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An abundance of space at FMI City

CERTAINLY, space is not a problem in this house – once you get there. Over the Hlaing River, 45 minutes from downtown, there is a large one-storey house in a big compound waiting for someone ready to trade time for space. ...more

Yangon Weather Forecast, Burma

Tourism industry optimistic after strong opening to peak season

TRAVEL industry experts are forecasting a 30 percent increase in foreign tourist arrivals in 2009 following a 2008 season that was crippled by deadly Cyclone Nargis.

While Ministry of Hotels and Tourism (MHT) statistics show a more modest 10pc increase from January to October, anecdotal evidence suggests an even sharper rise. U Phyo Wai Yar Zar, managing director of All Asia Exclusive Travel and Tour Company and vice chair-man of industry body the Myanmar Marketing Committee (MMC), said his company’s bookings for the curr-ent peak season had risen about 50pc.

“Tour bookings are up more than 50pc when compared to 2008. We target clients from European countr-ies and most of the tourists are coming from Germany, Switzerland and France,” U Phyo Wai Yar Zar said.

“I think we can say Myanmar tourism in 2009-2010 is recovering from the difficulties of 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 peak tourist seasons,” he said.

“However, it’s difficult to forecast [the improvement] in percentage terms for the whole season.”
Daw Kay Thwe Phyu, the director of tours at Adventure Myanmar Travel and Tour Company, said her company had also experienced a 50pc booking increase in 2009.

“Compared with two years ago, international tourist arrivals are up about 50pc,” Daw Kay Thwe Phyu said. “We specialise in the Spanish market and have received many bookings over the ‘Spanish season’, which runs mostly from June to August. Now in this peak season, we also have many tourists from Germany, France and Italy.”

According to MHT figures, 170,809 tourists entered the country through the Yangon, Mandalay and Bagan gateways from January to October 2009, up from 155,461 over the same period in 2008.

Alternative figures from the Central Statistical Organisation, under the Ministry of National Planning and Economic Develop-ment, show arrivals through the Yangon gateway increased by 21.7pc over the first nine months of 2009.

To the end of September, 85,958 foreign visitors had passed through Yangon International Airport on tourist visas, up from 70,637 over the corresponding period in 2008.

Most large hotels have registered occupancy rate increases, with a Park Royal Hotel spokesperson saying bookings were at a 10-year high and 20-25 percentage points up on both 2007 and 2008.

“If everything remains stable like it is now, we can expect further improvements in tourist arrivals,” said Daw Susie Moe Aung, the director of sales at Park Royal.
Traders Hotel communication manager Daw Win Pa Pa Aung also said bookings were on average 20 percentage points higher than during 2008.

“We are even fully booked for the whole of November,” she said.

But U Hla Aye, the managing director of Shan Yoma Travels and Tours, said while the increased number of tourists was welcome the industry was not in a position to cope with a large increase in bookings.

“There is no doubt tour bookings have improved this year. We have received bookings from both European and Asian countries,” U Hla Aye said, adding that he expected arrivals to increase by 20pc to 30pc in 2009.

“But as many hotels are already full, we couldn’t accept some bookings,” he said. “In order to handle more tourists in the future, we would need to see more investment in hotels.”

According to the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism, Myanmar has 652 hotels licensed to host foreign tourists hotels with a total of 26,610 rooms. Thirty-five of these hotels operate under contracted foreign investment, mostly from Singapore, Thailand, Japan and Hong Kong.

At least two new hotel projects were formally agreed to in 2009, government foreign direct investment figures show. In January, a Thai group signed a US$15 million agreement with the Myanmar Investment Commission, while Thailand was also the source of a $15.25 million hotel project formally inked in September.

In late November, a Vietnamese group also reached an agreement that will see it develop a hotel in Yangon, consulting group HVS quoted the Myanmar Hoteliers Association as saying on December 3.

The proposed hotel is likely to be built along Kabar Aye Pagoda Road near Sedona Hotel, the report said, adding that a Vietnamese airline is planning to add direct flights to Myanmar.