CNI News
19 Sept 2022
Although the hotels and tourism sector of Myanmar is trying to attract Russian tourists, hotels and restaurants in the country are not ready to serve Russian cuisines, according to entrepreneurs.
As only a few Russian tourists visited the country, Russian food is almost unavailable in Myanmar and it is still necessary to conduct courses on Russian cuisines. However, the hospitality industry in Myanmar is struggling for survival so hard that it cannot take up another task, Chairman U Zaw Wate of the Myanmar Hoteliers Association (Bagan Zone) told the CNI.
He said, “First, we will have to discuss the issue with restaurant associations and master chefs because they know Russian cuisines and tastes. It is a good idea to conduct Russian food preparation courses. However, I don’t think they will be able to do this. Businessmen in Myanmar are farsighted. If they see potential, they try very hard. However, they can’t do anything at present. They couldn’t do anything for the past three years. They are struggling very hard to survive.”
The Azura Beach Resort. (Justice for Myanmar)
There are restaurants serving Thai, Chinese, Japanese, Indian and European foods in Myanmar but Russian cuisines are almost unavailable.
As a majority of restaurants rely mainly on domestic consumers, they are not interested in Russian food, Chairman U Nay Lin of Yangon Restaurants Association told the CNI.
He said, “We have nothing to do with the matter. At present, we are still struggling to survive with local customers. So, we are not interested in the plan. When Russian tourists come to us, we will take it into consideration.”
Russian cuisine.
Entrepreneurs said they would conduct courses on preparing Russian cuisines and catering service but it would take some time if Russian tourists came to Myanmar en messe.
Necessary preparations would be made to provide satisfactory services to Russian tourists, Chairman U Zaw Wate of Bagan Hotel Zone told the CNI.
Scenic view of Bagan.
He said, “We understand how to provide services to tourists from other countries like Korea but we don’t know much about the Russian market because only one or two of them visited our country in the past. We will have to hire Russian chefs and conduct courses on Russian cuisines. Hotels and restaurants are eager to serve Russian tourists. When direct flights have been launched and Russian tourists visit our county, we will try as much as we can to provide services for them.”
The SAC is trying to promote Russia-Myanmar economic as well as tourism cooperation while negotiations are underway to launch direct flights between the two countries.
Russian language courses are being conducted for the tourism sector.
