Tourism ministry to cut admin charges in half to spur growth

A monk walks through a field near a temple in Bagan, one of Myanmar’s most popular tourist destinations. Photo: EPA
​The Ministry of Hotels and Tourism is cutting administrative charges it levies on operators of tourism-related business in half, in order to promote more foreign investment into the sector and more foreign visitors to Myanmar.

A list of updated administrative costs will be released on October 1, affecting operators of hotels and guest houses, tour companies, tourism-related transportation services and tour guides, U San Yu, assistant director at the tourism ministry in Mandalay told The Myanmar Times. The cost of a host of business activities - including renewing a licence, altering the name of business or moving location - will be cut by 50 percent, he added.

The intention is to help draw more foreign visitors to Myanmar by allowing the tourism sector to expand and provide more services, he said. “There were a lot of reductions [in administrative charges] in previous years, but there is still not [enough] foreign investment in travel operations,” he said.

Myanmar’s tourism ministry has also made it easier for travel businesses to receive a licence by allowing online applications since July 1.

But lower charges are unlikely to placate concerned tourism entrepreneurs asking the government for a more favourable business environment. Tour guides, for example, are facing competition from unlicensed operators that do not face the same tax treatment or licence payments, U Ye Myat Tun, chair of the Mandalay Tour Guide Association, told The Myanmar Times.

“It is good to cut the charges by 50pc and that will help us develop travel operations,” he said. “But tour guides like us still have to pay a high rate of tax, and we need relevant departments to help ban illegal tour guides from operating.”

The tourism ministry in Mandalay has granted licences to 1279 tour guide operations, 115 travel companies and 183 hotels, according to ministry data.

Source : Myanmar Times

Mandalay - Bangkok - Mandalay by MNA

Mandalay - Bangkok - Mandalay by MAI

Source : maiair.com

Myanmar carrier faces fresh competition on Hong Kong route from low-cost international

​Budget Hong Kong airline HK Express is competing with state carrier Myanmar National Airlines (MNA) on the Yangon-Hong Kong route, and will also start a two-month run flying to Mandalay.



HK Express general manager Sherman Luk (right) cuts a ribbon with Myanmar officials at the carrier’s launch ceremony on September 1. Photo: SuppliedHK Express general manager Sherman Luk (right) cuts a ribbon with Myanmar officials at the carrier’s launch ceremony on September 1. Photo: Supplied

HK Express started Hong Kong-to-Yangon return flights yesterday, which it will operate four days a week – Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

“The first flight is 90 percent full with Hong Kong people excited to explore Myanmar,” said Sherman Luk, general manager of HK Express.

The low-cost carrier will compete with fellow Hong Kong airline Dragon Air, Malaysia’s AirAsia and Myanmar’s MNA, which all operate the same route.

“It will have some impact [on our business],” said Captain Than Tun, chief executive of MNA, which only restarted international flights in 2015 after two decades of domestic operations. The carrier is already facing difficulties competing with more established foreign airlines for international traffic, he added.

“We haven’t had much time to prepare to compete with our peers because we’re still rebuilding the airline,” he said. MNA is in the middle of a corporatisation process that will eventually see it operate as a private company.

MNA flies to Hong Kong from Yangon four times a week in the low season and operates daily flights in peak tourist season, Capt Tun added.

HK Express will also start return flights from Hong Kong to Mandalay on September 5, and will run those flights twice a week, Mr Luk said. The firm will be the only carrier offering direct flights from Mandalay to Hong Kong, but is only operating the route until October 28.

Kayley So, a public relations officer for HK Express, would only say that “operational reasons” were behind the two-month window for Mandalay flights. But the airline will “explore any opportunity to operate the Mandalay-Hong Kong route in the future”, she said.

HK Express will be the third international airline to start Mandalay flights within the space of a week. MNA began thrice-weekly Mandalay-Bangkok flights on August 31, and Myanmar Airways International (MAI), the only other international carrier in Myanmar, started its own Mandalay-Bangkok flights yesterday.

Daw Aye Mra Tha, MAI’s head of marketing and public relations, said that the airline has applied to offer a direct flight to Kolkata, but was not looking at Hong Kong.

“There aren’t many passengers flying Yangon to Hong Kong,” she said. “It’s more a seasonal flight during Chinese New Year and the Myanmar Gems Emporium [in June].”

Source : MYANMAR TIMES 

Nearly 400 Bagan pagodas damaged by earthquake: govt

​As the list of Bagan pagodas damaged by last week’s earthquake continues to grow, the Department of Archaeology, National Museum and Library said yesterday that repair work would take at least one year to complete.



Tourists photograph the quake-damaged Sulamani Pagoda in Bagan on August 25. Photo: Kaung Htet / The Myanmar Times

The 6.8-magnitude tremor, which struck on August 24, was centred 25 kilometres (16 miles) west of Chauk in Magwe Region.

U Thein Lwin, deputy director general of the department, told The Myanmar Times yesterday that visitors are prohibited from entering 33 pagodas and are not allowed to climb to the upper levels of those pagodas for sunrise and sunset viewing.

“We have set the prohibition period for one year. We will allow visitors to enter and climb the pagodas again after the renovation period,” he said.

According to the Ministry of Culture and Religious Affairs, the prohibited list includes the popular Pyathatgyi, Shwesandaw, Htilominlo and Sulamani pagodas. The inventory of damaged pagodas and temples has also risen to 397 from last week’s count of 187.

The ministry also released a list of damaged pagodas in areas outside of Bagan, including 35 in Salay in Magwe Region, five in Mrauk-U in Rakhine State and 13 in Sagaing Region.

Representatives from local travel and tour companies expressed doubt that the tourism industry would be adversely affected by the earthquake, with some even suggesting that the quake had boosted international interest in the ancient pagodas. President U Htin Kyaw also said last week that there were plenty of undamaged pagodas for tourists to see.

Daw Sabei Aung, managing director of Nature Dreams travel and tours, said yesterday that at least five of the prohibited pagodas were included on their tour package list, but tourists have not complained about not being able to go inside.

“They understand the situation. We arrange to visit villages and offer other services in the Bagan region, so the tourists have been satisfied with our service,” she said.
Source : Myanmar Times 

Powerful earthquake hits central Myanmar

Breaking: A powerful 6.8 magnitude earthquake hit central Myanmar today, the US Geological Survey reported.



Fire department rescue workers examine the remains of a building destroyed by the earthquake in Taungdwingyi township, Magwe Region. Photo: Facebook / Myanmar Fire Services DepartmentFire department rescue workers examine the remains of a building destroyed by the earthquake in Taungdwingyi township, Magwe Region. Photo: Facebook / Myanmar Fire Services Department

The quake, which the agency said struck at a depth of 84 kilometres (52 miles), was felt in Yangon, as well as in the Thai and Bangladesh capitals (see map below).



Officials from Myanmar's Relief and Resettlement Department confirmed four casualties, as well as damage to 68 stupas and pagodas.

The epicentre was near Chauk, a town on the Ayeyarwady River around 30 kilometres south of Bagan, Myanmar's most famous archaeological site and home to more than 2,500 Buddhist monuments.

"Some famous pagodas were damaged during the earthquake," a tourist police officer from Bagan said, adding some of the damage in the major tourist destination was "serious".

Soe Win, a regional MP from the township in Magwe region, told AFP the tremors lasted for several minutes.

"There was also some sound as well. A pagoda collapsed in Salay and a building also collapsed," he said. The death of a 22-year-old in a building collapse near the epicentre was also confirmed.



Dhammayangyi temple shrouded in dust following a 6.8 magnitude earthquake, which damaged 67 other temples and stupas across the region. Photo: AFPDhammayangyi temple shrouded in dust following a 6.8 magnitude earthquake, which damaged 67 other temples and stupas across the region. Photo: AFP

The USGS estimated that the impact would be "relatively localised" but noted that many buildings in the region are "highly vulnerable" to earthquake shaking.

The quake was also felt in the Indian city of Kolkata, rocking tall structures and sending panicked residents out onto the streets.

"Services of the underground railway have been suspended fearing aftershocks of the quake," Kolkata Metro Railway spokesman Indrani Banerjee told AFP.

It was also felt throughout south and southwestern Bangladesh close to the border with Myanmar, with television footage showing residents running into the streets.

At least 20 people were injured as panicked workers tried to flee a building in the industrial area of Savar outside Dhaka, ATN Bangla television reported.

"All of us ran to the streets leaving the houses and shops unsecured as the quake seemed very dangerous," Nazmus Sakib from the southern city of Chittagong close to the Myanmar border wrote on his Facebook wall.

Earthquakes are relatively common in Myanmar, though there has not been a major quake since 2012.

The last major quake struck in a nearby region in April and caused minor damages but no casualties.

This story is developing, and will be updated as more information becomes available.

Source : Myanmar Times 

MoHT expands ecotourism destinations

The Ministry of Hotels and Tourism has announced they will open up 22 regions of the country to ecotourism for both foreign and local travelers.

Efforts to design the government-backed Ecotourism Plan began in 2015 in the name of developing Myanmar’s tourism sector, and are reportedly being drawn up in accordance with the relevant laws and legislation.

Ecotourism provides people with a sustainable and dependable livelihoods and advocates the protection and conservation of forests and woodlands.

“The numbers of tourists visiting Myanmar is augmenting year upon year. That’s why we’re expanding the eco-tourism projects.

We’ll also make it possible to survey the country’s flora and fauna in order to protect natural wildlife,” said U Tint Thwin, director of the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism.

The Department of Forestry and MoHT are reportedly working together to expand eco-tourism to corners of Myanmar which presently receive little to no tourists.

“Myanmar now boasts twenty-two new eco-tourism destinations. That said, we haven’t been able to implement any economic activities in these areas as yet.

The reason being, we’re still eyeing which projects would be potentially sustainable. Then there’s the safety of tourists in these areas to think about, that’s important. Some parts of northern Kachin and Shan States still lack stability,” said U Thet Lwin Toh, chair of the Union of Myanmar Travel Association.

Some of the destinations earmarked for ecotourism development include the Meinmahla Kyun Wildlife Sanctuary in the Ayeyarwady Delta, Myaing

Hay Wun Elephant Camp in Yangon Region and Khakaborazi National Park in the northern most frontiers of the country which surrounds Myanmar’s highest peak.

A total of 4.7 million foreign tourists streamed into Myanmar through its international airports during last year’s 2015-16 financial year, while estimates put this year’s figures at reaching 5.5 million.—Myitmakha News Agency

Source : Global New Light of Myanmar