Face-to-Face: May Myat Mon Win

This week, Travel Daily Asia chats with May Myat Mon Win, chair of Myanmar Tourism Marketing, about the country’s tourism strategy and targets…

Q)    How did Myanmar’s tourism sector fare in 2016, and what challenges are you facing?

All in all, 2016 was a good year for tourism sector in Myanmar, with a modest increase of visitors from Europe and the US. If anything, it strengthens our faith that we’re on the right path to promoting Myanmar as the new, emerging and exciting destination within ASEAN.

If you recall, 2016 ended on a high note with the visa exemption between Myanmar and Singapore, an exciting new beginning that is expected to raise the number of Singaporean visitors to Myanmar.

We also highly appreciate the support of the Myanmar Union Parliament for our country’s participation in the establishment of a tourism coordination office for the Greater Mekong region. We have high expectations that the deal will result in greater cooperation with Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam and China in seeking markets for tourism, foreign investment and secure travel.

To top it off, the latest figures from the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) prove the growing importance of the travel and tourism sector. According to the WTTC Economic Impact 2016, the direct contribution of travel and tourism to Myanmar’s GDP in 2016 was 5.9% and is expected to rise to 7.6% per year. What this implies is that tourism is a strong, long-term driver of GDP growth and that Myanmar is as serious about developing this sector as it is about transforming its economy.

Looking ahead, I would say the challenge lies in how we should always think two steps, not just one step, ahead of the competition, to be able to fight wrong perceptions about the country. It’s really a whole year-round destination with actually some of the best travel conditions in the green season.

From June to September it’s cooler, greener, cheaper, less dusty and landscapes at its best. Tourist attractions are less crowded and it’s the best season to taste all kind of exotic fruits and vegetables. Another point we’d like to raise is that Myanmar is so much more than a cultural destination. At Myanmar Tourism Marketing, we want to explain to potential visitors that Myanmar also offers adventure, good food, fun festivals and excellent beaches. The country has something to offer for everybody.

Q)    Regarding the visa waiver programme with Singapore, what impact do you think it will have on visitor arrivals?

We’re expecting an increase in the number of visitors from Singapore. Our Minister of Hotels & Tourism U Ohn Maung, has predicted the increase to be between 30 to 35%. It’s a continuation of an upward trend that we’ve been witnessing for the past few years and we hope that additional flights connecting Singapore with Yangon and Mandalay will be beneficial as well.

In 2015 for example, there were 43,000 Singaporeans who travelled to Myanmar. As of August 2016, more than 32,000 Singaporeans have visited the country, an increase of 18% compared to the same period the year before, mostly travelling to Yangon and Mandalay.

But really, what the visa waiver programme signifies goes beyond numbers or statistics. Relations between Myanmar and Singapore go way back to more than 50 years ago with the launch of bilateral diplomatic relations. Today, Singapore is the second largest investor in Myanmar, with more than US$13 billion in foreign direct investment. We have excellent people-to-people relations and we hope that the closeness between our two countries will translate into stronger growth of two-way tourism.

Q)    Apart from Singapore, which other source countries are Myanmar targeting? And what measures are Myanmar Tourism Marketing taking to increase awareness in these markets?

According to our data, despite a 2% drop in overall number of visitors on tourist visa, there has been a surge in the number of visitors from North America and Western Europe in 2016. At the moment, the key source markets for Myanmar are Asia, Europe and North America.

As the largest source market for Myanmar, Asia represented well more than 65% of incoming visitors in 2016. Our neighbour Thailand topped off the list with 17.3% of visitors, while other fellow ASEAN members Singapore (4.2%) and Malaysia (3.5%) also ranked relatively high. That said, looking ahead, we’re targeting not only Asia as a source market, but also Europe, the US, Australia and other growth markets.

What we do at Myanmar Tourism Marketing is promote Myanmar as a sustainable tourism destination that’s safe and readily accessible any time of the year. If you’re seeking a place that offers excellent value for money, look no further. Myanmar is full of authentic, memorable and immersive experiences. It’s a key message that we like to reiterate in all our marketing campaigns.

We are working closely with foreign media worldwide to get more stories and pictures of Myanmar published. We’re doing this through a wide scope of activities and this has paid off. Visitors to Myanmar always come back with very, very positive feedback about the country and the friendliness of the Myanmar people.

I would like to invite national tourism organisations worldwide to get in touch with us and see how we can support their activities for their outbound tour operators and travel agents as we are happy to set up roadshows and promote the country. We extend the same invitation to film producers, TV production companies and the media, because we’d like for everyone to know that Myanmar has some amazing filming locations.

We’re also actively involved in major tourism shows in Europe such as ITB Berlin and the World Travel Market in London. We also regularly organize familiarization trips for travel writers, television reporters, bloggers, tour operators and so on, through all of which we hope to increase awareness about Myanmar’s tourism attractions.

Q)    What are the main activities you’re planning for 2017?

This month we participated in the ASEAN Tourism Forum in Singapore. This year actually marks the 50th anniversary of the formation of ASEAN, which made it even more special.

Aside from regional events, we expect to continue engaging in major world travel forums such as the ITB and WTM. We’re also planning to intensify and widen the scope of familiarization trips for journalists, bloggers and tour operators. We always encourage film producers to do shooting in Myanmar. If there’s anything that stands in the way, it would be our limited budget. Nevertheless, rest assured that we’re doing our best in all the ways we can to promote Myanmar as a top tourism destination in the region and in the world.

As always, there are plenty of activities in Myanmar among members of MTM to generate more funding for the organization so we can do even more promotional campaigns.

Q)    Myanmar has ambitious tourism targets, with more than seven million visitors expected by 2020. What steps do you think need to be taken for these targets to be achieved?

What the numbers are telling us so far is that we’re on the right track, and that tourism in Myanmar is showing a strong growth.

During the Singapore roadshow that we held a few weeks ago, a total of over 80 news articles were generated in regional media that emphasised Myanmar as a tourist destination. In 2017 MTM wants to work more closely with the media and aims to generate more than 500 articles worldwide featuring Myanmar as a safe and sustainable tourist destination. The destination speaks for itself so we simply have to showcase this to more potential visitors, which we aim to reach by online or traditional media.

That said, there are other measures that must be taken to secure the current upward trend in incoming visitors. Visa waivers, such as the one we have with Singapore, are one sure way of attracting tourists. We also need to make sure that all the necessary measures are in place to assure tourists that they will enjoy high quality experiences in Myanmar.

We’re also hosting a range of events and activities to boost travel, especially to areas that are still less known. We hope visitors will take the time to go beyond well-known destinations such as Bagan, Inle Lake, Mandalay and Yangon, and sample immersive and authentic travel experiences in new exciting beach destinations like Ngapali, as well as Myeik and Dawei in the Mergui Archipelago.

We fully support the development of community-based tourism projects, such as the Thandaung-gyi B&B, tea plantation, Small Butterfly Village and forest walks in Kayin State and the eco-tourism project in Indawgyi Lake in Kachin State. You’ll also see more variety of attractions such as night bazaars, public entertainment programmes, hot air balloon festivals, light festivals, horse-racing festivals, boat-racing festivals and a few other attractive events.