Myanmar Times - Tourism in the age of globalisation

Myanmar Times - August 2 - 8 , 2004 © Volume 12 , No.227
http://www.myanmar.com/myanmartimes/

Tourism in the age of globalisation

By Myo Theingi Cho

AS Myanmar seeks to boost sustainable tourism, it should learn from
the positive and negative aspects of Thailand's own efforts to develop
tourism, said an official from a Bangkok-based NGO in late July.

"Myanmar has a tremendous number of tourist attractions and great
Buddhist traditions," said Dr Chira Hongladarom, the secretary-general
of the Foundation of International Human Resource Development.

"Thailand is similar, and as it is increasingly influenced by
globalisation, the people there must constantly remind themselves of
their strong historical heritage," he said.

He said that a balance between environmental preservation and
marketing is necessary to develop sustainable eco-tourism and cultural
tourism in Myanmar.

"Marketing and environmental protection should go hand in hand, but
you should not go to extremes in either direction," said Dr Chira.

Dr Chira was talking to Myanmar Times on the sidelines of a forum
titled Globalisation – Tourism, Globalisation and Sufficiency Economy
Theory in Myanmar held at Sedona Hotel July 21-23.

The forum was organised by the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers
of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI) in cooperation with the foundation.

"Myanmar needs to establish more tourism marketing offices overseas
and at the same time should run educational programs about
conservation in its own country because the citizens are the ones who
own the natural resources," said Dr Chira.

As Thailand becomes increasingly involved in globalisation, the people
there must remind themselves of their strong cultural heritage, Dr
Chira said.

"At the request of the deputy minister of Hotels and Tourism, our
foundation will conduct advanced management training courses in
Myanmar to teach tourism promotion to people in the private and
government sectors," said Dr Chira.

The forum was attended by about 50 participants from five government
ministries, the Yangon City Development Committee, members of the
UMFCCI and educators from Yangon University.

One of the participants, U Khin Zaw, the president of the Union of
Myanmar Travel Association (UMTA), said the forum provided many ideas
about how to develop the tourism industry.

"We shared knowledge and experiences, and many people discussed the
promotion of cultural tourism and eco-tourism as a means to develop
tourism in a sustainable manner," he said.

He also said cooperation among international organisations, government
organisation and the public was also essential in developing
sustainable tourism.

The forum's discussion-oriented format ensured the involvement of
attendees, and UMTA will use a similar teaching style in the human
resource development courses they will offer in August, U Khin Zaw
said.

Another participant at the forum, Daw Khin Swe Myint, a professor at
Yangon University's Myanmar language department, said Myanmar should
learn from the mistakes of other countries, where tourism has resulted
in damage to cultural sites and has influenced locals to change their
clothing styles.