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HOTEL INDUSTRY IN BURMA Facing a whisper of a Chance for Survival
Hotel Industry in Burma
Facing a whisper of a Chance for Survival
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By KJ
As the world knows, the deep impact of covid-19 on the hotel industry all over the world was a harsh reality. Myanmar/(Burma) had to face it too, and the industry was paralysed for many months. Some hotel staff became unemployed. Some became street vendors, carpenters, and casual hard labourers. And most hotel businesses continued to bleed red ink, with losses both financial and human resources, right from the beginning in March 2020.
Nearly a year after that, the February coup took place in Burma. The major political situation pushed the hotel industry into the dark and it is now at death’s door. The market for hotels is nothing but a nightmare for hoteliers or hotel management in the country. A new law for guests has been applied by the junta. The privacy for the people who stay at a hotel could be broken at anytime whenever the junta wants, especially for foreigners but not Russian and Chinese guests. The citizens of Burma, most of them, oppose the junta and as such have become the targeted people and/or the suspects for the current revolution.
The country is in chaos and the related sectors like hotels are disorganised and in the dark. The Burmese hotel industry which is being crippled by covid-19 has completely broken down with zero chance for survival. According to the statistics of the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism, in 2019 by there were 1,984 hotels in Burma. Now they are facing the ghost of a future and will not survive with the current situation in the country. The banking sector is currently losing people’s trust, and a lot of cash withdrawals are taking place across the country, but with limits. It is ridiculously hard to use your credit or debit card when you travel, only cash is the preferred payment accepted by everyone and everywhere. Some hotel suppliers do not accept a bank remittance for business deals, only cash. The petrol price is going up like a rocket which will not easily go down again.
A new minister of the Hotels and Tourism Ministry was appointed by junta, however most of hoteliers do not think he is reliable for the industry; he is not the fixer but only the controller. The majority of the members of the hotel association do not have willingness to meet him or attend any meeting called by him.
