Myanmar is looking to capitalise on a recent tourism rebound and stimulate more investment in the sector, following efforts to improve access to credit for smaller operators.
On May 6 the first branch of the Myanma Tourism Bank (MTB) opened in Yangon. This is the country’s first bank dedicated to supporting the tourism and hospitality sector.
Backed by the Myanmar Tourism Federation, the bank has an initial capitalisation of MMK22bn ($14.5m), with funding provided by the lender’s 26 shareholders, all of which are from the local tourism industry.
The MTB is focused on providing low-cost, long-term loans to the sector, particularly to the small- to medium-scale segment, and will offer most of the services provided by commercial banks.
The Yangon branch is the first of at least five, with sites planned to open later this year in Naypyidaw, Mandalay, Muse and Myawaddy.
The dedicated sector bank was one of five specialised lenders to be given licences last year to provide services to specific industries, with others focusing on the agriculture and minerals sectors.
These developments form part of a broader policy drive to ease access to credit for smaller companies throughout the economy. To take a further example, in February the Central Bank of Myanmar altered its collateral restrictions in a move designed to stimulate investment by smaller operators.
See also: The Report – Myanmar 2019
The launch of the MTB and the easing of collateral requirements come at a time when Myanmar’s tourism and hospitality sector is being outpaced by other industries in terms of attracting foreign investment.
Between the beginning of FY 2018/19 and early May, the hotel and tourism sector attracted $60m of a total of $2.5bn in foreign direct investment (FDI), according to the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration.
The leading recipient was the transport and communications sector, which picked up $1.6bn over the period, followed by industry, services and power.
Though there were further investment commitments announced later in May – including a $63m venture between Myanmar’s KMA Hotel Group and Thailand’s Centara Hotels and Resorts to develop a hotel chain – the slow pace of FDI flows to the tourism sector may reflect market concerns over Myanmar’s visitor appeal amid ongoing internal unrest.
Recently released data from the Oxford Business Group Business Barometer: Myanmar CEO Survey suggests this trend is not limited to tourism: some 70% of executives surveyed said FDI flows to their respective sectors were being impacted by the international community’s perceptions of Myanmar’s internal affairs.
While investment has been sluggish in recent years, new data suggests the sector is experiencing a rebound in arrivals amid shifting demographics.
Arrivals in the first five months of the year totalled 2.4m, up 29.3% year-on-year (y-o-y), according to the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism. This puts the country on track for its strongest year since 2015, when it hosted 4.6m visitors, and well above the 2.9m, 3.4m and 3.6m it welcomed in 2016, 2017 and 2018, respectively.
There have also been some interesting market trends, with the number of visitors entering via land border posts rising by 149.6% y-o-y over the period, reflecting an increase in flows from neighbouring markets.
Traffic from China was up 132.5% to more than 778,000 arrivals, and strong growth was also recorded in visitors from South Korea (86.2%) and Japan (23.1%).
These increases have helped offset a fall in traffic from more traditional source markets, with double-digit declines from a number of European countries, as well as a drop in arrivals from the US, Canada and the rest of the Americas.
Stay updated on how some of the world’s most promising markets are being affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, and what actions governments and private businesses are taking to mitigate challenges and ensure their long-term growth story continues.
Register now and also receive a complimentary 2-month licence to the OBG Research Terminal.
Register Here×A new foreign investment law that offers investors broader access to Myanmar’s economy, as well as useful tax breaks, is expected to add new impetus to the country’s development and is a landmark...
Un nouvel organisme gouvernemental chargé de la gestion du tourisme, qui devrait démarrer ses activités ce mois-ci, regroupera sous un même toit plusieurs activités du secteur touristique tunisien...
The Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit has spent the last week in the US hoping to garner support for economic reforms at home and trade concessions for Turkish exports to the US.
