The MRTI internship is designed to give young Myanmar professional experience in the operation of non-for-profits and to give them a solid knowledge base for responsible practices in business and specifically, the tourism sector. The intern will gain experience in a wide range of activities. The intern will assist program staff with event organization, public […]

We would like to thank Kinnari Travels for showing their dedication to Responsible Tourism in Myanmar by printing and distributing the Do’s and Don’ts booklets – a resource to help visitors know how they can travel in a way that does not negatively affect this beautiful nation. If you would like copies of these booklets […]

The Hygiene and Service Training supported by Han Seidel Foundation was conducted on the 3rd-5th  of April 2019. B&B and restaurant owners and staff from Thandaung Gyi joined in the training sessions.  The training section focused on the dos and don’ts for customer service at the B&B and restaurants through the Thandaung Gyi CBT. The participants […]

Come Run – Come All! MRTI is gearing up for the February 22-24th Thandaung Gyi Mountain Race Weekend. The intention of this race is to develop a tourism industry for the community, and therefore increase livelihood generation for its residents. The run draws attention to the majestic hills of Thangdaung Gyi, and attracts domestic and […]

Swiss Contact partners with MRTI to provide the Vocational Skills Development Program.  (VSDP) is a hospitality skills-training program designed to give disadvantaged youth the opportunity for demand-driven employment or self-employment and better income. We have 240 Learners enrolled in the course and are having a great time with this program! These are the interlinked components of the project: […]

This workshop was an additional activity requested by the Ministry of Hotel and Tourism targeting different police departments in the six tourism destinations (Yangon, Mandalay, Bagan, Inle, Chaung Tha, and Kaw Thaung). The workshop aimed to improve coordination and information exchange within the police force as well as increase collaboration between responsible Ministries, such as […]

MRTI supported the recent Kalaw Trail Run which was held on Sunday 10th December. Over 300 people participated in the event including, Pyae Phyo Swe, our Principal Project Coordinator for the Child Safe Tourism project who successfully completed the 21km distance. Chairman Nyunt Win Naing assisted as a course marshal and EC member Kyaw Shin […]

Myanmar Responsible Tourism Institute (MRTI), in collaboration with Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer Internationale Zusammenarbeit GIZ organized and conducted a training on Sustainability Management for Yangon based Tour operators on 20th October. Objectives of the workshop were to raise awareness for key concepts of the responsible tourism, understanding the roles and responsibilities of a tour operator and identifying steps to be […]

“Guidelines for Developing Ecolodges in Myanmar” one the recent publications that MRTI has been involved in producing. Written in cooperation with the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), Biodiversity and Nature Conservation Association (BANCA) and supported by MoHT, MTF, MOECAF and the Myanmar Hill Lodges. This publication was produced to support the Myanmar Ecotourism Policy […]

Congratulations to all Myanmar Responsible Tourism Award Winners! We are very proud of our winners contributing to best practices in responsible tourism in Myanmar. The Awards Ceremony took place during the Graduation Ceremony of the Hotel Training Initiative of Swisscontact at the newly inaugurated Pan Pacific Hotel in Yangon on 4 November. The winners 2017 […]

Myanmar Responsible Tourism Institute (MRTI), in collaboration with the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism (MOHT), organised and conducted a 7-day workshop on Training on Community-Based Tourism Facilitation, from October 9-15th.  The first five (5) days of the workshop was done in classroom training style at the Remember Inn in Nyaungshwe, and the last two (2) days was a […]

Part of the MRTI Child Safe Tourism project includes raising awareness of the issues surrounding orphanage tourism. On 12th October we organised a focus group with tour operators to discuss and get inputs for our upcoming publication “Preventing Orphanage Tourism: the role of the Tourism Industry” We would like to thank participants who joined our […]

On the 10th and 11th of October, the Regional Community Tourism Development Forum was held in Kalaw. Jointly organized by the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism, Hanns Seidel Foundation, Myanmar Responsible Tourism Institute (MRTI) and the Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business.  The first day of the forum focused on the villagers from the surrounding area of Kalaw with […]

In September MRTI was one of the winners of the 2017 Product and Package Innovation Competition (PPIC). Through the Business Innovation Facility (BIF), the UK Government’s Department for International Development (DFID) supports local tourism entrepreneurs to develop and market innovative, inclusive and socially responsible tourism products in Myanmar. A key component of this support to the tourism […]

MRTI’s advisor, Dr. Nicole Haeusler, joined the Myanmar Global Investment Forum 2017 in Nay Pyi Taw as a panelist on the session  “Booming Tourism”. She valued the main objective of the draft tourism law, focusing on sustainable and responsible development in tourism. In this context she recommended to update the ‘Myanmar Responsible Tourism Policy’ of 2013. Furthermore she stressed […]

MRTI is pleased to be involved in the 2017 MyWorld Kalaw Trail Run. The event, featuring a trail half-marathon and trail 12km course will be held through the beautiful forests surrounding the township of Kalaw on Sunday, December 10, 2017. A proportion of participant entry fees will be donated to the MRTI and a number […]

Several community members involved in the tourism sector in Thandaung Gyi in Kayin State, benefitted from a one week Hospitality English course from August 18-23, 2017. This was organized and conducted by the Myanmar Responsible Tourism Institute (MRTI) in collaboration with the Thandaung Gyi Tourism Development Working Group (TTDWG). Ishwar Persad, a Canadian Cuso International […]

Throughout August the MRTI team have been conducting on-site trainings on Child Safe Tourism. We have held workshops in tourism hot spots areas including Mandalay, Chaung Thar, Kaw Thoung, Bagan, Yangon and Inle Lake. The training programs are broken into four different sessions aimed at separate stakeholders to ensure that the curriculum is focused and relevant […]

MRTI is delighted to announce our upcoming plans for the inaugural Myanmar Responsible Tourism Awards. The Awards are a way to remind everyone involved in the tourism industry that with growth comes increased responsibility to ensure tourism in a sustainable manner in all its three pillars: economic, social and environmental. The Myanmar Responsible Tourism Awards will identify […]

MRTI organised a 10-day Training of Trainers as part of our project on Child Safe Tourism with UNICEF. Thirteen local trainers, from the six tourism hotspot areas of Inle Lake, Bagan, Yangon, Mandalay, Kawthaung, and Chaung Tha, will now go into the field and conduct trainings to stakeholders involved in the tourism industry. Stakeholders to […]

MRTI is proud to launch our booklet on “Responsible Tourism and Human Rights in Myanmar: Guideline for Hoteliers”, jointly published by MRTI, Hanns Seidel Foundation and ASEAN CSR Network. There will be both a Myanmar and English version of the booklet available on our E-Library. For hard copies please contact us at info@myanmarresponsibletourism.org

Our team for the “Situational Analysis of Child Sexual Exploitation Online and in Travel and Tourism” presented their research data to various stakeholders on June 19th in Nay Pyi Taw. Participants included representatives from MoHT, Members of Parliament, police, MPT, and Post and Telecommunications Department, among others. The aim was to receive input and comments […]

MRTI, Hanns Seidel Foundation and ASEAN CSR Network  organised a round table meeting on Tourism and Human Rights in the town of Loikaw. Participants discussed ways to maximise the positive impacts of tourism in a responsible way, and to prepare for possible negative impacts. As an emerging tourism destination, discussing these issues was particularly important in […]

MRTI, ECPAT International and Tourism Child-Protection Code of Conduct presented in an interactive workshop their current activities on Child Safe Tourism to tour operators, NGOs, journalists and representatives of local governments in the Mekong region. Our research leader Than Hlaing Oo presented the primary results of the ‘Situational Analysis of Sexual Exploitation of Children of Travel […]

On June 13 and 14, the 2nd National Conference on Communities and Tourism was successfully held in Nay Pyi Taw, cohosted by the Myanmar Center for Responsible Business and the Hanns Seidel Foundation, and Myanmar Responsible Tourism Institute (MRTI). The workshop consisted of sharing different perspectives and experiences within presentations and panel discussions, from various […]

From 8-9th May, Hanns Seidel Foundation (HSF), Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business (MCRB), and Myanmar Responsible Tourism Institute (MRTI) co-hosted a second multi-stakeholder workshop on sustainable tourism in Ngapali. It was attended by the Union Minister of Hotels and Tourism, H.E. U Ohn Maung, Rakhine State Ministers for Finance and Planning U Kyaw Aye Thein, […]

In March 2017, MRTI Chairman, Nyunt Win Naing, joined over 30 participants from around the world to create the Berlin Declaration on “Transforming Tourism”. The aim of the declaration is to encourage further reflection and debate, and demand concrete actions to be taken. Over 200 individuals and 35 organisations have endorsed the declaration. The declaration […]

MRTI was proud to organise the first-ever “Forum on Sustainability in Tourism and Hospitality in Myanmar” with Swisscontact and Global Sustainable Tourism Council – GSTC on the 29th and 30th of March at Novotel Yangon Max. H.E. Mr. Paul Seger, Ambassador of the Embassy of Switzerland in Myanmar as well as U Ohn Myint, Deputy […]

MRTI was proud to be involved as content contributors and advisers on the  “Guesthouse and Bed & Breakfast Manual – How to run a guesthouse and B&B business”. The manual was prepared with the collaboration of MYA/001 Lux Development, the International Labour Organization (ILO), and the Hanns Seidel Foundation (HSF). It was endorsed by the Ministry of […]

In October 2016, MRTI conducted a short research study on the current and potential tours and activities in Yangon for tourists. This study was commissioned by AVI and the Intrepid Group who are in the planning stages of establishing a tourism hub facility. Please contact us directly (info@myanmarresponsibletourism.org) if you are interested in the results of […]

MRTI is undertaking in cooperation with ECPAT (End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes) and with support of UNICEF a research project called SITAN: Situational Analysis on the Sexual Exploitation of Children Online and in Travel and Tourism in Myanmar. We plan to publish the report in October 2017. It […]

In April 2016 MRTI assisted with the preparation and realisation of the International Field Project (IFP) for the students of the Bachelor of Science Tourism. The BSc Tourism program is a three-year joint degree of NHTV Breda University of Applied Sciences and Wageningen University, both in the Netherlands. The program takes a broad perspective on […]

MRTI Advisor, Dr. Nicole Haeusler, moderated a panel on the potential of “Bed & Breakfast” at Myanmar Hospitality and Tourism Conference 2016 which took place in Yangon between 2-3 August. The panelists were Daw Yin Myo Su, Inle Heritage Foundation and Achim Munz, Hanns-Seidel-Foundation.

In cooperation with Hanns Seidel Foundation (HSF) and the Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business (MCRB) co-organised in May 2016 a two day multistakeholder workshop in Ngapali on ‘Responsible tourism in Ngapali and other beach destinations in Myanmar’. MRTI  assisted in the facilitation of the workshop and presented experiences and lessons learnt from other beach destinations […]