Myanmar’s Future Tourism Professionals

The first Careers Cabaret: Conversations with Tourism and Hospitality Professionals was organized by Travel Massive Yangon in August at the National Management Degree College (NMDC).

This event recap was written by Yangon chapter leader Bertie Lawson.  Bertie lives in Yangon and is the Managing Director of the small tour operator Sampan Travel.

The “Career Cabaret” (held on 20 August 2018) was jointly presented by Travel Massive Yangon, the National Management Degree College (NMDC), and Lux Development.

The purpose of the event was to provide tourism students at NMDC with the opportunity to meet and speak with local Myanmar, high profile, experienced tourism and hospitality professionals.

Students could ask for advice, guidance and recommendations on how best to develop their future career in tourism.

Travel Massive Yangon was able to introduce to the students a glittering array of some of the most successful and innovative individuals in Myanmar Tourism.

At the start of the event, each of the seven presenters provided a short introduction about themselves. Following the introductions, each of the professionals took to a table where the students were free to sit with them and ask questions and participate in the conversation.

Who were the speakers?

Our seven speakers were:

• Aung Kyaw Swar, the Principal of Inle Heritage Private Primary School and former Principal of Inle Heritage Hospitality Vocational Training Center under Inle Heritage Foundation. He is also running “A Little Eco Lodge” a traditional style eco-friendly lodge, “A Little Loom” a weaving center focused in preserving and training Inle special weaving technique, and “A Little Treehouse restaurant”.
• Su Mon Oo, the General Manager of the luxury cruise ship Anawratha by Heritage Line, a consummate collector of classic luxury river cruises in South East Asia. After a successful launch of Anawrahta Cruise in Myanmar in early 2016, Su Mon Oo extended to develop Myanmar Regional Office of Trails of Indochina a boutique tour operator & DMC specialising in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar and beyond. She is now the General Manager in Myanmar for both sister companies Trails of Indochina Travel and Heritage Line Luxury River Cruise.
• U Sonny Aung Khin, currently the owner and GM of Padonmar Restaurant in Yangon, serving Myanmar and Thai Cuisine, long popular with both tourists and locals. Previously, U Sonny Aung Khin has acted as the Sales Representative in Myanmar for British Airways, and the Sales Manager in Myanmar for Air France. He has acted as MD of Skyline Travel Service and was the GM of the Green Elephant Restaurants until 2003.
• Daw Su Su Tin, founder of EXO Travel Myanmar. Su Su has also opened the luxury hotel Sanctum Inle Resort in 2015, and Yangon Excelsior in 2018. Daw Su Su Tin volunteers as an Advisor to the Myanmar Tourism Federation and is the Chairperson of the Myanmar Sustainable Tour Operator Network (MSTON).
• Sai Kenneth, an experienced and highly popular Myanmar guide. Kenneth also leads outbound tours to other parts of Asia and beyond. He has previously been involved in the training of guides in Bagan.
• Aung Soe Htike, Founder of Babylon Trekking & Camping.
• Re Paul R War, Master Instructor in Swiss Hospitality & Regional Tourism Consultant at Myanmar Responsible Tourism Institute. Paul has previously worked with the Myanmar Ministry of Hotels & Tourism in Taunggyi, Shan State.

The emphasis was on the second part of the event, as we wanted to allow the students as much time to talk freely with each professional, and not only sit and be talked at.

The event was a great success and we thank all the professionals for attending. We hope to be able to put on a similar kind of event in the future that is open to more students across Yangon.

Photos from the event…

Special thanks to…

Travel Massive Yangon would like to thank Dr Tin Tin Htwe, Principal of NMDC for her co-operation in putting this event on.

We would also like to lend out thanks to Dr Rosemary Black, a member of the Board of Directors of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council, and this semester a guest lecturer in Sustainable Tourism at the NMDC, without whom this event would never have happened.

Finally, we would like to thank LuxDev Yangon, who have shared with us their photographs of the event. Together with NMDC, LuxDev designed the first Bachelor in Tourism and Hospitality Management at the College, and support the project of inviting Visiting Professors (such as Dr Black) to the College each semester.

Travel Massive Yangon warmly welcomes our newest (and youngest) chapter members, and look forward to hearing feedback from the students to aid us in planning future Careers Cabarets.

See you at our next event!

– Bertie

Join Travel Massive Yangon chapter to connect with the community in Myanmar. Connect with Bertie on Travel Massive, Twitter and Instagram.