The Vice President of Myanmar congratulates and thanks the Hanns Seidel Foundation for the successful cooperation with the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism in the development of policies and strategies for responsible and sustainable tourism in the Southeast Asian country.

Official celebrations of the annual United Nations World Tourism Day took place for the first time on 27th September 2012 in Nay Pyi Taw, the capital of Myanmar, under the slogan "Tourism & Sustainable Energy: Powering Sustainable Development." At the event Dr. Sai Mauk Kham, the Vice President of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, delivered the opening speech.

Along with cabinet ministers and senior officials, representatives of foreign embassies and non-governmental organizations participated in the event. The United Nations World Tourism Day draws attention to the potential of tourism and its impact on political, social and cultural as well as economic values.

With over one billion tourists in the year 2011 and a turnover of more than 740 billion Euros, the tourism industry represents worldwide one of the fastest growing sectors of the economy and has particularly a high priority for developing and emerging countries. They benefit from increasing foreign exchange earnings and job creation.

In the case of Myanmar, which was for over 50 years isolated from the international community and is today one of the world's poorest countries, tourism reflects one of the most important source of income. Economic progress and the improvement of living conditions for the approximately 54 million Burmese are a prerequisite for the enduring support of the ongoing democratization process.

Tour operators around the world expect a boom after the country opens up slowly since 2010. This is because Myanmar has enormous potential for tourism: due to the long isolation the country has kept its originality. Nowhere else in Asia can visitors experience such cultural diversity and Buddhism as in the young democracy. The beauty of the country attracts more and more tourists. In this year 40% more tourists have already arrived in Myanmar than in the entire previous year.

This development poses great challenges for the young democracy. While tourism and economic growth is needed to promote the development of the country and to further enhance the democratization process in a sustainable way, it is crucial to use this window of opportunity to protect the enormous biological diversity and to guarantee a sustainable and eco-friendly change in the economic field.

Against this background, the Hanns Seidel Foundation works closely with the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism and the Myanmar Tourism Federation since February 2012. The result of the cooperation is the development of the so called Myanmar Responsible Tourism Policy which comprehends policies and strategies for responsible and sustainable tourism. This policy was developed during the last months in cooperation with the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism and more than 20 other ministries as well as the private sector in 12 workshops and five conferences with overall more than 350 participating stakeholders in tourism. They include the basic principles for further development of tourism in Myanmar. The political strategies laid down in the policies contain concrete measures to implement the Myanmar Responsible Tourism Policy effectively.

In his speech, the Vice President expressed his thanks to the Hanns Seidel Foundation, which supports and accompanies the processes of reforms and democratization in Myanmar since the beginning.

Achim Munz, the Resident Representative of the HSF in Yangon and who is responsible for the project work of the Hanns Seidel Foundation in Myanmar, made a presentation on the development process of the Myanmar Responsible Tourism Policy and presented afterwards the corresponding policy document on sustainable and responsible tourism to U Htay Aung, the Union Minister for Hotels and Tourism of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar.

In cooperation with the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism, the HSF currently develops a booklet for responsible travel within Myanmar, to be distributed to tourists. This collection of guidelines is supposed to inform tourists on how to travel responsibly through cartoons which were drawn by cartoon artists from Myanmar who had been exposed to reprisals in the past. The publication will be presented to government agencies at the end of October 2012.