MYANMAR’S Ministry of Hotels and Tourism is planning a Visit Myanmar Year for 2016 in order to further boost the country’s growing tourism industry.
Speaking to the Parliamentary Lower House, deputy minister Tin Shwe said that the planned campaign fits into the government’s Tourism Master Plan 2013-2020, which aims to develop a sustainable tourism industry.
No details have yet been revealed about the campaign, but Marcus Allender, director of Go-Myanmar.com, believes the government will focus on more established destinations such as Bagan and Inle Lake, with an eye on developing other lesser-known destinations.
“There are areas such as Nat Ma Taung National Park in Chin State and Loikaw in Kayah State where the government is known to be keen to develop tourism infrastructure, assuming new hotels and roads are built in time,” he said.
While Myanmar has seen a surge in tourism in recent years, with arrivals expected to reach three million this year, Myanmar’s existing infrastructure presents a concern.
“There are obvious limits in the current infrastructure, but things are improving. The number of international-standard hotels is going up at all major destinations, and road and air transport are gradually improving. By 2016, many aspects of travel in Myanmar should be more reliable and easier to cope with,” Allender added.
The Myanmar Tourism Federation is also believed to be gearing up to launch a Green Season campaign encouraging inbound travel during the rainy season months of May to September, when tourism figures tend to drop off.
Thomas Henseler, general manager of the Governor’s Residence Hotel, told TTG Asia e-Daily that many tourism companies are supportive of the idea.
“That’s when the availability is here and when prices are much lower. There is this misconception that during the rainy season, the country is drenched in rain. That’s true in the lower parts, but if you come to Myanmar, you don’t spend the entire nine or 10 days in Yangon. You head to the north and it is not raining in those areas,” he said.
