Tuesday, 01 May 2012 20:04

Written by Navid Iqbal

Myanmar has left its olden days. With sanctions are being lifted, the Myanmar currency ‘Kyat’ going up to 818 for one US dollar along with the recent opening to the hitherto hermetic country is showing great potential to become the next hot spot in the book of travel.

With investors flying in, local people will get an easier environment for business. Also moral reservations harbored in the minds of international visitors will soon dissipate.

Last few months, Myanmar’s name has grabbed the no.1 spot in the ‘must go now’ lists; similar to the world’s powers, all stumbled over the newly reformed nation.

The ministry of ‘Hotels and Tourism’ said that at least 391,176 tourists entered the country over last year alone. This year, a 30 percent increase to 50,000 is predicted testing Myanmar’s infrastructure.

Nevertheless, government has welcomed the boost in tourism. Tourism ministry opened up its e-visa website. Right now, the site is functioning in text format and soon to go live. The complete site will confirm electronic visa by 5 working days.

At first, the visa will be available only to a few Southeast Asia nations and later will be available to visitors from the rest of the world, said Tin Nwe Wynt, one of the marketing managers working for the ‘Myanmar Marketing Committee’.

But a disappointing fact is the scarcity of accommodation. The traveling experience can easily get ruined if one can’t get a place to sleep.

Most notable fact is that there are only 25,000 rooms for at least 500,000 visitors. It doesn’t add up. Officials fear that, tourist influx at the peak travel period covering November to March is most likely to overwhelm the country’s thin infrastructure and services.

Of all the 25,358 rooms available nationwide, 7,934 belong to the hotels and other facilities in Yangon. Popular destinations like ‘Bagan’ and ‘Nyaung Shwe township’ has 2,008 and 937 rooms respectively.

To worsen the situation cost in Myanmar has gone up by 3-4 times. Rooms pricing $80, has jumped to more than $200. Right now, traveling costs in Myanmar is more than 30%, comparing to other neighbor countries.

Service and quality is also bad. Tourists can’t get a decent room with necessary commodities after paying excessive price.

The new ‘Centrepoint Hotel’ in Yangon is set to open in 2013 and will add about 200 to 300 rooms. 4 new hotels are under construction.

Friday, 02 March 2012 18:02

Written by Navid Iqbal

After the ‘Concordia Tragedy’ in January another cruiser named ‘Costa Allegra’ from the same cruiser line has made it in the headlines as it lost power in the middle of the Indian Ocean. After passing a few traumatic days in the sea the Allegra has Port Victoria located in Seychelles.

Fortunately this time no overwhelming casualty occurred. Only two guests from Russia got injured.

The ship was carrying almost a thousand people and they safely reached the land. According to the cruiser officials, no crucial situation came up.

636 passengers were on board as well as a team of 413 crews. The majority of the passengers were from Europe. A few were from the U.S and Canada. 

The cruiser line was desperate to make a good impression. Norbert Stiekema, a high official of Costa cruiser said that the speedy recovery and the crew’s excellent handling of the situation were something to be proud of.

A few passengers described their experience as the journey of horror.

A woman named Mari-Anne Thon said that there was raging fire and pitch black smoke. She choked as she continued. She was extremely happy to be back on the land.

David Tinson considered the cruiser as a death trap that floats and feared for something worse.

Another passenger Gordon Bradwell was doubtless about the possibility of a greater catastrophe.

But they were satisfied with the crew’s grip to handle the situation with calmness and discipline.

The cruiser line offered the guests a recompense package.

The package will give the passengers opportunity to get full money back guarantee along with a paid vacation in Seychelles. Passengers not willing to stay will get free vacation with Costa cruiser in the next 24 month.

Another payment plan is also included. It was described as “indemnity” payment. It includes total cost of the cruise with other necessary spending. People taking this payment would have to give up the chance to sue the company.

Costa boss Stiekema said the offer was quite generous. Any one thinking differently can sue the company, he said.

The company claimed that 70 percent of the guests had decided to take vacation package. And other 30 percent chose to go home on flights paid by Costa.

The authority didn’t explain why the fire broke out. They also didn’t shed any light about the generator failure.

A powerful fishing boat started towing the ship to Port Victoria on Tuesday. Later the Coast Guard gave a helping hand.