Local Myanmar citizens are gradually replacing the administrative and technical posts of foreign-invested hotels which were held by foreigners previously, the local weekly Pyi Myanmar reported Tuesday.

Quoting the Directorate of Hotels and Tourism, the report said there are now 3,537 permanent staff members of local Myanmar citizens in foreign-invested hotels, while foreign staff are only 83.

The report cited Myanmar's Foreign Investment law which states that priority shall be given to appointment of administrative posts in foreign-invested hotels, while that of technical posts be done only on requirement.

The law makes way for creating job opportunities for local citizens in such hotels thus obtaining international-standard hotel administration technique, the report added.

According to official statistics, tourist arrivals in Myanmar increased in the past six years from 475,106 in 2001 to nearly 600, 000 in 2006.

Other figures show that there are 611 hotels, motels and guest houses in Myanmar, providing a total of over 19,479 rooms. The number of travel agencies in operation stands over 700.

Meanwhile, since the Myanmar Hotels and Tourism Ministry started conducting tourist guides training courses in 1992, four years after the country opened to the outside world, it has brought out more than 6,000 tourist guides up to 2006, the ministry sources disclosed.

More figures reveal that contracted foreign investment in the sector of hotels and tourism has so far amounted to 1.06 billion U. S. 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