Myanmar sets lofty tourism targets

YANGON, 14 March 2013: Myanmar should welcome around 1.3 million visitors this year on the back of a successful 2012 that saw the country pass the tourism milestone of 1 million international visits.


Commenting on the country’s tourism aspirations at the recent Myanmar Hospitality and Tourism Conference, Union Minister for Hotels and Tourism, U Htay Aung said: “We have reached a milestone of 1 million visitors in 2012 and expect to attract a further 30% more in the coming year…To meet demand we are developing and upgrading our infrastructure and tourism facilities.”

As of last year, the country had 787 hotels, 23 of them are five and four-star, but earlier this month, the US hotel chain Hilton confirmed it was entering the Yangon hotel market with a brand new five-star property due to open in 2014.

Other international hotel groups will follow. Best Western confirmed it was engaged in negotiations and would release details of its first property in Myanmar shortly. Accor, the French hotel group, announced  yesterday it has  concluded agreements to manage three hotels in the country due to open over the next two years.

The hospitality and tourism conference was hosted by Sphere Conferences and Myanmar Tourism Federation and attracted 300 decision who were keen to tap the open-door policy that followed the dramatic political changes that led to elections in 2011.

Companies represented at the event included Air Kanbawza, Hotel Ace, CB Bank, Centara International Management, Hilton Worldwide, Keppel Land, Meritus Hotels & Resorts, MasterCard Worldwide, Myanmar Hotels International, Orient Express, Small Luxury Hotels of the World, and Starwood Asia Pacific.

All of them expressed interest in investing or managing tourism and hotel assets in the country. The presence of MasterCard was significant as the government is keen to introduce international credit card payments to improve services for international tourists. Today, travellers need to take cash always US dollars, crisp and new. Foreign exchange counters will not accept used notes.

The highlight of the two-day conference was the presentation of the government’s tourism master plan, detailing a suite of proposals to boost tourism and showcase the country’s potential projects and investment opportunities to position itself as a major tourist destination in Asia.

Team Leader of the Myanmar Tourism Master Plan Project, Dr Paul Rogers gave a keynote presentation, while the Myanmar Tourism Federation made a presentation on hotel investment zones in the country.

Myanmar Investment Commission deputy director general, Daw Cho Cho Win, explained key laws and regulations governing the hospitality and tourism investments.

Myanmar Tourism Federation chairman U Yan Win said: “Myanmar has become one of the “must-go” travel destinations. As such there is a crucial need for the country to welcome foreign investment to help fill the gap in tourism products and hospitality resources.”

She outlined investment and partnership models for foreign investors that will help boost Myanmar’s hospitality and tourism landscape.

But despite the optimism and the open discussions on investment opportunities, the country’s visa application process continues to deter visitors.

Travellers demand convenience and expect that if a country opens its doors to tourism it would also deliver a straightforward visa-on-arrival process that works or better still visa-free stays.

Airlines are hesitant to allow travellers to board flights to Myanmar if they have not obtained a visa in advance from an embassy. They are responsible for repatriating travellers if their visa-on-arrival application is rejected at the Yangon port of entry. Applying for a visa through the nearest embassy can take up to a week to process, but ensures the traveller can enter the country with the minimum of fuss.

Myanmar is the only ASEAN nation that does not apply the 14-day visa-free entry for citizens of the 10-country bloc. Under the ASEAN charter it is supposed to offer that privilege and in the lead-up to AEC 2015 ratification of  visa-free entry will become more urgent.

Despite visa hassles,  the future bodes well for Myanmar’s tourism mainly driven by business travel. It experienced a 30% increase in tourism in 2012 reaching the 1 million mark for the first time in its history. From 2009 to 2012, tourism income has almost tripled from US$196 million to US$534 million.

Sphere Conferences, the organiser of the event, is the conference arm of Singapore Press Holdings, the country’s leading multimedia group, which publishes newspapers such as The Straits Times, its flagship English-language newspaper and one of the region’s oldest and most established newspapers.

source: TTR Weekly
http://www.ttrweekly.com/site/2013/03/myanmar-sets-lofty-tourism-targets/