THE Htoo Trading Group Company has started construction on the Myanmar Treasure Resort in Mawlamyine and expects to open the 70-room hotel by the end of next year.

Daw Su Su Aung, the marketing manager at the Yangon office of Myanmar Treasure Resorts, said the resort is aimed at attracting foreign tourists and locals who visit nearby Kyaikhtiyo Pagoda (Golden Rock) in Mon State.

“Also, plans to build a Thai-Myanmar-India highway link as part of a Southeast Asian road network could increase tourist arrivals in Mawlamyine,” she said.

The resort will feature a business centre, conference room, meeting room, souvenir shop, swimming pool, restaurant, terrace bar, poolside bar, mini golf course, 24-hour security and similar amenities found in other Myanmar Treasure Resorts operated by Htoo Trading Group Company.

Meanwhile, the company has recently upgraded some of the rooms at the Myanmar Treasure Resort I in Ngwe Saung and has also added a spa to the facility.

In January Htoo Trading Group took over ownership of the Central Hotel at Ngwe Saung and renamed it Myanmar Treasure Resort II in Ngwe Saung. The 23-unit hotel will be upgraded next year with the addition of a new 32-room complex.

Myanmar Treasure also runs resorts in Bagan, Pathein and Inle lake. The occupancy rate at these hotels averages about 65 percent year around but each hotel is aiming for 80pc occupancy for 2007.

Myanmar Treasure Resorts mostly work with the leisure market. The majority of their guests are European.