Never in the history of mankind have so many tourists gone so suddenly to such a unknown, unloved country.

Date: 09-03-2013

From Bust to Boom - Hyper season in Myanmar

Myanmar used to be an unknown, unloved, forgotten country, located right between two of Asia's major tourist destinations: India and Thailand. In the high season just a few hundred thousand people would bother to travel there, put off by the boycot, the complicated border and travel restricions and the difficult currency situation. Myanmar has gone from bust to boom in just a few years. There is no more high season in Myanmar - the 2012/2013 winter season was a hyper-season. 2012 The hotel situation in Myanmar is in dire straits, the country will need several years to modernise and build hotels to provide enough rooms for the tourism boom. Hotel rates in Myanmar have more than doubled in 2012. In the winter season of 2012/2013 people have slept in staff-rooms, in private hotel quarters, on the roof (Bagan), in monastries (Inle) and frequently in substandard and overpriced rooms. And a few people have cut short their holiday because of a lack of budget. For many years Burma had between 200.000 and 250.000 tourists arriving at Yangon airport every year. From 2010 onwards the numbers started to rise dramatically. In 2012 the number tourists reached more than 1 million (including border tourists).

Tourist arrivals by air from 2006 to 2013. (excluding border tourists, 2013 estimated)

2013 : Skyrocketing hotel rates A quote from Daw Phyu Phyu Mar, managing director of Seven Star Tours in Yangon: "2013 is scary for all inbound tour operators. We suffered and struggled with skyrocketing hotel rates in 2012 with a million visitors, and we expect an increase up to 30 percent this year. All we need is accommodation and skilled workers in the industry. Hoteliers and industry players are trying very hard to provide enough accommodation for 2013-2014." (www.mmtimes.com ) No one is more surprised about the tourism boom than the Burmese themselves. After many decades of very stable prices the hotel owners have happily doubled their room rates without even upgrading anything. In Yangon during 2013 many hotelroom rates may triple compared to 2011.

Tourism news - from the 2012 Squeeze to the 2013 Crush. http://travel.cnn.com - CNN, 26 Feb-2013. Myanmar hit by severe hotel shortage. blogs.ft.com/beyond-brics/2013 - FT.com, 21 Jan-2013. The biggest challenge to hotel capacity is likely to come when Myanmar hosts the Southeast Asian Games www.smh.com.au - Sydney Morning Herald, jan 16, 2013. Asia's hottest spot: record 1 million tourists flock to Burma. http://travel.cnn.com - CNN, 19-Nov-2012. Myanmar: Where will you sleep? www.tigermine.com/2013 - Will Greene, TigerMine: Myanmar Tourism Statistics. www.dvb.no/news - Democratic Voice of Burma: Burma struggling with tourism boom. www.burmanet.org - AFP, 30-jan-2012 - Myanmar faces hotel shortage as arrivals jump 26 per cent. www.hotelnewsnow.com - Hotelnews: "The growth potential in Myanmar is beyond huge, but even as the room supply increases, its still has only 1,800 rooms of international standard." www.mizzima.com - www.mizzima.com, 07 Sep 2012: Burma to double rooms in Bagan hotel zone. www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-29 - Yangon More Expensive Than NYC. So are you still willing to pay top dolllar for overpriced hotels, the worst railways in the world and mediocre food? You cannot avoid the reality ... Burma is still a very poor country even if you manage to find a nice hotelroom. And to find a nice room if you're not on a pre-booked tour is quite difficult at the moment. Tip: try to google on "burma hotel room shortage" or "burma tourist boom" or "Burma Hotel prices soaring -tripadvisor " or " Burma overpriced site:tripadvisor.com " Myanmar HOME