Thomas Latt
ASEAN Economic Community key to Myanmar tourism growth
As Myanmar prepares to host the ASEAN Tourism Forum
(ATF) in January, the country's Union Minister for the Ministry of
Hotels & Tourism has outlined Myanmar's commitment to tourism
development in cooperation with ASEAN member states.
H.E. U Htay
Aung said Myanmar's tourism sector needs to prepare for the
establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community in late 2015 and raise
awareness of AEC among tourism stakeholders.
"To realize the AEC,
the active participation of the private sector is a must. For that, the
ministry of hotels and tourism is conducting seminars, workshops, and
symposiums to raise the awareness of AEC by educating and convincing the
private sector," he said.
"Myanmar's Tourism Master Plan and its
policies on responsible tourism and community involvement in tourism
will be used as a roadmap to shape the future development of tourism in
Myanmar. All those policies are in line with ASEAN's tourism policy."
The
Tourism Master Plan is a wide-ranging eight year programme to
strengthen institutional structure, develop destination management,
upgrade infrastructure and improve product and service quality.
Having
formulated policies for responsible tourism and community involvement
in tourism, the government is currently developing an ecotourism policy
and management strategy, the minister said.
The programme will be coordinated and overseen by a central committee chaired by Myanmar's Vice President.
"We
are absolutely proud and delighted of being ATF 2015 host country for
the first time, and the benefits from this event for Myanmar as an
emerging tourism destination, are unquestionable. It surely will
strengthen the country's tourism sector development," Htay Aung added.
Tourist
arrivals to Myanmar grew significantly by 93% in 2013 to 2.04 million
visitors compared to the previous year, spending a combined US$926
million.
~ AATO ~