Heritage preservation potential boost for tourism
Heritage preservation potential boost for tourism
Myanmar Times, 06 Mar 2017
URL: http://www.mmtimes.com/index.php/business/property-news/25199-heritage-preservation-potential-boost-for-tourism.html
On March 1, Yangon Chief Minister U Phyo Min Thein posted a clip on Facebook saying that the regional government is preserving around 200 heritage buildings in Yangon.
“We are preserving heritage buildings in Yangon numbering about 200 buildings … We also plan to preserve and renovate … the old Ministry of Hotels and Tourism Office building and the Secretariat without doing any damage to [their] heritage value. It [the project] would be supervised directly by the regional government,” the chief minister said.
Yangon Regional Government, in cooperation with Yangon Heritage Trust (YHT) and Yangon City Development Committee (YCDC), is heading the installation of blue plaques at buildings for preservation and commemoration.
Currently, 17 blue plaques have been installed at buildings, and plans to install about 100 more blue plaques are underway.
Furthermore, YHT has already submitted to Yangon Region Government a catalogue of heritage buildings which has listed about 160 buildings, and mostly state-owned buildings, for Yangon’s heritage preservation, explained Daw Moe Moe Lwin, YHT director.
She added that now the old Ministry of Hotels and Tourism Office building is under the management of the Yangon Region government and the YHT is also trying to garner support from various organizations.
“We hope that the building … can [help] make up renovation costs, [and] would be available for the public [to visit] as well,” she spoke to the Myanmar Times.
Back in 2012, industry experts told the Myanmar Times that tourism-related businesses represented an obvious use for many old buildings and that colonial landmarks should be saved to bolster the city’s tourism potential. Preservation could be seen as an investment in Yangon’s future.
With little details released, it remains to be seen whether the 200-building preservation plan would be an effective way to develop tourism, both in the short term and in the long run.
“We are preserving heritage buildings in Yangon numbering about 200 buildings … We also plan to preserve and renovate … the old Ministry of Hotels and Tourism Office building and the Secretariat without doing any damage to [their] heritage value. It [the project] would be supervised directly by the regional government,” the chief minister said.
Yangon Regional Government, in cooperation with Yangon Heritage Trust (YHT) and Yangon City Development Committee (YCDC), is heading the installation of blue plaques at buildings for preservation and commemoration.
Currently, 17 blue plaques have been installed at buildings, and plans to install about 100 more blue plaques are underway.
Furthermore, YHT has already submitted to Yangon Region Government a catalogue of heritage buildings which has listed about 160 buildings, and mostly state-owned buildings, for Yangon’s heritage preservation, explained Daw Moe Moe Lwin, YHT director.
She added that now the old Ministry of Hotels and Tourism Office building is under the management of the Yangon Region government and the YHT is also trying to garner support from various organizations.
“We hope that the building … can [help] make up renovation costs, [and] would be available for the public [to visit] as well,” she spoke to the Myanmar Times.
Back in 2012, industry experts told the Myanmar Times that tourism-related businesses represented an obvious use for many old buildings and that colonial landmarks should be saved to bolster the city’s tourism potential. Preservation could be seen as an investment in Yangon’s future.
With little details released, it remains to be seen whether the 200-building preservation plan would be an effective way to develop tourism, both in the short term and in the long run.