The drop in visitors to Ngwe Saung and Chaungtha has hurt many in the local community, which depends heavily on tourism.

CHAUNGTHA beach’s tourism operators have urged visitors to return to the resort in the lead up to the Christmas and New Year period.

Hotels at Chaungtha have experienced a 50 percent drop in the number of visitors compared to last year and hotel managers say it is because many people believe the area was affected by Cyclone Nargis. Local tourism operators have called the disaster “invisible Cyclone Nargis” for, while the category four cyclone caused no damage to the area, tourist numbers have suffered as a result.

“During Cyclone Nargis, there was no damage at Chaungtha beach,” said U Kyin Hlaing, a member of the Chaungtha Zone Community group and owner of Lai Lai Beach Hotel. “But because of a weakness in communication and the wrong information, people think that Chaungtha beach was at the centre of Cyclone Nargis and there was a lot of damage.”

He said the road between Chaungtha and Pathein had been upgraded by the Chaungtha Zone Community group, at a cost of K20 million, and the Yangon-Pathein at Nyaungdon is currently being upgraded by the government.

He admitted, however, that the group is unsure when the government-funded road repairs would be completed. The poor condition of the Yangon-Pathein road means the journey from Yangon to Chaungtha now takes about eight hours, compared to five hours before the cyclone.

There has also been some confusion about access and travel permits for foreign travellers. At a September 7 meeting, the government announced travel restrictions to Ngwe Saung and Chaungtha – imposed after Cyclone Nargis – had been lifted and foreigners no longer needed permission to travel between Yangon and the two beach resorts.

However, the situation has not improved for hoteliers or the many people in the area who depend on tourists for their livelihood. November is traditionally the start of the peak tourism season but so far this year the number of visitors is down 50pc on last year desp-ite promotion efforts by the hotels, said U Aye Min, man-ager of Ambo Beach Hotel.

“We are making promotion programs constantly and have reduced the hotel’s rates by 20pc. But the number of visitors is still not improving. Last year at this time all the rooms at the 14 beach hotels were full. But now, this year, there are so many empty rooms at all hotels,” he said.

Travel agents working in cooperation with Chaungtha hotels are also facing financial difficulties due to low number of tourists. But both agents and hoteliers are determined to continue promoting the area until tourist numbers are back to normal.

“Chaungtha Zone Community is aiming to get tourism back to the level it was last year and we will do this by using advertising to offer great promotion programs,” a member of the group said.