THE Deputy Minister of Hotels and Tourism, Brigadier-General Aye Myint Kyu, held a meeting with private sector businesses on June 30 at the Parkroyal Yangon Hotel to discuss ways to improve the experience of tourists in Myanmar.

Of particular focus was Inle lake, one of the country’s most attractive and popular tourist destinations. The Brigadier-General is keen to promote the lake in readiness for the coming peak season, in order to lure a greater number of tourists.

“With the aim of attracting more tourists to Inle lake, we have in place a project to upgrade the level of restaurants and boat transfers by dividing amenities into two-colour categories. This will start on August 1.

“The two colours, green and red, represent quality grades. The green signboard on restaurants and boats will guarantee that their services are of the highest quality,” said the Deputy Minister.

“The red category signifies that the services are good but not the best,” he added, “Visitors can choose a restaurant or boat trip based on the colour group.”

In a further effort to make Inle lake even more attractive to tourists, The Ministry of Hotels and Tourism is planning to host the first flower festival on the lake in February 2009.

The festival, to be called Inle Orchid Images, will be based around a floating market and is aimed at tourists. Visitors will be able to buy many types of orchid and various ethnic foods. The festival will last for two-days.

Brig Gen Aye Myint Kyu emphasised the need of stakeholders in the travel industry to cooperate with the ministry in the running of the festival for it to be a success.

“We will look at the situation again after the coming flower festival on Inle lake to decide whether we will make this festival a yearly occasion every February.
“We are also aiming to hold the festival at Kalaw, Taunggyi and Pindaya in Shan State to attract more tourists,” he added.

In addition to the new colour categorisation system for tourist amenities, the 37 hotels that serve tourists wishing to stay close to Inle lake will also be ranked as diamond, ruby or sapphire, diamond being the best quality.