Business Day: Diethelm Travel Expan

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Subject: Business Day: Diethelm Travel Expands  Myanmar Operations

Diethelm Travel Expands Myanmar Operations
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Business Day, Bangkok, 22 January 1996 
(URL:  http://www.loxinfo.co.th/~bday)

Diethelm Travel, Myanmar has announced the opening of two new branch
offices in important
up-country tourism centers, Mandalay and Bagan. Establishing a local
presence in these two
key destinations has been given top priority in view of the problems of
poor communication
and limited tourist facilities, especially accommodation, which have
faced all operators as the
volume of visitors to these attractions has grown over recent years.

Diethelm has also confirmed the present growth trend in tourism to
Myanmar and has revised
estimates of its total sales for the current high season. Targets for
the company's FIT and
group tour business from October 1995 to March 1996 is now expected to
exceed 2,500
passengers, a 27 percent increase over last year's figures.

Marketing and sales executives of Diethelm attending recent trade
shows, such as ATM in
Singapore, Top Resa in France, WTM in London and ATF in Surabaya, have
reported a keen
interest in Myanmar from the trade, including inquiries from agents and
tour operators who
have not previously included the country in their programs.

Luzi Matzig, general manager for Diethelm Travel's regional
headquarters in Bangkok
commented: "We are convinced that current developments in tourism
infrastructure,
especially the many new hotels and improved domestic air services
throughout the country,
will boost business prospects. Much of this development work has been
undertaken in
connection with  the promotion of inbound tourism for `Visit Myanmar
Year' which is scheduled 
for launching by October1996, in time for the peak season."

He continued: "Myanmar must still be considered an `adventure'
destination, but the time is
coming when no tour operator can claim to be covering Asia without
including this country in 
their programs. As the trend towards higher volume tourism grows there
will also be
considerable opportunity for niche markets and specialized activities,
such as trekking, for
which new areas will be opened up."

"The greatest impact on sales growth will occur when Myanmar moves to
develop its superb
beach holiday potential, which will widen the range of attractions on
offer and increase, the
average length of stay". 
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