Back to news
19 May 2015 | News

International Conference on Ecotourism in Protected Areas opens in Myanmar

1 min Read

70% Complete

The International Conference on Ecotourism in Protected Areas in Myanmar opened today afternoon at the Myanmar International Convention Centre (II), Nay Pyi Taw.

Delivering his opening address, Vice President U Nyan Tun of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar said tourism is the biggest service sector in the world today. He said more than one billion tourists travel around the world every year creating a million opportunities for tourism-related businesses.

“Tourism is a very important sector for Myanmar because the country has natural resources, cultural heritages, and other tourism-related historical sites,” he said.  “Therefore, Myanmar can attract tourists from around the world.”

In the recent years, tourism has significantly increased foreign currency income and generated employment opportunities in Myanmar.

Vice President U Nyan Tun, however, repeatedly cautioned that despite being a key driving force for the economic development of the country, tourism could bring negative impacts, especially on the cultural aspects of the country and its natural environment.

Myanmar has huge potential for eco-tourism both for local and international tourists. Moreover, eco-tourism is expected to help fulfill the Myanmar Government’s vision of Green Economic Development.

The three-day Conference will focus on ecotourism as a mechanism to strengthen livelihoods, adaptation, and conservation. The Conference is expected to engage participants in conversations about ecotourism and related issues, including climate change, spiritual tourism, using ecotourism to finance nature conservation, and working with host communities.

Myanmar’s new Ecotourism Policy and Management Strategy, developed with technical collaboration from ICIMOD and supported by the European Union and the GMS-Environment Operations Centre, was also launched at the opening ceremony. The Policy defines ecotourism in Myanmar while outlining the special relationship between tourism and protected areas in the country. It provides a distinctive ‘Ecotourism Partnerships Framework’ to ensure that ecotourism activities finance protected area management.

At the Ecotourism Policy Dialogue held in the morning of 19 May before the formal opening of the Conference, Union Minister of Environmental Conservation and Forestry U Win Tun and Union Minister of Hotels and Tourism U Htay Aung delivered the opening remarks. It was followed by an opening remark from ICIMOD’s Regional Programme Manager Dhrupad Choudhury. During the session, senior officials from the Myanmar Government ministries, invited guests, ecotourism experts, and participants from international organizations discussed ecotourism policy in detail.

More than 200 participants attended the opening ceremony of the Conference.

Stay current

Stay up to date on what’s happening around the HKH with our most recent publications and find out how you can help by subscribing to our mailing list.

Sign Up

related contents

Continue exploring this topic

16 Nov 2015 HKPL
ICIMOD Supports International Conference on Mountain and Climate Change

The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) through its Cryosphere Initiative co-organised the International Conference on Mountain and Climate ...

9 Nov 2016 News
Regional Workshop on ‘Measurement Reporting and Verification (MRV) in the Context of REDD+ in the Hindu Kush Himalayas’

The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development’s (ICIMOD) Regional REDD+ Initiative organised the regional workshop ‘Measurement Reporting and Verification (MRV) ...

29 Aug 2017 Himalica
Community Enterprise for Collective Vegetable Production and Marketing in Udayapur

ICIMOD and CEAPRED are helping three local farmers’ groups launch a common collection center and retail outlet under the Himalica ...

Code of conduct being formalized for gender and social inclusion in the brick sector

A national consultation workshop on a social Code of Conduct (CoC) for Nepal’s brick sector was held in Kathmandu on ...

27 Feb 2016 News
Enhancing the Large Cardamom Production

Large cardamom (Amomum sabulatum Roxb) is the high value cash crop and main source of cash income for farmers in ...

Trash on Everest. This #WorldEnvironmentDay, it’s time to clean up our act

Read in Chinese   Three actions to #BeatPlasticPollution this World Environment Day Nowhere, it seems, is ...

28 Sep 2016 News
Discussing Strategy for SDIP Phase-II in Upper Indus Basin

The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) organised a consultation meeting 4 August 2016 in Islamabad to develop logical ...

5 May 2017 News
Strengthening Engagement with the Private Sector for Sustainable Mountain Development

For ICIMOD, engagement and partnerships with private sector entities are a means to support its vision and mission for sustainable ...