw River Cruises said it would moor ships for two additional days in both Bagan and Mandalay at the start and end of its Irrawaddy River itineraries “to avoid the horrendous overpriced and overbooked hotels in Mandalay and Bagan.”

Pandaw currently has six vessels in Myanmar.

Nearly half a million visitors arrived by air in Myanmar in 2012. The majority of arrivals were from Thailand, China, Japan, the U.S., and Korea.

source: Travel Weekly

http://www.travelweekly.com/Asia-Travel/Myanmar-outlines-tourism-plan/