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Travellers Tales- Burma's run of ba
- Subject: Travellers Tales- Burma's run of ba
- From: darnott@xxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 04 Nov 1999 19:05:00
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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