Myanmar releases a policy of best practices for community tourism Myanmar released at the end of last week its first policy on community involvement in tourism, a white paper of utmost importance to foster best practices and avoid mistakes of neighbouring countries when involving the local population in the creation of a tourism product.
BANGKOK- Myanmar releases its first “Policy on community involvement in tourism” which will set benchmarks for local population who wishes to open up to tourism but also to be able to master its evolution. The „Policy on community involvement in tourism“ of Myanmar is a roadmap towards an harmonious development of community tourism. It was presented and officially launched on Thursday in Naw Pyi Taw, Myanmar’s administrative capital, in presence of the Union Minister of Hotels and Tourism, U Htay Aung.
In the paper introduction, the Minister firmly believes that “community involvement in tourism is becoming increasingly popular as a means of contributing towards rural development and poverty alleviation. Myanmar Ministry of Hotels and Tourism emphasizes the empowerment of communities towards meaningful participation in the mainstream tourism economy. The Ministry fully believes that if communities are more involved in the decision-making process of tourism planning and management, their livelihoods can be affected directly in a positive way”, stresses U Htay Aung.
The road map was then introduced last Friday by Myanmar’s veteran in tourism, Tourism Consultant Mrs. Daw Kyi Kyi Aye to more than 100 participants of the conference on ASEAN CBT-Standards in Bangkok. The Myanmar version will be published this coming week.
For Nicole Haeusler, Co-Founder/Senior Consultant on Responsible Tourism Management for the Consulting cabinet MASContour, the rules set will become an important tool towards the development of Responsible Tourism and the involvement of local communities in Myanmar in the near future. According to her, promoting those linkages between community tourism development and local economic development including the creation of jobs will be pivotal to overcome the challenges coming from the development of tourism in rural or underdeveloped areas. Too often, the lack of an adequate vision as well as a shortfall in planning, regulation and consultation with the communities involved in tourism
result in limited community awareness and reduces its commitment to tourism.
The policy paper stresses among many other topics on issues such as
1. “Do no harm to local communities”;
2. Decision-making takes times;
3. Community tourism enterprises must be based on sound business planning and
4. Successful community- managed tourism operations necessarily operate within the mainstream tourism industry network.
The policy map has been designed with the support of Myanmar Ministry of Hotels and Tourism, Myanmar Tourism Federation and the German Hanns-Seidel-Foundation.
Luc Citrinot a French national is a freelance journalist and consultant in tourism and air transport with over 20 years experience. Based in Paris and Bangkok, he works for various travel and air transport trade publications in Europe and Asia.
