CNI News

11 September 2023

The tourism season of Myanmar will start on 1st October, 2023 and as many skillful workers have gone abroad, a shortage of professional tour guides is a challenge for the tourism industry, according to tourism operators.

A shortage of skilled staff can be replenished with new workers after they are provided training courses by remaining skilled staff. But, the scarcity of tour guides and interpreter guides like this is challenging the future tourism industry, said U Zaw Weik, chairman of the Myanmar Hotelier Association (Bagan Zone), to CNI News.

" Many staff from our tourism industry have gone abroad. If tourists come again, we need to provide training courses to new staff. Key professional staff, guides, managers and receptionists resigned. This is a challenge for the tourism industry. If the tourism industry regularly operates again, many more new staff must be trained with skilled staff. We did so in the past as well. It is not a big challenge. But we find it a bit difficult to get professional tour guides such as ones who can speak French, German and Italian because many of them also have gone abroad. And we lost many guides during the Covid-19 pandemic. And many guides have grown very old. These are challenges for the future of the tourism industry. But we have to try to get over them." said U Zaw Weik.

Some foreign tourists who come to Bagan

Not every hotel can be open at present, travel operators and hoteliers tend to employ staff depending on the number of tourists who enter. The current number of staff could provide service to the number of tourists who will enter, U Aung Aye Han, deputy director general of the Ministry of Hotel and Tourism, told CNI News.

" Many staff have gone abroad.  Some staff were left here. There is no hundred percent employment at hotels. Maybe there are 60 or 70 percent that are convenient to operate. So, a shortage of labor force is not a problem up to now. Hotels have made preparations. Hotels have minimum requirements. They have employed staff that are needed minimum. So, if they need any more staff, they will need a few staff. Tourists might enter anymore. Hotels can provide service properly." said U Aung Aye Han.

As Chinese and Indian tourists have been granted visas on arrival and there are direct flights between Myanmar and Russia, more tourists might enter Myanmar. 

So, some tourism industries are making preparations and the owners of the hotels that have been closed are reportedly preparing to re-open.

 However, some tourism industries are finding it difficult to re-open due to a shortage of skilled workers and instabilities reportedly.