Mya Nan San Kyaw Golden Palace, one of the tourists attractions in Mandalay. Photo: Nyi Zaw Moe
Admission fees for foreigners visiting cultural heritage sites in Mandalay may impact hotel businesses, according to a report in Myawady Daily yesterday.
Mandalay region government has planned to increase the admission fees to Ks30,000 for foreigners, according to Shan Ethnic Affairs Minister U Sai Kyaw Zaw.
“Currently, the admission fees for the cultural zone are Ks 10,000 in Mandalay and Ks 20,000 in Bagan. In 2015, the hotel businesses received only a few visitors. If the admission fees are increased, their hotel businesses will be affected,” said U Myint Aung, the chairman of Mandalay Hotel Zone.
In 2015, there were only 170 hotels in Mandalay. The number of hotels has increased to 187 hotels with over 1,200 rooms last year. The number of hotels is more than a match for the number of visitors. Therefore, some of the hotels were shut down.
Although the hotels are selling their rooms with a discount, the hotels are not fully occupied. Some of hotel operators have rented their hotels for Ks60 million per month and some businessmen have sold out their hotels. —GNLM