TRAVEL companies seeking international clients were among the first businesses in Myanmar to realise the benefits of going online and they continue to be the main source of business for website design and hosting companies in Yangon.

But website designers said that since the beginning of this year they have seen an increase in interest from businesses in sectors other than tourism, a trend they said they hoped would continue.

“When we started our business seven years ago, we targeted tourism, gem and jewellery, and export and import companies,” said Daw Myint Myint Maw, the marketing manager of Win Win War website company. “This year other types of businesses have also become interested in starting websites.”

She said her company has seen increased interest from everyone and everything from actors, musicians, art galleries and modelling agencies, to pharmaceutical companies, garment factories and car manufacturers in industrial zones.

Website companies charge anywhere from K100,000 to K2 million to design and host a website.

While some business owners might think such expenditures constitute a titanic waste of money, others say spending the cash makes good business sense in a country where the number of public internet access centres has reached 300 and the number of internet users is estimated to have surpassed 500,000 and continues to grow.

One website company, Myanmars.net, is making efforts to track the number of sites that offer information about Myanmar.

“We have invited all the websites that provide information about Myanmar to register with our website. So far 1654 websites have done so,” said U Maung Maung Myint Win, the marketing director of Myanmars.net.

“There are 600 tourism companies in Yangon and all of them have their own website,” he said.

U Aung Phyo, the director of Creative Web Studio website company, said he was hopeful that his business would expand as more companies came to understand the advantages of going online.

“Most of our clients are tourism companies but we’ve had interest from other sectors this year,” he said. “If the trend continues, our business will boom.”

U Min Myat Soe, the technical executive of Navistar Myanmar website company, explained the advantages of starting a website: “Having a website is fruitful for the website’s owner because he can give detailed information about his business, and it is useful for the viewer because he can access the information while sitting at a computer. It is more efficient than enquiring by telephone.”

He said one problem with designing websites is that many business owners think that once the site is up they do not have to do any more work.

“I have to tell them that this is wrong. The most important thing is for the website owner to update the site regularly,” he said.

“If the user cannot find anything new when he views the site he will stop visiting,” added U Aung Phyo.