Tourism investment up despite drop in visitors

Tourists and Myanmar visitors watch the sun set from the top of a temple at Bagan. Photo: Staff

The number of foreign travelers visiting in Myanmar is down on 2015, but foreign investment in the tourist sector shows a 15 percent increase, according to data from the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism. Although officials caution that investment decisions should be based on the right data.

Ministry data shows that as of the end of September this year 3.1 million tourists had visited the country, compared with 3.3 million over the same period in 2015.

But that has not stopped the potential for Myanmar tourism attracting US$3 billion in foreign investment across 56 projects as of the end of November, according to U Myint Htwe, director of the tourism ministry.

“That’s up from $2.6 billion across 48 projects in 2015, which [in dollar value] is an increase of over 15pc,” he told The Myanmar Times. By country of origin, Thailand is the “biggest investor in tourism this year, while United Arab Emirates was the smallest investors”, he added.

The country has increased the number of hotel rooms available for tourists from 9132 at the end of 2015 to 11207 at the end of November, ministry data showed.

But some travel industry operators are worried that investors and tourism entrepreneurs are basing investment decisions on bad data. Analysts have been questioning how Myanmar compiles its tourism data for years, because the majority of foreign visitors recorded are day trippers arriving by land from China or Thailand.

Of the 3.3 million visitors that had visited by the end of September 2015, only 1.1 million arrived by international airport or port, according to tourism ministry data. As of the end of September this year, the number of border-crossing visitors was the same – 2.2 million – but the number of international arrivals was down to 900,000.

The total number of tourist reported in 2015 was 4.68 million, a figure that the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) accepted. But U Ohn Maung, Minister for Hotels and Tourism, said at a recent forum on sustainable tourism that this number was the wrong figure for hotel investors to look at.

The minister was speaking at a Sustainable Tourism Development forum in Taw Win Garden hotel in Yangon on December 7.

“When the investors extend hotel projects based on this data, they [risk] losses because the real tourist number is more [like] 1.2 million visitors last year,” he said. “That’s why we intend to release the right figures such as how many real tourists visited and how many are day return trippers across the border,” U Ohn Maung said.

Tourism ministry director U Myo Win Nyunt said previously that the ministry will reconsider the system for country tourist arrivals, and intends to release the new data once every two months.

But despite the actual number of tourists being far lower than the data suggests, the tourism and hotel industry remains in need of investment in human resources and skilled labour, said U Ohn Maung.

“We are planning to development human resources by cooperating with the education department and open vocational training schools,” he said. “We have already trained around 10,000 people within the first nine months this year and that program is continuing.”

U Ohn Maung also expects a 35pc increase in visitors from Singapore following the start of a visa exemption program between the two countries on December 1.

“I do expect an increase in Singaporeans travellers if we successfully promote the variety of tourist attractions Myanmar has to offer,” he said. “Myanmar is safe, excellent to travel in the whole year round, and Myanmar food is certainly something to come back for over and over again.”

Over 100,000 visitors from Myanmar travelled to Singapore last year, but only 40,000 visitors from Singapore arrived in Myanmar.

“It is not fair in terms of tourism,” said Daw May Myat Mon Win, chair of the Myanmar Tourism Marketing Committee. “From the very beginning many Myanmar people go to Singapore for a variety of reasons such as study, job opportunity, medical treatment and leisure. Many more people will go with the visa exemption, so we have to promote our tourism [industry] to attract travelers into Myanmar.”

The imbalance exists between countries, but this also gives Myanmar a lot of potential, she said. More than 200,000 people from Myanmar visited Thailand last year, while only around 150,000 Thai visitors came to Myanmar, said Daw May Myat Mon Win.

“That’s why the [Myanmar tourism] market is a attractive,” she said.

Source :Myanmar Times

China eyes high speed railway as part of One Belt, One Road strategy

​A superfast railway will connect Myanmar’s cities, cutting the journey time from Muse, Shan State, to Yangon to one hour. That was the claim made by China’s consul general in a recent meeting in Mandalay.



Bicyclists cross railway tracks on the outskirts of Yangon. Photo: AFP

Wang Zongying was discussing China’s One Belt One Road project, which is intended to link China to the countries of Asia, and which would have particular implications for Myanmar. Work has already begun on the rail link that is to connect Ruili, in Yunnan province, to Thailand via Lashio, Mandalay, Yangon and Mawlamyine, said Mr Wang. He was speaking at Mandalay’s Pu Jin Chinese temple on November 27.

“This will be an Asian continental railroad that will connect Kunming and Ruili in Yunnan province with Thailand and Malaysia via Myanmar. Work has already begun on the rail link between Kunming and Ruili, and work is proceeding on the Lu Zen tunnel,” said Mr Wang.

“We want to connect Southeast Asia with a trans-Asia railroad that will go as far as Indonesia and Singapore, and we look forward to cooperation from the countries concerned,” he told The Myanmar Times. China was devoting great attention to questions of cost, he said.

He told the audience that the train would eventually reach a speed of 350kph, cutting the journey time from Muse to Yangon to an hour.

China-Myanmar Friendship Association chair U Poe Myint said the One Belt One Road project could bring China and Southeast Asia closer together, stimulating trade, creating jobs and developing the economy.

The project eventually envisages extending as far as Australia, Russia and Europe.

Mr Wang said the governments concerned had been gathering information and negotiating for the past three years. “The first success was the railway that connects China and Pakistan. There are also pipelines and railways that connect Russia and Central Asia that are already in operation. There is progress in the discussions with Australia and New Zealand, and an agreement with Malaysia to build a harbour, and with Thailand to dig a canal.”

Translation by Win Thaw Tar and San Layy

Source : Myanmar Times

Yangon-Mandalay railway upgrading to be put out for bids in Japan

A locomotive running on a railway-track bieng seen. Photo: Phoe Khwar

Tenders to upgrade the Yangon-Mandalay railway will be open for bids in early 2017 in Japan, said U Tun Aung Thin, a general manager from Myanma Railway (Lower Myanmar office).

Upgrading of this railway track is slated to be completed in the 2019-2020 fiscal year. The aim of putting out tender bids in Japan is to invite experienced companies from Japan who will build the tracks to meet international criteria. This project will be provided by the Japan International Corporation Agency (JICA).

There are three different railway routes that are part of the upgrading project on the Yangon-Mandalay railway: Yangon-Toungoo, Toungoo-Yamethin and Yamethin-Mandalay. The estimated cost of the project is about US$1,700million. Under the first phase, the upgrading of the Yangon-Toungoo railway track will be carried out, with an estimated cost of US$200million.

After the whole project is completed, the Yangon-Mandalay rail journey is expected to take eight hours, it is learnt.—200

Source : Global New Light of Myanmar

Apex Airlines

Golden Myanmar Airlines domestic routes

International flight of Air KBZ

Hotels and tourism sector likely to attract more FDI next FY: experts

Tourists taking pictures of a damaged pagoda in Bagan, on 25 August 2016. Photo: Reuters

MYANMAR’s hotel and tourism industry is likely to receive more foreign direct investment next year as many foreign companies eye the sector due to what is believed to be its bright future, according to the estimation of experts.

According to the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism, over US$2.9 billion in 52 investment projects including FDI and joint-venture investment have been allowed in the hotels and tourism sector.

Among non-citizen investors, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam have topped the tourism investor list of Myanmar, followed by Hong Kong, Luxemburg, Japan, Malaysia, UK and UAE.

The ministry expects that international tourist arrivals are likely to reach more than 7 million over the next three years. The country hosted over 4.5 million foreign travelers last year, an increase of 52 per cent compared with 2014. The ministry estimates that the number will increase to 5.5 million this FY.

Myanmar will top the list of tourism development countries, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council’s estimation about future prospects and sustainable development of 180 countries during the period between 2015 and 2025, based on tourism contribution to the GDP ratio, development rate, employment opportunities, investments and exports.

Transportation plays an essential part in tourism development, which requires a focus on infrastructural development and better services, an expert said.—Khine Khant

Source : Global New Light of Myanmar