Vice President U Henry
Van Thio, Chairman of the Central Committee for the Development of National
Tourism Industry, delivered an address at the World Tourism Day – 2018 ceremony
held at Thingaha Hotel, Nay Pyi Taw hotel zone, yesterday morning.
The ceremony was
attended by Union Ministers Lt-Gen Kyaw Swe, Thura U Aung Ko, U Thant Sin
Maung, U Ohn Win, U Thein Swe, Dr. Myint Htwe, U Ohn Maung, Deputy Minister U
Min Thu, senior departmental officials, representatives of UN organizations,
diplomats, representatives of development partners, executives from travel
businesses, specially invited guests and officials.
In his opening address,
Vice President U Henry Van Thio said since the time Myanmar re-entered as a
member of World Tourism Organization in 2012, the World Tourism Day has been
commemorated and this is the seventh time it was being held.
Every year on 27
September, World Tourism Day is commemorated in member countries of the World
Tourism Organization with the aim of increasing understanding on how tourism
supports the long term development of a country. Therefore, conducting this
ceremony can be taken as a practical way which has full potential to promote
knowledge and insights on sustainable development of the country’s tourism.
Tourism is a business
that everyone is involved in and is a business that is developing rapidly in
the world. In the world today, tourism business is creating job opportunities
not only in developing countries but in developed countries as well, and is a
source that provides huge revenue to a country. Development of the tourism
business is also effective for socioeconomic development and poverty reduction
work processes. It can be seen that with the advancement of technology in the
world today, for attracting travelers and implementing travel tours it can be
observed that digital technology is being used over traditional methods. That
is why the World Tourism Organization is urging the usage of digital technology
and innovation in tourism business to overcome the challenges and achieve
sustainable development.
The World Tourism Day –
2018 is held with a theme “Tourism and the Digital Transformation.” The World
Tourism Organization is learnt to consider digital technology in the tourism
sector as the main factor in supporting preparing of future works and
innovation.
As per figures released
by World Tourism Organization in 2017, there were about 1,323 million travelers
in the world which is an increase of more than 84 million compared to the
previous year. 2017 saw the highest number of travelers going to Europe and
Africa. Due to the increase in numbers of arrivals, income from the tourism
sector increased to US$ 1.6 trillion and it contributed 7 percent of the
world’s export sector.
For 2018, it is
estimated that worldwide, there will be an increase of 6 percent over last
year. In Southeast Asia the increase is estimated to be 10 percent. By 2020,
there will be about 1.6 billion travelers in the world and of those about 123
million is expected to come to Asian countries so the prospect for the travel
business sector is heading towards a better future.
Looking at the Myanmar
tourism sector, international tourist arrivals was 3.4 million in 2017 and as
of July 2018 tourist arrivals stand at 1.93 million. The tourism sector plays a
main role in the country’s development and it needs to be in line with
development of transport, basic infrastructure and financial management sectors
so efforts should be exerted towards department and sector wise development.
Even though there are many
challenges for development of the Myanmar tourism sector, by conducting
Sustainable Tourism, Responsible Tourism and Pro Poor Tourism, jobs are created
and related works are developed, supporting the increase in the country’s
revenue. All need to plan ahead to maintain the development momentum of the
Myanmar tourism sector and to share the benefits obtained from it with all the
nationals.
Relevant state/region
governments should work in close coordination and cooperation for more
travelers to visit Myanmar, convenient arrangements made for ease of travel to
the travel destinations, relaxing entry/exit restrictions and requirements,
increase travel product state/region wise and arrange for year-round visit,
developing community based travel, creating new travel destinations and to
develop local travel businesses.
Due to one-sided and
exaggerated reports on Rakhine issue by media, Myanmar witnessed decrease in
tourist arrivals. Tourist arrivals from Europe and Australia dropped 2 per
cent.
It was observed that
efforts were made towards increasing visitors to Asia and Southeast Asia
countries that has high market potential. On the other hand, it is required to
spread actual true news to western countries. As travel business has a fragile
nature, systematic preparation and arrangement need to be made to respond
immediately to anything that could affect it. In doing this it is especially
required for the government and the private sector to establish and implement
joint strategies.
World travelers are to
be informed through news media, inviting travel writers, distributing
pamphlets, conducting study tours, participating in travel shows and
international travel shows that they can visit without any dangers to peace and
stability of the tourism destinations. Digital promotion systems that are cost
effective and could be organized in a short time frame need to be conducted
increasingly.
The State is planning
to relax entry visas to ASEAN+3 countries to redevelop the travel business and
is taking steps to coordinate with relevant ministries. In the same way
relaxing visa requirements to western countries that have potential will also
be considered.
During September, a new
brand for Myanmar travel business “Myanmar: Be Enchanted” was launched in Japan
at the travel show held in Tokyo, Japan. The Myanmar travel business will take
an upward trend as it is also learnt that groups were formed to conduct market
wise promotion to increase visitors from Japan, South Korea, China, ASEAN
countries and European countries.
The travel business is
a business that can develop the socioeconomic development of all the nationals
in the country in a short time with very little investment, and it also raises
the image of the country. Therefore, for the systematic and sustainable
development of the travel business that supports the economic development of
Myanmar, not only the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism but all stakeholders need
to work together.
The Vice President then
urged all entrepreneurs in the travel sector to use innovation to create new
travel products, transform and raise the travel business using digital
technologies, and work together.
Next video messages of
UNWTO (United Nations World Tourism Organisation) Secretary General Mr. Zurab
Pololikashvili and UN Secretary General were shown and an official explained
about the new brand of Myanmar travel business “Myanmar: Be Enchanted.”
Afterwards, winners of
university and college level essay competition, winners of debate, winner of
best performing hotel awards, best service award, winning travel companies and
best public toilet award winners were presented with awards by Union Ministers
Lt-Gen Kyaw Swe, Thura U Aung Ko, U Thant Sin Maung, U Thein Swe and U Ohn Win,
respectively.
Officials from a travel
booth representing Myanmar in the 33rd Korea World Travel Fair-2018 that won
the Best Booth Operation Award and a travel booth representing Myanmar in the
21st Busan International Tourism Expo that won the Best Tourism Publicity Award
then handed over the awards they received to Ministry of Hotels and Tourism.
Union Minister for Hotels and Tourism U Ohn Maung accepted the awards and
presented certificates of honor to first prize winners who won it under the
title, “Action Plan for Capacity Building of Shan Plateau, Myanmar (2020-2023)”
at the 2018 Knowledge Sharing Seminar on Sustainable Tourism Development.
Following this, Union
Minister Dr. Myint Htwe presented certificates of honor to winners of Medallion
for Excellence – Restaurant Service at 12th ASEAN Skills Competition. Later,
the Vice President, Union Ministers and guests posed for a commemorative group
photo, inspected the show rooms, award winning essays and photographs
exhibited.
MNA
Photo – MNA
Ref : The Global New
Light of Myanmar
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