Myanmar tourism industry to boost in current tour season

Myanmar's tourism industry is signaling to boost in the current tour season with reservations at almost all major hotels in the country's tourist sites fully booked, according to local tour operators Friday.

Myanmar's tour season lasts from November to May.

Reservations at hotels in Bagan, Mandalay and Inlay have been full up to next February, the sources said.

Meanwhile, air tickets for airlines flying the main route for international transit between Yangon and Bangkok have been sold out, the sources quoted the Thai Airways International (TG), Bangkok Airways (PG), Myanmar Airways International (8M), Phuket Airlines (9R) and Thai Air Asia (FD) as saying.

To meet passenger demand, the main foreign airline of TG flying between the two destinations is arranging to increase its afternoon flight services and the new schedule will last until next March, it added.

Observers see a new record high of one million tourists arrivals in the tour season especially in this year-end through to the first quarter of next year.

A latest figures released by the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism show that foreign independent travelers visiting Myanmar account for 64 percent, while package travelers 22 percent and the rest go to those taking one-day trip on business.

According to the statistics, tourist arrivals in Myanmar increased annually in the past five years, registering at 660,206 in the fiscal year of 2005-06 which ended in March, up from 656, 000 in 2004-05, 590,000 in 2003-04 and about 470,000 in 2002-03 and 2001-02 respectively.

Of the tourists traveling Myanmar in 2005-06, cross-border ones accounted for the majority with 427,980, while 227,300 entered through Yangon check point and 4,918 through Mandalay and Bagan's.

The fiscal year's tourist arrivals have hit a record high in the past five years, registering an earning through tourism during the year at over 150 million U.S. dollars, up from only 17 million dollars in the previous year.

Meanwhile, Myanmar has planned some tourism festivals in the tour season in a bid to attract more tourists worldwide to the country, local reports said, stressing the important role of the private sector in the development of the tourism industry.

The ministry has urged private tour operators to cooperate with the government in the plan, saying that assistance will be rendered to them in the implementation as well as to win international links with regard to the sector.

The ministry figures also indicate that there are 596 hotels, motels and guest houses in Myanmar, providing a total of over 18, 500 rooms. The number of travel agencies in operation stands over 500.

More figures reveal that contracted foreign investment in the sector of hotels and tourism has so far amounted to 1.06 billion dollars since Myanmar started to open to such investment in late 1988. Of the investment, that in hotel projects amounted to over 580 million dollars.

Source: Xinhua