19 Myanmar Hotel Industry Statistics and Trends

For many years, Myanmar hosted 250,000 tourists arriving through Yangon airport annually. Since 2013, there have been 4 land-border crossings added for access to the country, making it even easier for tourists to start exploring. Although tourism increases of 50% have occurred in recent years, the number of arrivals began to level off in 2017.

In 2008, there were 200,000 arrivals and 40,000 hotel rooms hosted by the Myanmar hotel industry. In 2017, there were 1.3 million arrivals handled by the industry, with about 70,000 hotel rooms available.

More than 2 million people who come to explore Myanmar come through the newly-opened land borders. 39% of tourists still arrive by air. There is no data available to determine which group of tourists stays longer in the hotels found in the country.

Interesting Myanmar Hotel Industry Statistics

#1. There are more than 7,800 licensed tour guides which work with the Myanmar hotel industry to support tourism activities. 3,400 of them are classified as regional guides. There are over 2,800 English-speaking guides as well. (Ministry of Hotels and Tourism)

#2. After English, the most common languages that licensed tour guides in Myanmar speak are Japanese (342), French (295, German (271), and Thai (206). (Ministry of Hotels and Tourism)

#3. There are 2,500 locally licensed tour companies that work with the hotel and tourism industry in Myanmar. From these companies, there are 360 coaches and 240 vans available for tourists to use. (Ministry of Hotels and Tourism)

#4. 40% of the travelers who book rooms with the Myanmar hotel industry are staying in the country because of a tourist visa. Another 42% of the rooms that are booked are for business travelers. (Ministry of Hotels and Tourism)

#5. 60% of the people who stay in Myanmar for at least one overnight are between the ages of 21-50. Another 35% of visitors are over the age of 51. (Ministry of Hotels and Tourism)

#6. Almost 70% of the visitors who take advantage of what the Myanmar hotel industry provides are from Asia, with Thailand (20%) comprising the largest tourism nationality segment. Americans make up just 5% of the visitors who travel to the country during the year. (Ministry of Hotels and Tourism)

#7. The services sector in Myanmar accounts for 38% of the GDP each year. Through 2026, the growth of this industry expected to average 7.8% annually. (HVS)

#8. There are 11 domestic airlines and 28 international airlines which service Yangon International Airport, with total arrivals reaching 1.3 million people in 2015. (HVS)

#9. Tourism expenditures in Myanmar, for 2015, reached a total of $2.1 billion. For the 6-year period that ended in 2015, total revenue growth within the tourism sector reached 42%. (HVS)

#10. The average tourist who is visiting Myanmar will spend $171 per day. In 2010, visitors were spending $102 per day during their stay. The length of time a visitor stays in Myanmar has also increased from 7 days to 9 days over that time period. (HVS)

#11. Myanmar has one of the highest daily visitor costs in all of Southeast Asia. Tourists spend $126 per day when they visit Vietnam, $140 per day when visiting Thailand, and $154 per day when they visit Indonesia. (HVS)

#12. In 2015, the number of new hotel rooms which featured foreign direct investment declined by about 5%, even though the growth rate of FDI for the hotel industry in Myanmar grew by 5%. (Ministry of Hotels and Tourism)

#13. As of 2015, there were 1,279 registered hotels in Myanmar that offered rooms for travelers to use. Yangon carried the largest inventory of hotel rooms for the industry, accounting for 30% of total availability. Mandalay provides 13% of the available hotel rooms, with Nay Pyi Taw offering another 11%. (HVS)

#14. The Yangon market offers an annual average occupancy rate which tops out at 50%, with the annual average daily rate of a room being $120 or less. Only Bagan has a higher occupancy rate in Myanmar (55%), while Ngapali has the highest average daily rate for a hotel room in the country ($160). (HVS)

#15. Travel and tourism within Myanmar generate more than 800,000 direct employment opportunities in 2016. That accounted for 2.7% of total employment. (World Travel and Tourism Council [WTTC])

#16. 60% of the funds that are contributed to Myanmar’s travel and tourism industry come from leisure spending, far outperforming business spending despite the fact that there are more business travelers. (WTTC)

#17. With $4.6 billion in total contribution to the GDP in 2016, Myanmar’s travel and tourism industry ranked 86th in the world in terms of total value. In comparison, Thailand saw $82.5 billion in contributions, which ranked them 15th in the world. (WTTC)

#18. In 2017, with 3.5% GDP growth within the travel and tourism sector, Myanmar dropped to 128th in the world rankings in terms of total contribution. (WTTC)

#19. The 8.8% growth in travel and tourism investments which occurred in Mynamar ranked it the 11th largest investment market for the industry. (WTTC)

Myanmar Hotel Industry Trends and Analysis

Since 2010, the Myanmar hotel industry has seen explosive levels of growth. Although 2017 saw this growth begin to level out, in fewer than 10 years, the industry has tripled the number of rooms that are available.

At the same time, visitors are staying longer when they visit Myanmar and spending more money during their time in the country. This data suggests that the hotel industry in Myanmar is on the verge of experiencing another surge in growth.

There are some negative factors which should also be evaluated. It costs more to stay in Myanmar than in other Southeast Asia locations. For the cost-conscious consumer, seeing the country once may be enough. That may cause more short-term travelers to use the land-border crossings instead, which may increase room availability and put pressure on industry pricing.

Political concerns may weigh heavily on some visitors outside of the region as well, which could limit future tourism traffic.

Over $2.5 billion in foreign investment was received by the Myanmar hotel industry in 2015. Growth through 2026 is expected, with some years featuring double-digit percentages. Even with the uncertainty present, this industry has not yet peaked in terms of success.