YANGON
- The hotels are full or eye-wateringly
expensive, creased dollar bills are worthless and credit cards are widely
refused - welcome to Myanmar, Asia's next big tourist destination.
The
Southeast Asian nation, once shielded from international eyes by a brutal
military junta and a travel boycott supported by democracy icon Aung San Suu
Kyi, has become a must-see for many travellers.
"Because
the country has been so isolated, the deeply Buddhist 'Land of the Golden
Pagoda' resonates with a strong sense of place, undiluted by mass tourism and
warmed by genuine hospitality," the New York Times said in January,
ranking the country third on its list of the top 45 destinations of 2012.
But the
influx of tourists is posing a challenge to the burgeoning travel industry in a
country where a string of political reforms has not been matched by
infrastructure development.
The few
hotels in Yangon offering international standards of business accommodation
have begun to charge up to several hundred dollars a night for rooms that were
half the price, if not less, a year ago.
Even
hoteliers admit that the situation is unsustainable.
"To
be really honest at this point I don't think that Myanmar is ready yet to cope
with the high demand of mass tourism," said Thomas Moons, front office
manager at the colonial-style Governor's Residence hotel in Yangon.
"At
the moment in terms of availability and accommodation that we're able to offer,
it's just not enough to cope with demand," he told AFP.
"People
might think that if they come to Myanmar they will have a cheap holiday when
it's completely the opposite."
While
few doubt Myanmar's attraction to tourists, some people returning to the
country say they enjoyed it more before the hordes arrived.
Klaus,
a 61-year-old German travelling with his wife in the remote western town of
Sittwe, said they were "disappointed" by their third trip to Myanmar.
"There
are too many people this time, even though it is April (the peak of hot
season)," he told AFP.
"People
in hotels used to be so nice - smiling and taking care of us - but they don't
have time anymore... And hotel prices have gone through the roof."
International
arrivals have rocketed, with almost 365,000 foreigners jetting into the main
city Yangon in 2011, up 22 per cent on the previous year and almost double the
figure for 2003, industry figures show.
This year
is likely to see another jump, with more than 175,000 arrivals between January
and April, against almost 130,000 in the same period of 2011.
According
to the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism, there are only around 8,000 hotels rooms
in the city.
At Yangon's
famed golden Shwedagon Pagoda, the slow, circular promenade around the majestic
golden spire was until recently mainly the preserve of local couples, children
and burgundy-robed monks.
But
recently foreigners have at times appeared to out-number locals, their cameras
seemingly searching for the rare frame not to include a posse of other
visitors.
Phyoe
Wai Yar Zar, of the Myanmar Tourism Board, said the tourism influx had also
caused "unprecedented congestion" at hotels, especially in Yangon,
which have begun inflating their prices in response.
"Potential
holiday makers may opt for other destinations in the region," he added.
Westerners
used to the relative ease of travelling in other Southeast Asian countries,
like neighbouring Thailand, are also being caught out by other symptoms of
Myanmar's long years of isolation under military rule.
There
are almost no places where credit and debit cards or travellers' cheques are
accepted so visitors must bring all the money they need for their trip with
them in US dollar bills.
While
recent reforms mean there are more official moneychangers competing with the
black market, the dollar bills must be crisp and clean or they will be
rejected.
"Candidly
speaking, there have been some tourists who arrived in Myanmar with
insufficient information and did not bring enough cash for their stay,"
said Phyoe Wai Yar Zar.
But he
stressed that travel agents were often able to help.
"It
is the nature of Myanmar people to give assistance to the people in
trouble."
The
government is scrambling to improve the country's tourism infrastructure, with
efforts to build new hotels and upgrade transport links at major tourist
destinations.
Travel
is currently centred on four main sites connected by internal flights - Yangon,
Inle Lake in eastern Shan State, the temples of Bagan and the royal capital
Mandalay.
"A
lot of the tourist money is concentrated into certain parts of the
country," said Andrew Appleyard at British adventure tour operator Exodus
Travels, which returned to the country last year after a decade-long hiatus.
Appleyard
said the company, which advocates responsible travel, plans to take up to 400
people into the country annually but said there was an awareness that all
operators were facing the problem of "making money out of an emerging
country that can't cope".
"We
will continue to operate there and look at best practice but clients'
expectations are going to have to be managed, if they go there," he said.
"Service
is slow, things don't always work and you are going to have to share places
like Shwedagon with hundreds of tourists."
AFP
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