Tourism jobs to double by 2020, predicts official

Myanmar’s rapidly expanding tourism sector is expected to create job opportunities for more than 2 million workers by 2020, a Ministry of Hotels and Tourism official said last week, state media reported.

U Htein Aung Naing, director of the Hotels and Tourism Department in Taunggyi, said Myanmar Tourism Federation figures showed that more than 1 million people were employed in the tourism industry, directly or indirectly, the Global New Light of Myanmar reported on June 12.

The report said up to 4.5 million tourists had visited Myanmar last year and the department had set a target of 7 million arrivals by 2020.

The expansion of the industry had resulted in many hotels being built and more travel agencies opening during the last tourism season, it said.

The businesses creating job opportunities included airlines, restaurants, souvenir and gift shops and transportation companies.

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