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Travellers Tales- Burma's run of ba



Subject: Travellers Tales- Burma's run of badluck continues 

[NOTE FROM DAVID ARNOTT: THE SOLUTION IS OBVIOUSLY 
FOR THE DEFENCE SERVICES TO MOVE ON FROM HOSTING 
FASHION  SHOWS AND COSMETICS EXHIBITIONS** AND GET 
INTO THE TOURISM BUSINESS.  THEY COULD RUN AXE-HANDLE 
TOURS, WITH BANNER-MAKING  EQUIPMENT, HARDENED STEEL 
HANDCUFFS AND PRINTING FACILITIES LAID ON (AT A PRICE) , 
FOR ALL US DESTRUCTIONIST  THREATS TO STATE SECURITY.   
THEY COULD AVERTISE THEIR SPECIAL HOTELS AND GUESTHOUSES 
ON THE S&M  WEBSITES, AND  OFFER ADVENTURE TOURISM ON 
MYANMAR AIR AND RAILWAYS ....A LITTLE CREATIVE THINKING 
AND TATMADAW TOURS COULD MAKE A BOMB]


BANGKOK POST 

November 4, 1999 

Travellers Tales- Burma's run of badluck continues 

Don Ross 

Thai visits plunge, but Europeans returning 

"How's Rangoon this week?" I asked a hotelier who runs 
one of the city's many half-empty four-star hotels. 

"Well, if we hadn't suffered enough from the embassy scare, 
Indian Airlines finished us off," he complained. 

An Indian Airlines Airbus 320 aircraft had slid off the runway 
a day earlier leaving it stuck in mud halfway up its undercarriage. 
Rangoon airport officials blamed the accident on heavy rains and winds. 

The accident forced the airport to close to all international flights for a 
couple of days, upsetting hoteliers who had hoped they would have 
enough guests to justify the buffet breakfast spread. 

Thai Airways International was the first airline to resume flights last 
Friday, but that wasn't much of a consolation. After the Bangkok 
embassy fiasco, Thais are not rushing to visit Rangoon. 

In fact, there were rumours that the Burmese embassy had quietly 
stopped issuing visas to Thai tourists. Travel agents denied the 
reports, but admitted it wouldn't make much difference. Demand 
for casual visits to Rangoon has hit an all-time low in Bangkok. 

But for Burma the good news is that European tour groups are 
starting again as the peak season starts. 

They are obviously unconcerned by events at an embassy
 or the border. 

They fly into Burma for seven- to 14-day trips that take in 
the capital and the historical city of Pagan.  Burma is poised 
for its best season on record, according to tour  operators who 
have offices in Bangkok. 

Tourists obviously take the advice of the Lonely Planet 
web site which clearly suggests they should go
and take a look for themselves and come to their own 
political conclusions. 

Unfortunately, even that advice doesn't work. 
Of the hundreds of tourists who log messages on the
Lonely Planet site after they have visited Burma, most 
admitted they were still no closer to a political
position on the country. 

Who said they should be? We might be expecting too 
much from our holiday jaunts if we insist they also
be linked to a politically correct conscience. 

Understandably there is a reluctance to visit Burma.
 It is reflected in the balance sheets of the top
Rangoon hotels. They are losing heavily. Hotels, built 
with foreign investment, are likely to see a week's
revenue go into free-fall simply because an aircraft 
skidded off the city's only runway. 

There are persistent rumours suggesting investors 
want to bail out. But who's going to buy? The E&O
group in Malaysia has been linked to the sale of at 
least one top hotel in Rangoon, but negotiations
foundered. Even the Strand, which always managed
 to maintain a US(USDollar) 400 a night room rate,
has been forced to cut rates. 

The going rate at city hotels has slipped from 
(USDollar) 100 to less than (USDollar) 60 a night. It is not
likely to improve until the Rangoon government starts to 
treat tourism like a real business worthy of
investment and a consistent long-term policy. 

Mandalay is a case in point. The famous city stands 
at the heart of the country's key tourist region. It is
the proud owner of a brand-new airport with one of 
the longest runways in the region. A fine terminal
building capable of handling wide-bodied jets stands 
completed, ready to open. 

Who will fly there? When will it open? Who will manage it? 
None of these questions have been answered. Ital-Thai built 
the airport, but there are very big question marks over the 
identity of the company that will run the project. 

Some experts claim the airport was delayed because 
a key road from the city was not completed in time
for the official opening this month. Others claim that 
even if the road was completed in time, no
international flights are scheduled and a management 
contract with an airport handling company remains
in contention. 

So far only Air Mandalay, a domestic airline, has indicated 
it will fly to the new airport. But even Air Mandalay has yet 
to post a timetable of the new service on its web site. Other 
regional airlines such as Angel Air, Bangkok Airways and 
possibly PB Air might consider flights if there was a clear 
decision to allow visas on arrival for flights from Chiang Mai 
or possibly Sukhothai. 

There are also concerns that a visa for entry at Mandalay would 
force passengers to exit by the same point. If passengers wanted
 to enter at Mandalay and exit at Rangoon, technically this must 
be cleared in advance and is not automatically given to all 
passengers landing at Mandalay. 

These loose ends have left airlines wondering if it makes sense 
to pursue a link to Mandalay. 

As long as the political situation caused by the embassy siege 
remains unsolved, it is very unlikely that the tourism market 
from Thailand will recover in time to make the Mandalay air link 
feasible. If that is the case, the Mandalay airport could miss the 
peak season entirely, which would then delay the opening
until November 2000. 

Closing the border was obviously a hasty action that will have 
a long-term impact on tourism development. It could be enough 
to scuttle aspirations that Mandalay will quickly assume the status 
of second airport gateway to Burma. 

GREAT RIVERSIDE RATES 

Bangkok's newest five-star hotel, The Peninsula, is feeling the
pressure of empty rooms. It came in with a special offer a couple 
of months back, selling deluxe rooms for (USDollar) 79 a night with 
breakfast. The deal, valid until December 24, cuts the hotel's previous 
best offer in half. 

But the good news for bargain hunters continues. Generous almost 
to a fault, the hotel is now extending the offer from January 1
all the way through 2000. 

The deluxe room goes for (USDollar) 89. Double occupancy is 
(USDollar) 44.50 per person and includes two breakfasts. A suite is 
(USDollar) 135 or (USDollar) 67.50 per person sharing. 

Considering the investment sunk into this riverside property, 
local travel agents are calling it the best millennium deal on record. 

Of course, other riverside hotels called foul or quietly matched it. 
The easiest way to tap this rate is to call any of the leading tour 
companies in town.
_____________________________

** Fashion wear fair opened in Myanmar 

 Xinhua, Yangon, 4 November 1999.   A fashion wear, design and consumer
products fair opened here Thursday. The four-day fashion wear fair is sponsored
by the Qaurtz International Co. Ltd. with the assistance of the Office of the
Myanmar
Defense Services Museum and Historical Research Institute. A total of 70 local
and foreign companies put on display their products including clothes, fashion
and decoration goods and personal and household goods. The fair is aimed at
exchanging technology and experience between local and foreign entrepreneurs,
coping with international development of high quality production and packing
systems,
obtaining more secure and stable market for their products and laying a better
foundation for the market-oriented economy, said an official of the sponsoring
company. 


Yangon International Cosmetics & Consumer Products Expo '99 opened [RE-POST]

YANGON, 10 Sept - A ceremony to open the Yangon 
International, Cosmetics & Consumer Products Expo 
'99, sponsored by Via Exhibitions Group and 
organized by Directorate of Defence Services 
Museum and Historical Research Institute of the 
Ministry of Defence with the concent of the 
Ministry of Commerce, was held in the Tatmadaw 
Convention Hall on U Wisara Road this morning, 
attended by Secretary-2 of the State Peace and 
Development Council Lt-Gen Tin Oo. Secretary-2 
Lt-Gen Tin Oo and party looked round the booths 
at the exhibition. 

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