While tourism growth in Myanmar has slowed since its initial hype, prospects continue to be bright as international hotel brands mushroom in the country, says Myanmar Tourism Marketing (MTM).
Su Su Tin, vice chairman at MTM, said: “There has been a surge in hotel investments by international brands in Myanmar since 2015 as the country holds the most potential tourist destination untapped in the region.”
Yangon
According to the World Travel and Tourism Council, Myanmar’s tourism sector created 1.4 million jobs in 2015, with a growth of 1.3 per cent estimated for 2016.
Since the new Myanmar government took over, 144 hotels have received their licence, according to MTM.
This September, South Korea’s Lotte Hotels will open it first outpost in Myanmar next to Inya Lake in Yangon, featuring 343 guestrooms and 315 serviced apartments.
Other hotels set to open this year include Hotel G Yangon by GCP Hospitality, which already owns the Strand Hotel in downtown Yangon; the 74-room Yangon Excelsior Hotel, a five-star hotel repurposed from a heritage building downtown; while Pan Pacific Hotels Group will debut in Myanmar with a hotel next to the Bogyoke Aung San Market.
AccorHotels Group is another company that has demonstrated investor confidence in Myanmar’s tourism market, with plans to open five new properties in the country by 2019.
Later this year, they will open a Pullman Hotel in Mandalay at the new Mingalar Mandalay complex, while another Pullman hotel is expected to open in Yangon in 2019.
The French hospitality group is also planning to open two new hotels in Shan State – one a new branch of the MGallery chain at Inle Lake this year, and the other, an Ibis Styles hotel in Muse, a major trade point near the Chinese border, next year.
AccorHotels also recently signed a contract with SC Capital Partners Group to rebrand the Micasa Hotel Apartments Yangon as Mercure Yangon Kaba Aye, near the Shwedagon Pagoda, offering 143 apartments and 40 deluxe rooms.
Su concluded: “We welcome quality hotel investments across the country to provide international standard accommodation and service. We also welcome healthy competitions in hotel industry to avoid overpricing due to shortage of hotel supply like in 2013-14.”
