September 27, 2019

The hotel and travel industry has always been a major source of employment in any nation, which is why governments around the world put big emphasis on developing their tourism sector and attracting more global travellers.

There were 1.2 billion people travelling across borders in 2016 and World Travellers Association predicts that number might increase to 1.6 billion by 2020, with 123 million coming into Southeast Asia.

The travel business is heavily service oriented and involves business aspects that deal with guest accommodation, catering, touring, souvenirs, entertainment and so on.

Developing the tourism sector is just as important for Myanmar, and we need to first ensure the proper infrastructure for travelling and communications along with stable financial management.

Now is the time to promote tourism in our nation, but we still have to face the challenges and restraints of weak policies and laws, frail cooperation between related government departments, insufficient basic infrastructure and management, inability to create attractive programmes to draw in more tourists, having higher lodging prices than other countries in the Southeast Asian region, weak information exchange network, having only a fistful of airlines connecting internationally, an outdated financial system, and issues regarding clean food and water, according to experts.

Myanmar had to struggle in developing its tourism sector in the past years while simultaneously setting policies with foresight to elevate the market. This has produced nice results in the form of increased influx of travellers from China and South Korea. We also see news of the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism implementing their strategic plan to nurture a capable workforce that will meet the needs of the developing tourism sector.

The Myanmar Tourism Master Plan predicts 7.5 million globetrotters entering the nation in 2020. We believe that the number one priority to engage them is to offer the best services that meet international standards. If we can satisfy the requirements for developing our tourism sector, then we can be sure it will bring in wealth into our economy and jobs for our people.

(GNLM)