TOURISM IN MYANMAR AND POTENTIAL SUSTAINABILITY OF LACQUERWARE INDUSTRY

Abstract

Bagan is an ancient city which is one of Myanmar’s most famous tourism sites. Most of the inhabitants of Bagan rely on tourism-related business and the town is famous for its specialty lacquerware souvenir products. Since 2011 after democratization, international tourist arrivals have increased and along with it, the demand for lacquerware. The purpose of this thesis is to illustrate how tourism development influences lacquerware production, trade and socio-economic conditions of lacquerware entrepreneurs and craftsmen in Bagan before and after 2011 as well as to establish the role of the Lacquerware Technology College in sustainability of the lacquerware industry in Bagan. This thesis puts forward the hypothesis that there are both positive and negative impacts on the local lacquerware industry by the tourism industry. This study uses qualitative methods namely key-informant interviews, focus group discussions and observational methods to collect evidence to answer the research questions. The site chosen to carry out research was Myin-Ka-Bar village, Bagan; the main production source of lacquerware in the area. Although lacquerware and its related businesses have substantially increased due to tourism there are some threats to the long-term sustainability of the industry due to the lack of interest by the younger generation of locals. This thesis concludes that without the tourism industry and its continued growth, the lacquerware industry itself would die a natural death.