Burma will build 19 hotels in Naypyitaw, the capital, in anticipation of the upcoming 27th Southeast Asian Games set for the end of 2013, local media reported.
|A hotel room with a view of Ngapali beach in Burma. Photo: Mizzima|
Burmese authorities have negotiated with hoteliers to meet customer demands in the service sector, the story said.
The SEA games will be held in Naypyitaw, Rangoon, Mandalay and Ngwesaung Beach for 12 days from Dec. 11-22.
An estimated 5,000 athletes from 11 countries will compete including Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor Leste, Vietnam and Burma.
Several millions of people across the region and the world are expected to witness the games either on site or through television or the Internet.
The SEA Games, held once every two years since 1959, is the premier sports competition in Asia.
Burma hosted the games in 1961 and 1969. Burma placed first with 104 medals in the 1961 and first with 149 medals in 1969.
On July 30, Mizzima reported that Vietnam and France are set to become major hotel investors in Rangoon, as investors eye the burgeoning Burmese tourist industry. Indian companies are also looking at hotel investments, officials said.
The demand for hotel rooms has risen as the number of tourists and business arrivals have increased rapidly.
Among them, HAG & Land from Vietnam is expected to invest US$ 300 million in the hotel sector, Weekly Eleven reported. Oberoi Hotels & Resorts from India has also expressed interest.
Htay Aung, the deputy minister of hotels and tourism, said that Accor Group, the market leader in Europe, is also interested in making investments in the hotel industry. Accor, a French hotel group founded in 1967, operates in 92 countries.
The Bangkok Post quoted Htay Aung saying the Shangri-La Group will build a 240-room hotel.
Burma has 731 licensed hotels with 25,002 rooms, according to the latest government figures.