Myanmar is at a crossroads: political developments, the pandemic, and the ongoing rebound in world tourism reveal a make-or-break moment for the nation. It’s not going to be easy: often overshadowed by more tourist-friendly neighbors like Thailand, Myanmar – and local tourism stakeholders like Dr. Lu Mon – will have to work harder than ever to regain its momentum.
Dr. Lu Mon is the managing director of Yangon-based Mira Travels, and an active participant in dialogue with the Myanmar government on behalf of the country’s tourism sector. He currently serves as a joint Secretary General of the Myanmar Tourism Federation.
We asked him to give us the lay of the land on Myanmar tourism today – and how he thinks the country plans to bounce back.
How is tourism in Myanmar recovering after opening up last year?
Myanmar’s tourism sector is actually getting better in 2022 when compared to 2020 and 2021. Domestic tourism was the first segment to pick up quickly. People have been traveling for staycations, and Myanmar’s hill stations and beaches are flooded with domestic tourists during holidays.
Outbound travel is also recovering, but mainly for pilgrimage, medical and educational purposes. Inbound tourism is still slow compared to previous years.
For Myanmar’s hospitality industry, the F&B and entertainment segments are doing well, with many new outlets popping up in our cities.
In the accommodation segment, “glamping” is a new trend, and vacation rental is also becoming popular with domestic tourists in smaller towns. For hotels, they now have to heavily depend on local market demand.
Some foreign direct investment (FDI) hotels in Yangon are performing well due to their brand and events. Overall, things are getting better.
Beyond inbound visitors from China, what other factors will help Myanmar tourism recover over the next year?
There are key factors important for rebuilding tourism on different strategy levels.
On the national level, first, we need to regain good connectivity in air travel – either via direct connections or via regional hubs, and through land travel across borders.
Second, apart from the China market, we need to effectively promote our destinations to existing markets such as India, and find new source markets such as Russia. We can do this by providing incentives such as visa-on arrival or visa free travel.
Third, we need to rebuild our national branding in the context of tourism promotion, which is very important.
Fourth, we need to really push the tourism sector as export trade in services, and policy makers need to see the true potential of tourism.
Fifth, we need an effective national tourism board at operational level in action round the clock.
Sixth, we need to re-engage with international organizations, which are unbiased. On a business level, we need to support our tourism operators, mostly micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) like us, to get back on their feet as they need to tackle many operational constraints from infrastructure, finance, human resources to marketing and distribution, etc.
Overall, we need good strategic direction, alignment, execution and support throughout the tourism value chain to be resilient.
What initiatives are Mira Travels pursuing to attract more visitors to visit Myanmar? What packages are you offering, and to what places?
Before the COVID-19 crisis, Mira Travels had been focusing on SAVE travel segment and offering flexible travel plans, student trips and volunteering packages for tourists mainly from USA, Central Europe and Scandinavia. Now things have changed due to various circumstances; we now need to re-strategize our market plan accordingly.
What are the latest efforts being done in by Mira Travels to promote sustainable tourism in the country?
We made some milestones in Myanmar’s tourism. Back in 2015, we were the first company to initiate barrier-free tourism in Myanmar. We also started the Accessible Myanmar project, which had won a PPIC inclusive tourism award by Business Innovation Facility of DFID, UK.
In 2017, we conducted a disability inclusiveness training for tourist guides in Yangon and invited a France wheelchair travel blogger to visit Myanmar. Later, we were invited by Lonely Planet to become a contributor to Burmese section in the Accessible Travel Phrasebook, which we happily accepted.
The barrier free initiative was not intended to be financially viable, but we believed it is a good initiative to implement for inclusiveness. Now, I am delighted to learn that our Ministry of Hotels & Tourism is promoting barrier-free tourism throughout the country as part of its national agenda, which is good for PWDs and elderly travellers.
With the export promotion and capacity building programs of UN-ITC and CBI Netherlands, we were able to learn more about sustainable tourism and we put a responsible travel policy in place and communicated it to our customers and suppliers.
What role is Mira Travels playing to promote the sustainable supply chain for travel providers in Myanmar?
Before the COVID-19 crisis, we were able to achieve Travelife Partner status, together with a small group of Myanmar tour operators. As a small company, there are now limitations on promoting sustainable practices throughout supply chains, which is disrupted.
As mentioned, our company has a responsible policy which highlights the actions that we deal with our workforce, environment, partners, suppliers, customers and community development.
We let our tourists and international volunteers know in advance about responsible travel practices in Myanmar. For our suppliers, we share information and encourage them to follow good practices. For our customers, convenience, safety and security are our key standards.
As a tourism provider in Myanmar, what can you say to reassure potential travelers about their safety? Would you recommend, as some others mentioned, the safe tourist areas of Yangon, Inle Lake, Mandalay, Bago, Ngapali Beach and Mergui Archipelago?
If you visit Myanmar now, you will see locals and expats going about their usual daily life. I would say some minor challenges still remain, but the tourist areas that you mentioned above are safe to travel and they receive a lot of visitors during holidays.
Tourists, of course, should be briefed in advance on Do’s and Don’ts in Myanmar and they need to comply with safety and security measures and regulations issued by the government.
What other tourism destinations in Myanmar do you feel should be visited more by foreign tourists?
Cool hill stations such as Kalaw (Shan State) and Pyin Oo Lwin (Mandalay Region) are popular and good for long stay. For beach lovers, you should visit Ngwe Saung, Chaung Thar and new Shwe Thaung Yan beaches in Ayeyarwaddy Region.
What community-based tourism initiatives are showing the most promise in Myanmar?
Community-based tourism is a cornerstone of tourism development in Myanmar, and it has supported local communities well. Some of the successful project sites such as in Kayah State are inaccessible at the moment.
I have learnt that there are plans to develop community-based tourism in Putao, Myeik and Magway. Successful community based tourism required a great deal of coordination such as service, safety and security matters as well as interest and the participation of the local community.
What tourism/travel restrictions do you predict will be loosened in the next year or so?
Certain beautiful and exotic destinations such as Kayah State and Chin State are currently off-limits. As security and connectivity improves, there will be more places to visit in Myanmar soon.
