Being an entrepreneur, it’s only natural that most of the columns I write for this impressive magazine speak to issues directly related to
business and the business environment, in which I am immersed for most of my time. But this doesn’t mean that I take for grant- ed Myanmar’s non-economic endowments or that I’ve forgotten the original reason I came here – an appreciation of the natural beauty, the religion and the people.
There is such a diversity of places one should try to visit in order to understand Myanmar and so far I have ticked off far too few, finding myself too often confined to Yangon. Visitors to contemporary Yangon, finding themselves becoming entangled in traffic jams, may be reminded of Bangkok or Jakarta but it wasn’t always this way and there is some irony in the fact that the re- cent rapid expansion of tourism explains much of the increase in traffic. That is not to suggest that economic development is a bad thing, far from it, but there is much more to Myanmar than bustling Yangon and although the city has a unique flavour one could never appreciate the real character of the country without exploring a range of other significant locations.
The 2013-2020 Tourism Master Plan pre- pared by the country’s Ministry of Hotels and Tourism underlines the critical role tourism is expected to play in Myanmar’s ongoing development, with continued rap- id expansion culminating in 7.5 million in- bound visitors in the final year of the plan, up from around 3 million currently. With improving infrastructure, hopefully this growth will be spread across a wide array of potential tourist destinations, so that visitors are exposed to a range of experiences sufficient to reveal the real Myanmar.
Given the enormity of the task of creating a well-functioning national road network, water transport remains an important avenue for the routine movement of goods and people around Myanmar, but it also opens up many opportunities for great experiences for tourists. One trip that I have not yet taken is the boat journey from Yangon to Mandalay, high on my list of ‘must dos’. Al- though I feel very ‘touristy’ to say so, I don’t yet feel I really know Myanmar until I take this trip. Of course, my Myanmar friends – who most likely also have not done the journey – would no doubt laugh at me for saying so. Nonetheless, I feel quite jealous of the tourists who come to Myanmar for what is a relatively short time and take the cruise.
Bagan, the namesake of my company, naturally holds a special spot in my heart. My first visit there was a ‘never forget’ event. For those yet to experience the place, it has a standing similar to Siam Reap in Cambodia or the place of Kyoto in the hearts of Japanese people. It is easy to understand the importance of Bagan to the Myanmar spirit, a place of worship that must have involved the toil of so many to create such beauty. In the right season, at the right time of day, it is sheer magic and truly worthy of a UNSECO world heritage listing, something I whole- heartedly support. Given the importance of tourism to Myanmar’s economic development, it is very encouraging to see the new investment taking place in Bagan, drawing on funds from both domestic and foreign sources. I sincerely hope, however, that development is not allowed to alter the fun- damental character of this locale- We don’t want to see a fast food restaurant there, nor any other activities that would not be com- patible with the nature of the place.
The ancient ambiance of places like Bagan stands in stark contrast to the increasing- ly upmarket atmosphere found in Ngapa- li, which depicts another dimension of the Myanmar milieu. Located on the Bay of Bengal, here is a beach resort to rival any in Southeast Asia. Long the preserve of the Myanmar ‘well to do’ and also strongly pa- tronised by the NGO and diplomatic com- munities (which until recently made up the vast majority of foreigners in Myanmar) it is now attracting the attention of tourists and international operators, including the Hilton group.
The tourism sector is now attracting the highest level of local investment, according to the Myanmar Investment Commission data, and FDI continues to grow, with var- ious sources citing unconfirmed reports of inflow of up to US$2bn in 2014. Ideally, investment in the sector needs to be chan- nelled into a broad spectrum of potential tourism localities if jobs and wealth creation are to flow to local economies, and care must be taken to preserve the special na- ture of such areas. It is encouraging that the Tourism Master Plan does commit the Gov- ernment to developing community-based tourism schemes, with a view to attracting tourists to disadvantaged and remote com- munities, initially in Shan, Karenni and Chin states. Community input presents as a constructive way to combine economic benefits with preservation of the things that make Myanmar so unique.
I still have plenty of exploring to do when I can get away from Yangon and what attract and excite me are the same things that will attract the growing number of international visitors- experiencing the real character of Myanmar.
