Balancing tourism, communities, culture and the environment:

Bagan as an economic and social community

B a l l o o n s o v e r B a g a n

Approaches to responsible tourism and human rights

This presentation is about a tourism business in Bagan,

how we have attempted to balance tourism, culture and

the environment, whilst making a positive impact on the

communities in which we work.

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• Can commercial interest, the preservation of culture and environment be balanced in a sensitive area like Bagan?

• World heritage listing process, it’s impact on a small business and suggestions for the future. BOB as a case study

Background - balloons over bagan

• First ever commercial balloon operation in South East Asia

• 1999 - 1 balloon, 1 foreign pilot, 8 local staff

• 2015 - 12 balloons flying at one time, 16 foreign pilots, 190 myanmar

staff

• Asia’s largest commercial balloon operation and one of the largest in

the world

• Season - 1st Oct-31st March during the most stable weather

conditions

• 45 mins to 1 hour - flight duration

• 16 year 100% safety record, with no accidents or incidents

• US$10 million per balloon - insurance third party & passenger liability

21,000 passengers flown in 6 months season 2014-2015

Balancing tourism, communities, culture and environment

How does BOB approach responsible tourism?

• Creating a business strategy that is culturally and

environmentally sensitive

• Employment and training strategy focused on building local

capacity

• Promoting the well-being of the local community through CSR

• Taking responsibility by paying it’s fees and taxes

• Establishing and evolving a ‘Grievance Mechanism’

How does BOB approach responsible tourism?

HOW DOES BOB STRIVE TO BE CULTURALLY SENSITIVE?

choosing Colours with a sense of place - reflecting the

deep red of monks robes

Gold symbolic logo chosen instead of wording. Balloons

enhance the scene and their design have a sense of place

Culturally sensitive DESIGN

ICONIC IMAGE OF BAGAN

How do we balance tourism and community?

By employing all Bagan operations staff locally

Apart from pilots BOB employs all 175 Bagan operations staff from Bagan,

including farmers

and students

Seasonal nature of work provides

additional income to crew from farming families

By investing in Training - including annual first aid, fire training,

safety procedures, English language and teamwork/management.

BOB crew act as volunteer firefighters for Nyaung Oo firefighting

department.

By training and promoting from within Managers are chosen from our team and trained into the position

Our Myanmar senior managers have over 10 years experience

in ballooning

How does BOB balance tourism and the environment?

•

• 1 balloon needs 1 client and 1 support vehicle to operate and has

minimal demand on water and electricity resources

• Balloons use propane gas, an LPG for fuel

• Ballooning is environmentally friendly! It is time short. Only 45

mins-1 hour after sunrise, resulting in a very low and

temporary imprint

• Low infrastructural & resource demands.

H o w d o e s B O B s t r i v e t o b e n e f i t t h e

C O M M U N I T Y ?

Through a two pronged CSR strategy – To share its success

through the making of annual donations to the communities

in which we land, and to the wider community through doing

relief work to assist community in times of need

Responsibilities to Government – Some of the main payments by BOB Oct 2014 – March 2015

1999 & Beyond

Grievance mechanism & Stakeholders

• Villages in which balloons

land

• Bagan community

• Department of Civil Aviation -

licensing authority

• Ministry of Tourism -

licensing authority

e v o l u t i o n i n s t a k e H o l d e r s

• Villages in which balloons land

• Bagan community

• Local government departments

• Department of Civil Aviation

• Ministry of Tourism

• Mandalay Division

• Ministry of Culture

• UNESCO

• ICOMOS

1999-2013 2014-2015

• Est. since 2000

• Village heads of villages BOB lands in have contact details of our

Field Manager and Operations Manager.

Photo: Pindaya

1999-2014 grievance mechanism

Ministry of Transport

Regulator

Ensuring we follow strict regulation -

• Communication via annual checks

• daily contact & reports to Air Traffic Control

• formal meetings/communication

Local farmer

owners of fields we land in

Community stakeholder

• Contact details of BOB Field Manager have been given

to all heads of villages we land in

• In the few cases that balloons damage crop on landing -

A. The BOB field manager immediately finds the

land owner to apologise

B. BOB negotiates and pays compensation.

C. In cases where the land owner cannot

immediately be found, a message is left and

efforts are made to find them within 48 hours.

The village head is informed.

• Strong relationships and channels of communication have been built with

local stake holders over the years through annual donations to the villages in

which we land & projects in Bagan. e.g. building school buildings, supporting

local NGOs and schools. This ensures any concerns are easily communicated

and dealt with.

• In 2014 BOB went a step further and hired Graceworks Myanmar to provide

Community Development Education training to Tha Htay Gun village, along with

a U$25,000 donation for an electricity project to aid the village’s development

and improve capacity.

Communities

250 lak Electricity project

Tha Htay Gun Village

CDE training

2013

local NGO donations

Classroom building East Yar school

2015 World heritage listing process

Balloons over Bagan - a case study

It’s impact on a small business

THE NEED FOR A REGULATORY IMPACT ANALYSIS

E X A M P L E : M i n i s t r y o f C u l t u r e / i c o m o s

c o n c e r n s o v e r b a l l o o n f l i g h t s o v e r b a g a n

IN 2015 the Ministry of Culture based on ICOMOS’s advice, raised concerns through a letter to the President and the media about the safety of Ballooning in Bagan, as a draft preservation law was being put through parliament. The initial draft, now changed, originally restricted balloons from flying over the temples based on the following concerns. 1. Balloon fumes damaging pagodas 2. Balloons flying over the pagodas causing vibration and damage 3. Balloons should fly AROUND THE monument zone and not over it.

In response, the Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Transport

and Balloon operators held several meetings with the

Ministry of Culture and ICOMOs representative to explain

that -

• Balloons are registered air craft, strictly regulated by

the Department of Civil Aviation.

• Balloons fly with the wind and do not cause vibration

• Balloons use propane gas, a clean burning, non-toxic

fuel, used commonly in cooking gas.(http://www.propane.ca/en/about-propane

An example of Regulatory Impact Analysis: introducing a 2 tonne limit for vehicles in Bagan

Reason for the change? Less vibration and increased protection to heritage buildings Business Impact: Replacing big buses for small ones will result in: • a need for more vehicles to cater for large

tour groups • a need to hire more than one guide per

group to lead them. This means tour operators will need to plan ahead to: • hire more vehicles • train and hire more guides (which takes

time). This will result in increased costs and therefore increased sale price of trips, many of which are pre-paid months in advance.

Towards a Successful UNESCO World Heritage Transition

UNESCO’s Operational Guidelines (para 123) -

“Participation of local people in the nomination process is essential to enable them to have a shared responsibility with the State Party in the maintenance of the property. State Parties are encouraged to prepare nominations with the participation of a wide variety of stakeholders, including site managers, local and regional governments, local communities, NGOs and other interested parties”.

Strong community stakeholder involvement in line with UNESCO’s guidelines on “Preparing World Heritage Nominations”

Capacity building to enable effective participation

A more active communication strategy for the World Heritage Site application.

Regulatory impact analysis included in the planning process to highlight potential problems and find solutions

BOB would like to actively support:

“Preparing World Heritage Nominations.” 2.3 The Operational Guidelines stress at several points, the need to promote the participation of local people and other stakeholders in World Heritage generally, and there are specific references to such participation in the case of nominations. This can include property owners, site managers, local and regional governments, local communities, NGOs and other interested parties. The reasons for this approach are many but include the need to develop a shared understanding of the nominated property and shared responsibility for it’s future. Successful integrated management is not likely if stakeholders are not involved and do not participate. Such participation should be a priority from the start of the process and all the way through the preparation of a nomination. This participation should also continue after the nomination as well, as part of the ongoing management of the property. (http://whc.unesco.org/en/activities/643/)

Information and Communication Currently official public information about the World Heritage application is not

readily available in Bagan or online.

We recommend that information should be available in Myanmar and English language, both locally in Bagan, and online concerning:

An explanation of the application process and ongoing activities

Updated information on consultations, and plans for future community and business involvement

draft development plans, restrictions and regulations under consideration, with an opportunity for local communities and local businesses to provide input

Furthermore, a creative communication strategy is needed to encourage better local understanding of the precious value of Bagan and the benefits of UNESCO World Heritage listing

This would strengthen a feeling of pride and ownership of their heritage by Bagan residents, foster better understanding of Ministry of Culture decisions and support greater acceptance and understanding of the new regulations

Some communication ideas……

Education projects in local schools

A Bagan World

Heritage application Facebook

page

Well publicised community Q&A

meetings

TV dramas

A dedicated website with information about the listing

process

An awareness centre in Nyaung Oo

for residents and tourists

Exciting media stories about Bagan’s

unknown treasures like the palace under New Bagan football pitch

Thank you