Local guesthouses off limits

20 Sep 2016  2108 | World Travel News

YANGON Myanmar’s Ministry of Hotels and Tourism has warned that it will take legal action against guesthouses that host foreign travellers without first applying for the appropriate licence for international business.

Irrawaddy media quoted the ministry director, U Myint Htwe, saying the Hotels and Tourism Law bans guesthouses that operate with just a municipal permit from accommodating foreign travellers.

“The ministry has issued a law that bans unlicensed guesthouses or guesthouses licensed by departments other than the Hotels and Tourism Ministry from catering to foreign travellers.”

inside no 4The ministry issued instructions, earlier this month, to municipal guesthouses stating that they should only use Burmese language signs so that tourists would not recognise them as premises for an overnight stay, it added.

Municipal guesthouse owners that violate the law could be punished with up to three years imprisonment, or a fine of USD40. In extreme cases both could apply.

The ministry reports the number of hotels and guesthouses, nationwide, reached over 1,371 hotels with 53,716 rooms as of the end of August this year.

The country welcomed 4.6 million foreign visitors, last year, an increase of 52% compared with 2014. The ministry estimates tourist arrivals will reach 5.5 million this year.

The ministry estimates tourist arrivals are likely to reach 7.5 million by 2019.

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