Myanmar Holds Seminar on Tourism

[darnott@xxxxxxxxxxx]

Myanmar Holds Seminar on Tourism

Xinhua, Rangoon, 31 August, 2000.A national seminar is being held here to 
discuss sustainable
development of tourism of Myanmar.

The two-day seminar, which began on Wednesday, is cosponsored by the 
Ministry of Hotels and
Tourism, the Economic and Social Council of the Asia and Pacific (ESCAP), 
and the World Trade
Organization (WTO).

Attending the seminar are experts from the ESCAP, WTO, Thai Tourism 
Authority, Asian Institute of
Technology, International Tourism Development Institute of Japan and Ceylon 
Hotel School as well
as officials from the related Myanmar ministries and representatives from 
local private hotels and
tourism services.

The topics of the seminar are basic principles and strategies on tourism 
development, coordination
between the state and the private services on promoting tourism, human 
resources, transportation and
administration.

According to official statistics, a total of 246,007 foreign tourists 
visited Myanmar in fiscal year
1999-2000 which ended in March, 41,387 or 14.4 percent less than the 
previous year.

Among the visitors to the country, 70.6 percent were from the Asian 
continent, 18.5 percent from
Western Europe, 6.5 percent from America and 4.4 percent other regions.

Meanwhile, Myanmar has absorbed so far 1.1 billion U.S. dollars of 
contracted foreign investment in
more than 40 projects in the sector of hotels and tourism since the country 
opened the door to such
investment in late 1988.

*************************************

[I might be wrong, of course, since the World Trade Organisation does tend 
to be ubiquitous, but my
guess is that the WTO referred to is the other WTO, the World Tourism 
Organisation, which has recently
come out with a Global Code of Ethics for Tourism which should provide a 
healthy challenge to the good
generals. It can be found on the WTO website:  http://www.world-tourism.org/


               Article 1
                         Tourism's contribution to mutual understanding and 
respect between peoples and
                         societies

               Article 2
                         Tourism as a vehicle for individual and collective 
fulfilment

               Article 3
                         Tourism, a factor of sustainable development

               Article 4
                         Tourism, a user of the cultural heritage of 
mankind and contributor to its
                         enhancement

               Article 5
                         Tourism, a beneficial activity for host countries 
and communities

               Article 6
                         Obligations of stakeholders in tourism development

               Article 7
                         Right to tourism

               Article 8
                         Liberty of tourist movements

               Article 9
                         Rights of the workers and entrepreneurs in the 
tourism industry

              Article 10
                         Implementation of the principles of the Global 
Code of Ethics for Tourism



Article 9, for instance, deals with the Rights of the workers and 
entrepreneurs in the tourism industry:


  					Article 9

                      Rights of the workers and entrepreneurs in the 
tourism industry

  (1) The fundamental rights of salaried and self-employed workers in the 
tourism industry and
related activities, should be guaranteed under the supervision of the 
national and local
administrations, both of their States of origin and of the host countries 
with particular care, given
the specific constraints linked in particular to the seasonality of their 
activity, the global dimension
of their industry and the flexibility often required of them by the nature 
of their work;

(2) Salaried and self-employed workers in the tourism industry and related 
activities have the right
and the duty to acquire appropriate initial and continuous training; they 
should be given adequate
social protection; job insecurity should be limited so far as possible; and 
a specific status, with
particular regard to their social welfare, should be offered to seasonal 
workers in the sector;

(3) Any natural or legal person, provided he, she or it has the necessary 
abilities and skills, should
be entitled to develop a professional activity in the field of tourism 
under existing national laws;
entrepreneurs and investors - especially in the area of small and 
medium-sized enterprises - should
be entitled to free access to the tourism sector with a minimum of legal or 
administrative
restrictions;

(4) Exchanges of experience offered to executives and workers, whether 
salaried or not, from
different countries, contributes to foster the development of the world 
tourism industry; these
movements should be facilitated so far as possible in compliance with the 
applicable national laws
and international conventions;

(5) As an irreplaceable factor of solidarity in the development and dynamic 
growth of international
exchanges, multinational enterprises of the tourism industry should not 
exploit the dominant
positions they sometimes occupy; they should avoid becoming the vehicles of 
cultural and social
models artificially imposed on the host communities; in exchange for their 
freedom to invest and
trade which should be fully recognized, they should involve themselves in 
local development,
avoiding, by the excessive repatriation of their profits or their induced 
imports, a reduction of their
contribution to the economies in which they are established;

(6) Partnership and the establishment of balanced relations between 
enterprises of generating and
receiving countries contribute to the sustainable development of tourism 
and an equitable
distribution of the benefits of its growth;