(THAI BUSINESS ASSOCIATION OF MYANMAR)

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Author: Myo Sandar : Myanmar has been focused on boosting the hospitality industry, and is now creating more tourist destinations, easing visa requirements, inviting travel bloggers and vloggers, and appointing tourism ambassadors. As a result, the Myanmar government expects to welcome up to seven million tourists into the country by 2020. Bagan was recently recognized as a UNESCO’s world heritage site, and that is a major driving force for development of the tourism industry. According to the data from the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism, the number of tourists visiting Myanmar hit 3.5 million during the first six months of this year, an increase of 26 percent compared to the same period last year. It can be interpreted as a good sign for increased tourism.

Higher tourism means higher demand for rooms. Hilton is working on hotel projects to contribute in meeting the demand. Hilton has been in the country since 2014, and has three properties in Myanmar. One in Naypyidaw, the country’s capital, another one in Ngapali, the country’s popular beach, and Mandalay, the second largest city. The three hotels give Hilton 479 rooms in Myanmar, but they still see room to improve.

The company is working on a new property called Hilton Times City, and it will be located in the Yangon International Airport, the country's busiest airport. Times City will have 308 rooms, and has a planned to grand opening for 2021. In addition to that, Hilton is planning to open hotels in Inlay and Bagan, two of the most popular tourist destinations in Myanmar.

Hilton has 39 properties in South East Asia, and Myanmar Business Today has a chance to catch up with Mr. Peter Webster, the Regional General Manager of Hilton for Southeast Asia, to talk about how Hilton decided to enter Myanmar.

“Hilton has been in hospitality service for 100 years, and we are constantly looking for investment opportunities, but choosing the right place to invest. We see a great potential in the tourism sector in Myanmar. We opened our first hotel in Myanmar five years ago, and we now see tourism in Myanmar is growing,” he said.

Hilton is trying to expand its presence in the Southeast Asian market, and said its three hotels in Myanmar are working well and have great potential.

The Hilton Nay Pyi Daw hotel has 197 rooms featuring meeting rooms and business center has won ASEAN MICE Venue Awards. The Hilton Ngapali Resort and Spa, Hilton’s second hotel in Myanmar has 51 rooms, and offers ocean views. This resort won the World Luxury Hotel Award. Hilton’s third hotel in Myanmar is the Hilton Mandalay, and it opened in 2017 with 231 rooms.

When asked about the revenue of the Hilton hotels in Myanmar, Mr. Peter says Hilton is a listed company in the U.S. cannot disclose its financial information. However, he said Hilton’s business in Myanmar is growing day by day since its entry into the golden land five years ago, and expects to see a higher growth rate in coming years.

Veronique Sirault, Cluster General Manager of Hilton Myanmar said: “Myanmar has beautiful beaches and culture. It is a good place to visit, so we are closely looking at Myanmar because of its great potential. We plan to work with the right partners.”

Hilton is has 12,000 employees in the Asia Pacific Region, and one out of four employees are from Southeast Asia countries. It also focuses on creating positive impacts on the environment and community by implementing Hilton Effect.

The Hilton Effect Foundation is the company's primary international philanthropic arm. It funds projects around the world led by their teams and nonprofit partners that are having a positive impact on our communities.

Hilton Effect Grants are awarded annually to nonprofits that are improving travel destinations, creating economic opportunities, and helping us cut our environmental footprint in half and double our social impact investment.

A vocational center in Myanmar was built in 2015 as part of the Hilton Effect. The center teaches students various subjects from making soups to creating firewood from coffee.