Sustainable tourism project in Myanmar could be expanded

The success of the International Trade Centre’s (ITC) Inclusive Tourism project in Myanmar’s Kayah State has led to calls for the initiative to expand to other regions of the country. This was one of the main messages coming out of a meeting of the project’s steering committee held in Nay Pyi Taw on 26 April.

The Myanmar Inclusive Tourism project, which is funded by the Dutch Government, runs from 2014 to 2017 and focuses on cultural and eco-tourism as a platform for job creation in poor rural communities.

‘I noted key results achieved under the main expected outputs and we hope to extend this experience to other areas in Myanmar with rich culture and untapped resources,’ said Mr. Than Myint, Minister of Commerce, opening the session together with Mr. U Ohn Maung, Minister of Hotels and Tourism.

Part of a range of projects under the Netherlands Trust Fund umbrella (NTF III), the steering committee of the Myanmar Inclusive Tourism project includes the Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Hotels and Tourism, Myanmar Tourism Federation (MTF), Union of Myanmar Travel Association (UMTA), Myanmar Tourism Marketing (MTM), Kayah state authorities and other associations. Twice a year, representatives of these organizations meet with ITC and the Centre for the Promotion of Imports from developing countries (CBI) of the Dutch Ministry for Foreign Affairs to review the project’s progress and to address its challenges.

Pointing out that the project aims to cover the entire tourism value chain, ITC’s Director for Market Development Mr. Anders Aeroe said: ‘The NTF III Myanmar project addresses the entire tourism value chain and seeks to overcome bottlenecks in each step: from product development to destination branding and marketing.’

Minister Ohn Maung said: ‘This project will create jobs, generate income and economic development in Kayah State through ITC’s inclusive tourism approach benefiting local communities. We strongly believe that tourism in Kayah state will be booming in the forthcoming period with the support of ITC and the financial contribution of CBI.’

Learn more about the NTF III Myanmar Inclusive Tourism project.