A continuous rise in foreign tourist arrivals to Myanmar will continue to strain hotel capacities for the next two years, despite the planned construction of 1,700 new rooms in Yangon.
YANGON- This is not easy to be the hottest destination of the year. With the transition of Myanmar into a more democratic political regime, the country is turning into one of Asia’s most desirable destinations. And the former capital Yangon is the one suffering the most of a lack of facilities to accommodate the growing number of travellers. According to Aung Zaw Win, chief of the government’s Directorate of Hotels and Tourism to the local newspaper Myanmar Times, the expected number of tourists is estimated to reach 600,000 this year, and grow by another 50% in 2013 to reach a potential 900.000 travellers in 2013.
Unfortunately, hotels cannot cope with the demand. Only some 1.670 new hotel rooms will become available in Yangon next year, and officials fear that it will do little to alleviate accommodation’s scarcity in the old capital. “We definitely do not have enough hotel rooms for travellers at the moment,” he told the Myanmar Times. “That is why we are seriously looking at how to encourage hotel investment.“
Investors however are still waiting for a new law on foreign investment. Due to be adopted early this week, the law has been delayed following Myanmar President Thein Sein asking parliament to make “some minor amendments“. The President wants to make the law clearer and more flexible, following critics from some investors who found the legislation too vague and not attractive enough. The Parliament reconvenes in the third week of October. Attracting foreign direct investment is seen as crucial to the government’s ambitious plans for economic expansion. Tourism and transportation infrastructures are seen as two sectors due to benefit the most from the new law.
Yangon currently has 8.319 hotel and guesthouse rooms with a third of them being only of international standards. Hotels are estimated to be able to handle a total of 700.000 visitors per year. The lack of rooms had already a consequence for travellers: hotel rates have more than doubled compared to last year forcing the government to impose a cap of US$ 150 to four-star hotels.
Luc Citrinot a French national is a freelance journalist and consultant in tourism and air transport with over 20 years experience. Based in Paris and Bangkok, he works for various travel and air transport trade publications in Europe and Asia.
