• Burmese
Friday, June 13, 2025
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Irrawaddy
31 °c
Yangon
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
No Result
View All Result
The Irrawaddy
No Result
View All Result
Home Business

Entrepreneurs Cash in on Jungles, Balloons, Tents and Grapes

William Boot by William Boot
February 13, 2013
in Uncategorized
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0 0
A A
Entrepreneurs Cash in on Jungles

Balloons drift over the ruins of an ancient temple in Bagan. (Photo: The Irrawaddy)

5.7k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Wine making, a tent hotel to beat room shortages, luxury-priced jungle trekking and exotic hot air balloon tours: Burma’s economic revival is spawning some unusual businesses by entrepreneurs willing to tread where no-one has gone before.

The unusual businesses are mostly related to tourism—one area of the emerging economy that is booming while infrastructure development and heavy industry remain debating issues rather than works in progress.

Foreign tourists are flocking into Burma, which had about 1 million visitors in 2012, according to Minister of Hotels and Tourism Htay Aung, with arrivals at Rangoon’s international airport up 50 percent over 2011.

RelatedPosts

March Quake to Drive 2.5% Drop in Myanmar GDP, Says World Bank

March Quake to Drive 2.5% Drop in Myanmar GDP, Says World Bank

June 13, 2025
10
Air India Flight Crashes in Ahmedabad with 242 Aboard

Air India Flight Crashes in Ahmedabad with 242 Aboard

June 12, 2025
73
Myanmar Junta Advances into Karenni State

Myanmar Junta Advances into Karenni State

June 12, 2025
821

They face a serious accommodation shortage, but some of them seem willing to part with large sums of money for sweaty adventures.

British holiday firm Explore is offering hikes up Mount Kyaiktiyo in Mon State as part of a US $5,320 rugged but luxury-priced 14-day trekking holiday. Kyaiktiyo, a 1,000-meter climb, is home to the Golden Rock, a revered Buddhist shrine.

“Burma has only recently opened up to visitors and after decades of relative isolation the way of life remains largely untouched by modern times,” says Explore in its promotional guide. “On this adventurous introduction to Burma we trek through remote lands and also spend time in the principal highlights of the country. We trek to remote hill tribes of the Shan state.”

In Bagan, well-heeled tourists will soon be able to stay in a luxury tent hotel designed to overcome Burma’s debilitating accommodation shortage. And visitors to the ancient city can get a bird’s eye view—for a price—of all the scattered temples by drifting serenely overhead, carried by hot air balloons.

The Apple Tree Group, headquartered in Vietnam, is offering luxury air-conditioned tents in a new complex near the banks of the Irrawaddy River to open in April. Tent-room prices have yet to be announced.

“Bagan is the hottest travel destination in Southeast Asia,” Apple Tree general manager Kurt Walter said in a statement announcing the tent hotel plan.  “Myanmar [Burma] is on every traveler’s radar screen, and Bagan is going to emerge as the hottest attraction in the country.”

Another company, Balloons over Bagan, owned by Shwe Lay Ta Gun Travels and Tours of Rangoon, is charging $360 per person for 45-minute air balloon rides over the ancient temple-festooned landscape.

But that’s only a taster. The firm, which gets its balloons from a British manufacturer, is offering six-day air tours across Burma later this year—at $8,000 per person.

If some of these business activities and prices seem a bit bizarre in a country only just emerging from 50 years of isolation, where most of the population live in poverty and have no access to mainstream electricity, perhaps the more eccentric entrepreneurs are the Frenchman and the German who are cultivating grape vines in the tropical hills of Shan State.

Surrounded by tropical forest and in a region of the country where political and ethnic instability is not unknown, the hills have become home to not one but two vineyards producing wines which might one day be exported.

Red Mountain Estate is overseen by Frenchman Francois Raynal and Myanmar Vineyard is run by Bert Morsbach from Germany.

Both are striving to produce a range of white and red wines from vines imported from Spain and Italy and planted in misty 1,000-meter high hills. It seems to be working.

“There appears to be every reason that quality mid-level wines can and are being produced in sub-tropical climates including Myanmar,” wine writer and industry commentator Jim Mullen in Bangkok told The Irrawaddy on Feb. 11.

Mullen has yet to taste wines from the Red Mountain vineyard estate but said a recent new tasting by him of the products from the rival Myanmar Vineyard at Aythaya “showed substantial improvement in both reds and whites with a Sauvignon blanc showing all the typical qualities of that grape.”

“Comparisons will be made to Thai wines which have, at least with some wineries, made remarkable progress during their relatively short ten or so year existence.

“Whites from most Thai wineries, generally from Chenin blanc, have always been quite well made but suffer, as do all Thai wines, from ridiculously high taxes making them substantially more expensive than most imports,” said Mullen. “One must hope the government [in Burma] chooses a wiser approach to taxation than has occurred in Thailand.”

The Burmese-nurtured wines might one day chase an export market, but in the meantime the two vintners say they are selling well inside the country to hotels and restaurants.

Red Mountain Estate said it produced over 100,000 bottles in 2012, fetching around $11 apiece—a bargain compared with a 45-minute balloon ride over Bagan.

Your Thoughts …
William Boot

William Boot

Similar Picks:

Exodus: Tens of Thousands Flee as Myanmar Junta Troops Face Last Stand in Kokang
Burma

Exodus: Tens of Thousands Flee as Myanmar Junta Troops Face Last Stand in Kokang

by Hein Htoo Zan
November 28, 2023
98.3k

Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army troops are opening roads and pathways through forests for people to flee Kokang’s capital as...

Read moreDetails
Burning Alive in Myanmar: Two Resistance Fighters Executed in Public
Burma

Burning Alive in Myanmar: Two Resistance Fighters Executed in Public

by The Irrawaddy
February 7, 2024
89.2k

People’s Defense Force says junta troops told every household in the village to send one member to witness the double...

Read moreDetails
Another Entire Junta Battalion Raises the White Flag in Myanmar’s Northern Shan State
War Against the Junta

Another Entire Junta Battalion Raises the White Flag in Myanmar’s Northern Shan State

by The Irrawaddy
November 29, 2023
87k

Brotherhood Alliance member says it now has complete control of Kokang’s northernmost section after the junta’s Light Infantry Battalion 125...

Read moreDetails
Depleted Myanmar Military Urges Deserters to Return to Barracks
Burma

Depleted Myanmar Military Urges Deserters to Return to Barracks

by The Irrawaddy
December 4, 2023
59k

The junta said deserters would not be punished for minor crimes, highlighting the military’s shortage of troops as resistance offensives...

Read moreDetails
As Myanmar’s Military Stumbles, a Top General’s Dissapearance Fuels Intrigue
Burma

As Myanmar’s Military Stumbles, a Top General’s Dissapearance Fuels Intrigue

by The Irrawaddy
April 19, 2024
46.8k

The junta’s No. 2 has not been seen in public since April 3, sparking rumors that he was either gravely...

Read moreDetails
Enter the Dragon, Exit the Junta: Myanmar’s Brotherhood Alliance makes Chinese New Year Vow
Burma

Enter the Dragon, Exit the Junta: Myanmar’s Brotherhood Alliance makes Chinese New Year Vow

by The Irrawaddy
February 12, 2024
44.6k

Ethnic armed grouping says it will continue Operation 1027 offensive until goal of ousting the junta is achieved. 

Read moreDetails
Load More
Next Post
US Says to Take Lead to Contain North Korea

US Says to Take Lead to Contain North Korea

Woman Dies of Bird Flu in China

No Result
View All Result

Recommended

The Hidden Fallout From China’s Cross-Border Crime Crackdown in Myanmar

The Hidden Fallout From China’s Cross-Border Crime Crackdown in Myanmar

4 days ago
1.4k
How the Myanmar Military’s Propaganda Efforts Have Evolved Over the Decades

How the Myanmar Military’s Propaganda Efforts Have Evolved Over the Decades

2 days ago
877

Most Read

  • Civilians in Need as Arakan Army Advances on Kyaukphyu

    Civilians in Need as Arakan Army Advances on Kyaukphyu

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar Junta Advances into Karenni State

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar Junta Reinforces Kyaukphyu as AA Nears China-Backed SEZ Hub

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar Jade Hub Burns as Junta Counteroffensive Penetrates Hpakant

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • China Defends Myanmar Junta on Human Rights at UN

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Newsletter

Get The Irrawaddy’s latest news, analyses and opinion pieces on Myanmar in your inbox.

Subscribe here for daily updates.

Contents

  • News
  • Politics
  • War Against the Junta
  • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
  • Conflicts In Numbers
  • Junta Crony
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Asia
  • World
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Election 2020
  • Elections in History
  • Cartoons
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Commentary
  • Guest Column
  • Analysis
  • Letters
  • In Person
  • Interview
  • Profile
  • Dateline
  • Specials
  • Myanmar Diary
  • Women & Gender
  • Places in History
  • On This Day
  • From the Archive
  • Myanmar & COVID-19
  • Intelligence
  • Myanmar-China Watch
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Fashion & Design
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Photo Essay
  • Donation

About The Irrawaddy

Founded in 1993 by a group of Myanmar journalists living in exile in Thailand, The Irrawaddy is a leading source of reliable news, information, and analysis on Burma/Myanmar and the Southeast Asian region. From its inception, The Irrawaddy has been an independent news media group, unaffiliated with any political party, organization or government. We believe that media must be free and independent and we strive to preserve press freedom.

  • Copyright
  • Code of Ethics
  • Privacy Policy
  • Team
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Burmese

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Business
    • Economy
    • Business Roundup
  • Books
  • Donation

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.