Myanmar Tourism Social Enterprise Project Partnering for inspired experiences, service and youth development

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1 Myanmar Tourism Social Enterprise Project Partnering for inspired experiences, service and youth development A Tourism Cares global community project Phase I, Tourism is a powerful force for inspiration and enjoyment, for cross-cultural connections and understanding, for personal growth, and for economic development. It is for all these reasons that the Tourism Cares community has launched the Myanmar Tourism Social Enterprise Project to ensure that social enterprises boom along with the tourism economy, to scale their social benefits and build the capacity of local civil society. The Tourism Cares community of global travel and tourism companies, together with Solimar International, will partner with the awardwinning, sustainable and expanding Friends International to kick off the first phase of the project. Joint activities include support for budding training restaurants for youth, such as the LinkAge restaurant in Yangon; investment and support for the new Friends International youth training restaurant project in Bagan (opening this winter); and broadly engaging the travel and tourism industry. This pilot phase will be followed by additional efforts to deepen the social enterprise movement in Myanmar. The project s long-term success will be profound for visitors and for Myanmar s youth. Imagine if, by starting and investing heavily early, that 3 or 4 of the top 10 restaurants in Yangon and Bagan were directly connected to social programs at a charitable organization? Our goal is to promote social enterprises over the long haul and thus create jobs and reduce poverty for Myanmar s youth, in addition to creating a very favorable visitor experience.

2 WHY HERE, WHY NOW: A boomtown in need of sustainable, sustaining tourism It is high time to fully launch this effort, as tourism to Myanmar is growing rapidly after decades of relative isolation. For three years in a row Myanmar has ranked at the top of hot emerging markets in the annual member survey of the US Tour Operator Association, and the numbers bear it out: according to the Ministry of Hotels & Tourism, arrivals jumped from 791,000 in 2010 to more than 2 million in 2013, with further increases in Some estimates put 2020 tourism to Myanmar at greater than 7 million per year. The risks of rapid tourism growth to Myanmar youth are especially acute. Further, many unemployed young people lack the vocational training and skills to fill the growing economic need generated by the influx of tourism. This situation is put into context by these findings from UNICEF s 2013 Myanmar update: In education, the primary school Net Enrolment Rate (NER) of 84% represents a national improvement but is still very low compared to the regional average. Health indicators in Myanmar are currently well below those of neighboring countries The situation of child protection in the country is only somewhat known due to general lack of data and information. The only form of formal alternative care for children without parental care in the country is monasteries or orphanages. This area of the child protection system is seen as one of the highest risk areas for children, as the unregulated proliferation of orphanage care across a range of actors puts children at extreme risk of trafficking, sexual abuse, violence, and illicit inter-country adoption. We see tourism as part of the solution to the challenges listed above. Especially with regards to lowering the unemployment rate in Myanmar. Tourism can be an opportunity for young people to advance their hospitality skills and improve their quality of life. Friends International, a leading social enterprise founded in Southeast Asia that, in addition to its best-in-class training restaurants, operates an array of social programs for street children, wanted to better understand and tackle this need. Their needs assessment yielded some of the program plans presented here. PROJECT LEADERSHIP AND PARTNERS These three partners bring their respective strengths to the Myanmar Tourism Social Enterprises Project: Friends International & the TREE Alliance restaurants: a non-governmental organization with social programs in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Indonesia working with marginalized children, youth, their families and communities. Friends is best known for their successful training restaurants in various Asian cities, consolidating the organization s social enterprise approach in the TREE Alliance to replicate a proven model worldwide.

3 Solimar International, a tourism and marketing firm based in Washington, DC with an office in Yangon. Solimar works closely with the Ministry of Hotels & Tourism and the Myanmar Tourism Federation. Their objective is to support sustainable development through tourism. Tourism Cares, whose mission is to preserve and enrich the travel experience for future generations. In North America and around the world, one of Tourism Cares priorities is to bring the full power and care of the tourism industry to bear on underappreciated, at-risk tourism destinations and support social enterprises and NGOs so that tourism is a force for good for all. OUTCOMES & ACTIVITIES Our response to the need and opportunity in Myanmar is to strive towards a single goal to dramatically grow the success of tourism and hospitality social enterprises in Myanmar, starting at this early, explosive stage so that the commensurate social benefits are maximized as all tourism increases in the country. To drive these results, the project partners will: Formalize and deepen Friends International s presence in Myanmar, adding a staff member to the current liaison and completing Friends MOUs with the Department of Social Welfare and the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism. o Promote ChildSafe tourism: Friends is a ChildSafe champion, and part of our support will help formulate the campaign s plans for Myanmar and establish its early capacity. While the projected growth in tourism in Myanmar will have a positive impact on the development of the country, the negative aspects for child protection will have to be monitored. A major objective will be to provide relevant information to visitors on how to protect children. Friends will develop campaigns targeting tourists similar to the 7 tips guides used in other countries. In addition local response mechanism will be built to reduce risks and increase benefits to populations. Make initial investments (financial and technical assistance) in emerging social enterprises, per Friend s proven, highly effective model. o LinkAge in Yangon will be a pilot case. It was identified during a scan of the social enterprise landscape and Friends maintains two mid-term goals: (1) supporting their business, increasing profit, and possibly adding a catering service, and (2) attempting to triple the number of trainees (from 3-12, and surpass 20 after 2-3 years). This work is ongoing and as of March 2015, Friends is working with LinkAge on their operation, as well as helping them assess better locations for their training restaurant. o Opening a Friends/Tree Alliance signature restaurant in Bagan, with the Myanmar Youth Development Institute, an Australian nonprofit with 15 years of in-country experience. This enterprise, established in the Nyaung U part of Bagan, is

4 progressing well: a location has been identified and renovation plans are under development. A soft opening is anticipated late 2015 or early 2016, an exciting development and an opportunity for the tourism industry. The approximate activity and social benefit from a mature TREE Alliance training restaurant include (a) more than 50,000 visiting customers per year, (b) about 40 students in training at any given time, being prepared for and placed in jobs in cooking and service, and (c) more than US$50,000 in annual profit to support a range of non-training related social support services such as family emergency support, harm reduction for drug users and reintegration of kids into public schools. Connect Friends International and Solimar International, as both are collaborating with government ministries on sustainable tourism development. Solimar is specifically working with outbound tour operators to increase the number of operators selling Myanmar. Solimar will ensure that operators are aware of the social enterprises and encourage them to integrate them into their itineraries where ever possible. Specifically, the Tourism Cares community will contribute to these activities and goals by: o Financial investment, and following generous contributions from the Whitley Fund and other private donors, we are 24% of the way towards our goal of $75,000. o Promoting social enterprise businesses with tour operators. One of the greatest contributions we can make is simply connecting tour operators to TREE Alliance restaurants, including the new one in Bagan. This has proven effective in the past and one tour operator is in the midst of expanding their contracts from Cambodia s Romdeng restaurant to others in the region, such as in Laos. o Advocating within the industry for engaging Myanmar social enterprises. These message needs to reach more than just tour operators, and travel agents, hotels and other sectors should be aware of the opportunities to engage clients and also consider ways to integrate social restaurants and services into their product. o Providing skilled volunteers in support of Friends and their social enterprises. The global travel and tourism industry, in addition to support and influence, also has a great deal of aligned talent to offer Friends International and its local partners. Skilled volunteer projects for individuals, as well as a group expedition to provide consulting, seminars and publicity, will be considered in 2016 as Friends early work progresses. HOW YOU CAN HELP: leverage more than money your influence, networks and business for social good If you believe this is a special opportunity for us to help shape the future of tourism in Myanmar, act now! NOW, FOR LONG-TERM SOCIAL DIVIDENDS! INVEST Funds will be used to support all of the activities above, including additional grants directly to Friends International.

5 Our total projected budget is $75,000, of which no more than 15% will be used for program management and indirect expenses necessary for successfully implementation. IF YOU ARE A TOUR OPERATOR, ADD SOME SOCIAL GOOD (VIA GOOD FOOD!) TO YOUR TOURS Contact Tourism Cares, or Friends directly, and consider including any one of their 9 TREE Alliance restaurants globally into your itinerary, from Phnom Penh to Luang Prabang and as far as Addis Adaba, its latest. (Siem Reap s Marum is shown above) IF YOU ARE A HOSPITALITY COMPANY OR RIVER BOAT OPERATOR, check with Friends on ways to directly plug their top notch cuisine, and their training and catering efforts, into your operation. IF YOU ARE A TRAVEL AGENT, check TripAdvisor and feel safe in recommending TREE Alliance restaurants to your clients and consider making a donation in their name, a special thank you that some have used to great impact. Other than the satisfaction of helping power this special initiative and its long-term results in a high potential, high needs destination, Tourism Cares offers the following support for its tourism partners: Stories and reports, which you can relay to employees and digest for clients and marketing Recognition in industry presentations such as to the USTOA and NTA Boards Additional B2B visibility via social and earned media, and placed (donated) advertising Thank you for your support of Myanmar! For more information please contact Mike Rea, CEO, Tourism Cares (mike.rea@tourismcares.org, ).