The ministry will be setting up booths which will showcase the pristine beaches and islands of the Myeik archipelago.
Regional tourism ministers of Tanintharyi Region, Kayah, Rakhine and
Kayin states would also be attending the expo to promote tourism
development in their areas, the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism said.
Among those that will be highlighted at the expo are Ngapali beach,
Ngwe Saung beach, Chaungtha beach and Myeik archipelago since 60 percent
of Japanese out-bound travelers like to enjoy water activities for
relaxation, U Ye Tun Oo, chief executive officer of Vivo Myanmar travel
and destination management company told The Myanmar Times.
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“Japanese holiday makers will increase if we can create more water
activities and attract more working-age travelers. Currently, our
destination packages, such as Bagan, Mandalay and Inle lake, are only
for retired persons,” U Ye Tun Oo said.
There were over 100,000 Japanese travelers who visited Myanmar in 2016,
but only 15pc of them are tourists while 85pc are business travelers,
cooperation workers and workers in INGOs.
Myanmar had a total of 2.9 million foreign tourists in 2016, a decline of about 38pc from a year ago.
“It doesn’t matter if the percentage of tourists decline, the more
important factor is we need to have real tourists statistics which is
our ministry’s responsibility. We want tourists to be satisfied during
their trip and then share their experiences about our country to their
friends. It is a word of mouth promotion,” said U Ohn Maung, union
minister of hotels and tourism on July 29.
According to the tourist arrival statistics, travelers from Asia market
-- the medium and short-haul countries -- are still main market for
Myanmar rather than the long-haul market, U Ye Tun Oo said.
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“If we can promote in China, South Korea and Japan in-bound markets
that would be more reliable tourism development. That is why we need to
extend to short and medium-haul markets,” he said.
However, beaches destination in Myanmar need to create more water
activities for tourists because it is very weak at the moment. Basic
infrastructure such as accessibility, public toilets along the high way
road, recreation parks, as well as human resources development still
needs a lot of improvement, he said.
The horse-cart drivers in Mingin in Sagaing Region and Inwa in Mandalay
drive like they are in a horse-cart race when they take visitors. They
should be trained to take better care of the visitors. We need to
improve human resources skills first, U Thet Lwin Toh, chairman of Union
of Myanmar Travel Association told The Myanmar Times.
“If we will implement tourism development without preparing basic
infrastructure for the tourists, they all will not return again. So we
need to be well integrated with private, public and government to be
prepared to satisfy our customers, “U Ye Tun Oo said.
The Ministry of Hotel and Tourism said that from January to end July a
total of 2,019,749 tourists visited the country, a 22pc increase from
the same period last year.
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