YANGON, 5 July 2019: Myanmar’s tourism leaders are reaching out to the US travel market by cementing closer ties with the powerful American Society of Travel Advisors.
Myanmar Tourism Marketing the official channel for promoting tourism in overseas markets signed a Memorandum of Understanding with ASTA in Yangon last week.
Over 150 people from the tourism industry attended the event organised clearly to show Myanmar is prioritising efforts on the US outbound travel market.
ASTA opened its newest chapter in Myanmar in early February to create two-way communications and launch a variety of projects in Myanmar that will result in US travel advisors gaining more information and knowledge to sell the destination to their clients.
ASTA’s vice president of international membership and expansion, Bob Duglin, emphasised the high spend of US travellers during the MOU ceremony.
“Most countries recognise Americans spend more per trip than others, so everyone wants visitors from the US,” he said at the MOU signing event.
“This is a remarkable event for ASTA Myanmar Chapter as we have signed MoU with Myanmar Tourism Federation (MTF) and Myanmar Tourism Marketing (MTM) for the purpose of the cooperation to the development of tourism sector between the two countries,” said ASTA Myanmar chapter president Kyaw Pyone.
The chapter has almost 150 members and it’s the largest ASTA international chapter.
Positioning the country as the “last frontier of Southeast Asia,” Myanmar presents immense potential for US travellers.
“We continue to promote Myanmar to more travellers from around the world and build awareness about the unique Myanmar culture, nature and most of all the hospitality of the people,” said Myanmar Tourism Marketing chairperson, May Myat Mon Win.
Myanmar Tourism Marketing has been promoting the industry through road shows, trade shows and media FAM trip for journalists as well as TV producers and digital marketing influencers from different countries.
Visa-free and visa-on arrival-entry for some nationals would also encourage more growth, as there appears to be strong demand for travel to Myanmar in 2019. Myanmar Tourism Marketing is part of the Myanmar Tourism Federation and is mainly privately funded by key members of the tourism industry in Myanmar. The MTM team works closely with international media to gain more cover and awareness for the country.