Myanmar sets a hot pace for tourism

YANGON  Myanmar’s tourism master plan has 21 projects that are critically important to help the country grow its tourism at an impressive pace through to 2020.
Tourism Promotion and International Relations Department director, Daw Khin Than Win, told Global New Light of Myanmar that 12 projects identified in the master plan are being undertaken by Ministry of Hotels and Tourism in cooperation with development partners.
“A project for tourism development in the Bagan region in conjunction with the Japan International Cooperation Agency and another focusing on Mawlamyine and Kyaik-hto regions in cooperation with Asian Development Bank are among the ongoing tasks that will run for the next two or three years.”
Myanmar’s Tourism Master Plan (2013 to 2020) was released in 2013 covering six strategic programmes, as well as 38 priority projects up until 2020.
inside no 4Asian Development Bank is backing the plan with loans and grants to fund the projects.
The plan outlines a growth in tourism revenue from USD534 million in 2012 to USD10.18 billion in 2020, while the 38 projects in the plan will cost USD486.6 million.
Twenty one projects are identified as critical to the plan’s success and they will cost USD215.6 million.
The goal of the master plan is to keep the country’s tourism industry growing at an impressive pace and thereby generating more income and employment.
The director noted: “We have an ambitious target of 5 million visitors, this year, following a record-breaking more than 3 million arrivals last year.”
The 2014 boom gave the country slightly more than 1 million visitors on top of the 2 million visits of 2013. In 2014, the country earned USD1.14 billion, up from USD926 million.
As of 31 March, Myanmar has 1,148 licensed hotels with 45,331 rooms across the country. Among them, 59 hotels with 4,904 rooms are in Nay Pyi Taw, 298 hotels with 13,990 rooms are in Yangon and 148 hotels with 6,069 rooms are in Mandalay.
There are 77 hotels in Bagan-NyaungU region and 93 in the Taunggyi/ Inlay region, both popular tourist spots among foreign visitors.

sourced:ttrweekly.com