CNI News
6 Jan 2023
A large number of travellers visited Bagan and all rooms were occupied during the New Year holiday, hotels in Bagan suffered losses due to blackouts, according to hoteliers there.
Chairman U Zaw Weik of Bagan Hoteliers Association told the CNI that hoteliers suffered losses during the new year holiday although all hotel rooms were occupied during the holiday because of prolonged blackouts.
He said, "As all hotel rooms were full, a large number of travellers visited Bagan. Guests usually turn up at hotels for two or three days during new year holidays and do not come back until the next holiday season. All our hotel rooms were full but electricity supply to hotels was turned off for a long time. Everyone suffered losses as diesel prices skyrocketed. We still don't know what will happen to the industry this year. The industry has been suffering losses for about three years. So, a lot of hotel owners are selling out their hotels.
Electricity supply to Bagan is not regular and turned off randomly. Electricity is unavailable from 5 to 8 hours every day, according to hoteliers there.
Pilgrims in the precinct of the Shwe Zegon pagoda.
Currently, the hotel industry in Bagan is struggling for its survival, most hoteliers are trying to sell out their hotels, according to U Zaw Weik.
Despite rising general commodity prices, it is inconvenient for hotels to raise their services fees as guests stay at hotels only during holidays and very few guests visite during off-seasons. The hotel industry has become an unviable business, according to U Zaw Weik.
He told the CNI, "The hotel industry is different from other businesses. All other businesses have raised their prices. Automobile and food prices have almost doubled but we have to lower room charges significantly. We can charge only MMK 30,000 for a room we previously received MMK 50,000. Everything we need to buy for our hotels including tissue paper has skyrocketed. And we have to operate generators. Frankly speaking, the hotel business is not viable at the moment."
Pilgrims in Bagan.
About 70 percent of hotels in Bagan were full of guests during the new year holiday and about 150,000 guests visited Bagan during the holiday, an official from the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism (Bagan Branch) told the CNI.
He said,"About 150,000 guests visited pagodas in Bagan. On 31 December, about 15,000 pilgrims visited teh Shwe Zegon Pagoda. We collected statistics for pilgrims to pagodas. Data about pilgrims are not the same as occupancy rates. Hotel occupancy rates are much lower than the number of pilgrims."
Out of more than 100 hotels in Bagan, only about 70 hotels are in operation due to low occupancy rates and prolonged blackouts and hotels which are in operation are struggling for their survival, according to hoteliers.
