The Run on Myanmar

Without proper legislation in place, touristification of Myanmar has already begun. The Ministry of Hotels and Tourism declared tourism the country’s ‘national priority sector’ in its Responsible Tourism Policy (RTP) in September. In the same month, the Ministry had signed Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam Tourism Cooperation (CLMV), which aims to welcome 25 million visitors in the region, with four million ‘exchange visitors’ in each country, over the period of 2013-2015.

Myanmar’s tourism infrastructure was already strained by half a million tourists in the first half of 2012, compared to almost 400,000 in 2011. Myanmar’s membership of CLMV is not only unlegislated and undemocratic but it also ignores ‘value over volume’ advice by the UNWTO. As the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party is widely expected to be voted out in the 2015 elections, the CLMV is seen as the former generals’ unscrupulous attempt to make hay while the sun shines.

To its promoters at the International Centre for Responsible Tourism, responsible tourism is "about taking responsibility for achieving sustainable development through tourism" Responsible tourism may benefit local communities in countries which have a certain standard of human rights governance and sound tourism infrastructure. InMyanmar, however, the new policy will undermine the aspirations of responsible tourism, if it favours the current economic dynamics dominated by crony capitalism at the expense of political, ecological and cultural sustainability. It is doomed to fail from the start if the tourism-related Ministries use the Responsible Tourism Policy to try and milk a cash cow.

Crony involvement in tourism

Crony capitalism and human rights violations have been rationales behind the global boycott against tourism in Myanmar. Cronies are those who gained enormous wealth through their close association with the junta. In the 1990s, only a few cronies were interested in tourism. This situation is rapidly changing as Myanmar braces itself for mass tourism and the 27th Southeast Asian Games in 2013. As cronies develop more hotel zones, land conflicts are likely to become a major issue. Even the Ministries do not agree over the ownership of land in Myanmar. The Ministry of Hotel and Tourism had been negotiating with the Ministry of Culture over the building of hotels on a cultural heritage site in Bagan. Locals in Bagan, however, dissent hotel projects in the 42 square kilometres Bagan cultural heritage site. On 22 October 2012, the first ever local protest against tourism infrastructure projects in Myanmar was staged in Bagan-Nyaung Oo Township. The locals’ demand that Bagan cultural heritage site be respected and the expansion of new hotel and restaurant projects on the site be stopped has not been heeded by the authorities.

The destination level cronies are now also into hotel and tourism. Ahlon Tin Win, the owner of Tin Win Tun Company in Monywa, a trade centre about 100 km north of Mandalay, specializes in timber extraction in Sagaing Division and Kachin State. He has been at loggerheads with local farmers for land grabbing. At least one peasant was sent to jail during the dispute. He is also the owner of Win Unity Hotel, the biggest hotel in Monywa, built on a reclaimed land, formerly a lake and a public space. This is not an isolated case. Today, from private banks to telecommunication companies, from ‘Elite’ highway bus services to almost every toll ways in Myanmar, including roadside patrol stations and highway stopover restaurant franchises, are crony creations. An accurate stock taking of cronies’ stake in Myanmar tourism is due.

Poor chances for small enterprises

Since 2011, package tour sales have dropped despite the dramatic rise in the number of arrivals in Myanmar, indicating that the country is set to become a top destination for Foreign Independent Travellers (FITs). However the existing number of small-scale hotels cannot keep up with the influx of FITs. There is a myriad of smaller enterprises and guesthouses in Myanmar but most of them are not certified to lodge foreign tourists. Smaller enterprises lack the knack and the means to meet the health and safety standards required. The system continues to give an upper hand to larger hotels. On the long run, smaller establishments, if they fail to keep up with the standards for foreign guests set by the authorities will perish or be taken over by foreign or crony-owned businesses. In the near future, if tourists want to avoid putting their money into crony pockets, their choices will be increasingly limited.

Travel restrictions in conflict areas

In cultural tourism, ‘authenticity’ will be hard to come by. Freedom to travel within Myanmar remains restricted. Almost every tourist sight is staged. The country’s security issues and ongoing instability are likely to be a hurdle to many tourists who would like to venture beyond well-trodden paths. In October, Mrauk-U, a tourist enclave in Rakhine State, was declared closed to tourists after another communal clash broke out in the area.

Ecotourism is a major tourism product of Myanmar. However, over the past two decades, even the protected areas have fallen pray to illegal logging and poaching. Locals in nearby villages are bitterly aware that Alaungtaw Kathapa National Park is being cut down for wood while bears for bile and peacocks for feather are hunted down by Chinese poachers who have paid off the local authorities.

The need for critical debate

If Myanmaris to avoid the Thai or Cambodian tourism pitfalls, the authorities have to be dead serious about their commitment to responsible tourism. As China and India are set to become the world’s largest source markets, infrastructure development in Myanmar must focus on managing cross-border tourism with the neighbouring countries. Other top priorities must be making tourism development inclusive and democratic, area protection, industrial regulation, codes of conduct for all stakeholders, environmental impact assessments for each tourism project and sustainability indicators.

The efficacy of Responsible Tourism Policy can be evaluated if its ‘action points’ are time-framed by the Myanmar Tourism Master Plan which is currently in the making. There is an urgent need for a critical debate on tourism in Myanmar, particularly the viability and frailty of Myanmar Responsible Tourism Policy. A major challenge will be how tourism can address Myanmar’s structural poverty, apart from seasonal employment opportunities in the tourist industry monopolized by foreign businesses and Myanmar cronies. If responsible tourism is to address the three aspirations economic development, environmental sustainability and social justice, the latter two would be elusive in the current setting of Myanmar crony capitalism.

Ko Ko Thett studies and works at the Department of Development Studies, University of Vienna. This article is based on the report "Responsible Tourism in Myanmar: Present Situation and Challenges" by Ko Ko Thett, published by Burma Centre Prague. Download: www.ecoburma.com/responsible-tourism-in-myanmar-current-situation-and-challenges/

Further Information: www.myanmartourismwatch.org, www.ecoburma.com, www.burma-center.org