Mandalay To Host Mekong Tourism Forum Amid Myanmar Hotels 38; Visitor Arrivals Growth

Myanmar's second largest city Mandalay will stage a landmark event when the annual Mekong Tourism Forum takes place in the city on June 11 and 12. It will be the Mekong region's first ever full tourism forum hosted in Myanmar and it comes as the country welcomes record visitor arrivals, new air links and new hotels in Yangon, Mandalay and other points which are boosting accommodation supply.

The two day event will be carried out under a heritage theme, kynghidongduong.vn with a program that will look at local challenges being faced in conserving heritage attractions in the Mekong region and also the global perspective. The latter will come from the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) which is sponsoring and providing speakers for a full day seminar on the forum's second day, which will see the presentation of specific heritage case studies.


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The Mekong Tourism Forum (MTF) is a platform for those in the tourism industry to discuss the development, marketing and promotion of travel to, from and within the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS). It's an opportunity to encourage public and private sector participation in promoting the GMS as a single destination.

The GMS is comprised of the six member states of the Mekong River basin - Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and China (Yunnan Province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region).

The MTF dates back to 1996 when it was first held in Pattaya, Thailand. For the next 10 years it rotated among destinations within the GMS. After a break of several years, the forum was revived in 2010 with Cambodia's Siem Reap as host venue. MTF 2011 was held in Pakse in Laos, MTF 2012 in Chiang Rai, Thailand and MTF 2013 in Guilin in China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

This year's host country Myanmar wanted to stage MTF 2014 in its new administrative capital Nay Pyi Taw, but with the forum's theme focusing on heritage the venue switched to Mandalay, the last royal capital of Burma. Around 200 delegates are expected to attend MTF 2014.

Situated some 440 miles north of Yangon and with a population of 1 million, Mandalay is an economic hub and considered the centre of Burmese culture. Elements of tradition and culture can be seen throughout the popular destination, which is also known as the 'cycling city' due to the preference of many of its citizens to travel by bike.

The four star accommodation available and airline links with neighbouring countries were also factors which helped switch the MTF to Mandalay. The city is served by flights from Bangkok and Singapore.

Myanmar, meanwhile, is chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations or ASEAN in 2014, a role which sees the country scheduled to host between 300 and 500 meetings of the regional bloc throughout the year.

The rotating ASEAN chairmanship was handed over to Myanmar from Brunei at the 23rd ASEAN Summit in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei in October 2012. It is the first time Myanmar has assumed the regional leadership, after having to give up the chance in 2006 over ASEAN fears of possible protests from the US and Europe which still had economic and political sanctions in place against the military government.

Myanmar welcomed a record 2 million plus foreign visitors in 2013, and has announced targets of 3 million arrivals for 2014 and 5 million for 2015.

Hundreds of new hotels in Myanmar are opening up and thousands of travel, transportation and tour phượng hoàng cổ trấn guide firm licenses are being issued. Local media has reported that out of 960 hotels granted operating licenses across Myanmar since July 2013, 302 have opened in Mandalay and tour phượng hoàng cổ trấn 238 in the Yangon Region. The Ministry of Hotels and Tourism says another 48 new hotels in Myanmar offering 37,024 rooms are due to open around the country in the next couple of months.


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Foreign companies are being encouraged to consider investments in the Myanmar hotels sector, in particular four and five star hotels in Yangon. Official data shows Singapore tops investment in Myanmar hotels with US$880.46 million, followed by Vietnam with US$440 million, Thailand with US$235.75 million and Japan with US$183.10 million.

As the main international entry point to Myanmar, the existing choice of hotels in Yangon includes mid-level, boutique and luxury properties. Among the luxury addresses are some of the finest colonial hotels in Asia, such as The Strand Yangon which was built in 1901 and Belmond Governor's Residence dating from the 1920s.

Several regional airlines have introduced new flights to destinations in Myanmar and/or boosted frequencies on existing routes. The increased choice in air access is being welcomed by hotels in Yangon and other tourist spots like Mandalay as well as the capital Nay Pyi Taw. Myanmar now also offers visa-on-arrival to citizens of some 50 countries.







The Strand Yangon is one of Southeast Asia's grand colonial hotels and still one of its most awe inspiring. [ ] will remind guests of times gone by.







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