As demand surpass offer in the hotel industry in Myanmar, rates at hotels have on average more than doubled in a year time. Which finally forced the Government to intervene and set limits to price’s escalation.
YANGON- Could hoteliers’ greed kill the nascent boom in tourism currently experienced by Myanmar? Rocketing rates at international hotels in Myanmar starts to worry officials who fear that rates will start to dissuade visitors to come. According to tour operators based in Bangkok and working on Myanmar, average rates for a room in an international chain jumped from US$ 80 last year to US$ 200 for the coming winter season. Some tour operators start to avoid Yangon by providing only a quick half a day tour before sending their groups to other destinations such as Inlay Lake or Mandalay.
According to a report from the Myanmar Times, a warning signal has been given by the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism. On June 25, the Ministry said to now set up an imposed limit of US$150 on standard rooms. The Ministry became even more specific by threatening foreign hotel owners that they will face punishment if they will not abide by the rules and follow regulations imposed on hotel room rates. Failure to implement the new rate might translate into problems to renew their visa or in terms of the property they leased. These hotel owners were also required to furnish the Ministry their accurate room and occupancy rates, according to the newspaper.
Roughly about all hotels owned by foreign investors in Myanmar are disregarding the call from the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism not to increase their hotel rates but in other instances it even went higher as disclosed by travel agents in Yangon.
Minister U Tint Hsan held a meeting at Inya Lake Hotel last July 17 with all the concerned travel agents, hotel owners and private tourism representatives to discuss and call their immediate attention about the issue. The Ministry realized that rates on contract are now far higher than rates on websites. According to the privately run Myanmar Tourist Board, local hotels also follow the same policy than international chains by overpricing their rooms, although they mostly offer sub-standard comfort to travellers.
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.
