May Myat Mon Win grew up in Myanmar within the Seventies with dreams of a day when her country could possibly be like its Southeast Asian neighbors. Today, as chairwoman of the Myanmar Tourism Marketing Community (MTMC), she sees the dream is close by, but “the journey is just beginning, we have to work hard.” When it involves increasing the variety of tourists coming to the country that after housed Southeast Asia’s busiest airport within the Sixties, and developing its tourism infrastructure to satisfy the growing demand for this once-sheltered destination, “we just didn’t know how long it would take,” she said.
May became the primary female general manager of a five-star hotel in Myanmar when she took over the management of Chatrium Hotel Roya Lake Yangon in 2014. She headed Myanmar’s first B2B roadshow in Singapore to have a good time the 30-day visa waiver also for Singaporeans in addition to the launch of recent flights to Singapore by Myanmar National Airways. She said this can help spur last minute travel and in addition today people wish to plan last minute and it’s about easy decisions. Therefore, she believed that she needed to be where the client was.
The change has happened for a reason. As an example of a rustic that has jumped the mobile bandwagon, Myanmar has almost 50% mobile penetration. Technology has modified their lives. May also said that folks first got here into contact with the web through their mobile phones and doubtless Facebook. “Technology has changed our lives, the way we do business in the hospitality industry has changed, our distribution channels have changed. A lot of new businesses have to learn how to use technology.”
In her 300-room hotel, 75% of sales come from direct B2B, with the remainder coming from OTA and direct website. She said hoteliers in Myanmar have began to debate Airbnb and its impact on their business, “nevertheless it’s not a giant problem yet, the numbers are still small.” For now, MMTC’s fundamental priority is to extend passenger numbers from Singapore to Myanmar with latest visa-free travel and extra flights of as much as 40 flights per week between each destinations. These two countries have all the time had strong diplomatic and business ties.
Last 12 months, Burma welcomed slightly below five million visitors, with the official goal now being to extend the number of tourists to 7 million by 2020. There was talk of a scarcity of space to satisfy the increased demand over the past two to 3 years, but May said that was now not true, as the federal government allowed investment and infrastructure development, which is seeing latest hotels opening in each destination, with their very own range of hotels, from two- to five-star, of excellent quality. “We want to dispel the myth – there is plenty of space all year round, as well as improved air connectivity for every type of traveller,” May said.
Today, latest freedom might be present in Myanmar. And May is clearly having fun with it, in comparison with the life she had 22 years ago when she began within the hotel industry. “The young generation today is very lucky.” Her greater concern is hotel planning with higher demand and provide planning, which is just too high and low for several years. If they do not work on demand, they are going to fall back into oversupply, she said.
Sustainability within the industry—by way of attracting visitors—is essential, while also making a higher life for staff. Asia accounts for 70 percent of all travelers, with Thais, Chinese, and Japanese leading the best way. Europe has all the time been a horny market with high returns, nevertheless it is just too seasonal, with only 4 months of activity. “We need to match demand from Europe,” she said. Another concern is whether or not Myanmar could lose its appeal as tourism grows faster than its infrastructure and human resources can handle.
“Our vision is to have a sustainable destination. The advantage of being the last one is that we are able to learn from others what to do and what to not do. Tourism can contribute to the economic development of our country. There are many rural areas that might be developed, resembling Loikaw and Lake Inya, and folks can have a greater life through tourism.”
Source : webintravel.com
