This presentation discusses how Balloons over Bagan (BOB), a balloon tourism business in Bagan, Myanmar, balances tourism, local communities, culture, and the environment through its operations. It describes BOB's approach to responsible tourism, including employing and training local staff, making donations to local villages, and establishing grievance mechanisms. It also addresses concerns raised during Bagan's World Heritage site application process and provides recommendations for improving community involvement and regulatory impact assessments in such processes.

1. 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

2. 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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3. • 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

4. 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

5. • 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

6. Balancing tourism, communities, culture and environment
How does BOB approach responsible tourism?

7. • 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?

8. 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

9. ICONIC IMAGE OF BAGAN

10. 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

11. 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.

12. 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

13. 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.

14. 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

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

16. 1999 & Beyond
Grievance mechanism & Stakeholders

17. • 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

18. • Est. since 2000
• Village heads of villages BOB lands in have contact details of our
Field Manager and Operations Manager.
Photo: Pindaya

19. 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.

20. • 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

21. 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

22. 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.

23. 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

24. 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.

25. 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”.

26.  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/)

27. 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

28. 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

29. Thank you