Myanmar to Host First Tour for ASEAN Travel Bloggers, Writers
By Lwin Mar Htun 2 February 2018
YANGON — The Myanmar Travel Bloggers Club will host media and bloggers from across Southeast Asia for the first “ASEAN Media Bloggers Familiarization Trip to Myanmar” starting Feb. 12.
“The main purpose of this trip is to try to promote the beauty of Myanmar as well as our traditional products,” said event organizer Ma May Zune Win, who won Myanmar Influencer of the Year 2017 in the travel category and runs the blog I Love Travelling.
She got the idea for the event after attending similar programs in other countries.
“When I went to other ASEAN countries, the host country promoted everything about themselves, bloggers could meet at the same place and share their culture, and media could write about the host country. So I decided to try to hold this kind of event in Myanmar,” she said.
Being the first event of its kind in Myanmar, Ma May Zune Win said it had been a challenge to organize.
“First I asked the marketing department of the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism, but they said they didn’t have enough of a budget. But I don’t want to give up. So I contacted the Union of Myanmar Travel Association and they also said they didn’t have the budget, but they helped by using their letterhead to invite all the media and bloggers from ASEAN.”
Then she looked for sponsors among airlines, hotels and other Myanmar businesses.
The main sponsors of the event include Shwe Pyi Nann Myanmar Thanakha, Chatrium Hotel, Sedona, Aureum Bagan, Aureum Inle and Air KBZ.
Media and bloggers will arrive in Yangon on Feb. 12 and start their tour of Myanmar the next day, returning to the commercial capital by the 18th.
“The first day we will show them around Yangon and we will have activities like riding the trishaw, eating traditional Myanmar food and going to Shwedagon Pagoda. It might be fun. Then we will leave Yangon on Feb. 14 and head up to Bagan and Inle for one week,” Ma May Zune Win said.
“We will host a thank you party on Feb. 18 and play traditional Myanmar games like Shwe Soon Nyo, Kyatpha Khoot and so on,” she added.
Media guests will include the New Straits Times from Malaysia, Spring News from Thailand, GMA TV from the Philippines, the Phnom Penh Post from Cambodia and others.
Bloggers scheduled to attend include Jatiewpainai from Thailand, Rosie on the Road from Vietnam, Deegee Razon from the Philippines and more.
Local bloggers set to join the event include Travel by Naw Htike, Nu Myat Around the World, My Khayee and THIHA.
