This is to ensure that our world will continue to be liveable for our children & enjoyed by our future generations.
Our objective is to maximize the positive experiences of tourism for our customers and local communities, while at the same time to minimize harmful social & environmental consequences.
At Shan Yoma, we strongly advocate sustainability & social responsibility policies, which extend to our employees, our business practices, our customers & our suppliers, so that our world will continue to be liveable for our children & enjoyed by our future generations.
Shan Yoma Travel and Tours is a 100% local Myanmar company and it has been in the travel industry for more than 20 years. Tourism has changed from being a service industry to one of offering travel experiences, whereby the traveler can access & experience the culture, ways of life, food and environments of the places they are visiting.
We believe that while we are very excited to share with our customers such travel experiences especially for our Golden Land of Myanmar, at the same time, we want to create & embrace a sustainable & socially responsible culture within our company & employees, which will extend to all our business practices, our customers & our suppliers.
At Shan Yoma – we adopt a 3-dimensional integrated approach towards our sustainability planning & operational initiatives - when we design our tours, consider travel destinations & communities to visit in Myanmar, choose the type of vendors to work with, & provide our customers with choices to travel responsibly. Our overriding consideration is on meeting the travel needs of today without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
1. Environmental Dimension – In essence, for us, this means the conservation and responsible utilization of the natural capital & ensuring that the absorptive capacity to the environment to assimilate wastes should not be exceeded. So we ask ourselves the operative question: “How can Shan Yoma help reduce potential negative environmental impact that our tours & customers may make on their journeys?”
2. Social Dimension – In essence, for us, this means the promotion of social justice via equitable resource allocation, and access to basic social services, such as education, nutrition, health to as many members of the Myanmar society, especially the poor and marginalized sectors of our society. So we ask ourselves the operative question: “How can Shan Yoma maximise the social benefits that our customers can help deposit in local Myanmar communities that they may be visiting, & through the tours we design?”
3. Economic Dimension – In essence, for us, this means helping to create opportunities for increasing economic welfare at present and in the future, while paying more attention to “social capital” of human development and the “natural capital” or natural resources, such as plants, soil, animals, fish, air and water. So we ask ourselves the operative question: “How can Shan Yoma help with the livelihood & economic growth of the local communities that our customers are visiting, & through the tours we create?”
As Shan Yoma embraces Sustainability in our operational choices as a travel agency, we recognise the importance of continuous organizational buy-in at all levels, and the extra need for training & education for local Myanmar employees, local vendors, & also local communities that we work with. This is especially so, since Myanmar has just started her economic transformation.
Thus to ensure that we uphold our commitment to sustainable & responsible travel, & continue to be energised in our implementation, we have instilled Key Organizational Drivers at the core of our Sustainability Framework. That is: (1) to provide intentional leadership & role modelling regarding importance of sustainability; and (2) to nurture an organizational culture that encourages & rewards employees, vendors & customers to make conscious choices regarding sustainability & social responsibility.
To help operationalise our Organization Drivers, we have thus created an Internal Organization to drive, support & monitor our sustainability planning & initiatives. This Internal Organization is headed by our Managing Director, serving as our Champion & Ambassador for Sustainability, and reporting directly to our Board of Directors.
Shan Yoma Travel and Tours understands and abides employees’ rights and benefits which are mentioned in the Myanmar Labour Law.
Our employees have a safe and supportive working environment and the benefits consist of above the standard wages, incentives and increments yearly after the annual assessments. Our employees can take leave according to the leave policy i.e. sick leave, maternity leave, paternity leave, bereavement leave, etc. All public holidays and gazette holidays are also entitled. We ensure that our employees understand well, their job contracts, agreements, job descriptions, company disciplinary regulations and also standard operating procedures.
In our recruitment policy, we avoid discriminations based on gender, age, religion and race. We also do not employ any persons who are under age. We inform our code of conduct to our suppliers and partners to abide by Myanmar Labour Rules and Regulations and International Regulations on the Rights of Children.
We understand the value of employees, and how they contribute our company’s success. Therefore we always encourage them and give training internally or externally for their career development. The competency of our staff is one of the most important contributing factor to our success.
Shan Yoma Travel and Tours abides by practices that help reduce negative impacts on the environment, such as electricity management, water management, waste management, recycling and thus, we also regularly perform the maintenance services for our generators and machines.
We share the knowledge of sustainable policies & practices to all our staff by holding meeting and monitoring progress of our practices, so that our staff becomes first become familiar with these practices, & then develop good habits to maintain such practices.
To help remind & encourage our employees, we put posters related to sustainable and responsible policies & practices in our meeting room, staff room, dining room and toilet.
Shan Yoma Travel and Tours have been providing economic benefits to our local communities by:
We care for animal welfare, by following the best practice guidelines for tourism businesses, as suggested by the relevant code of conduct such as ABTA’s Animal Welfare Minimum Requirements.
Mr Hla Aye holds a Bachelor (Honours) in Marine Biology Science, and a Master's Degree in Development Studies. He has several years of working experience in Japan and Singapore. Mr Hla Aye has held many executive positions at various organisations: Vice Chairman of the Union of Myanmar Travel Association (UMTA) and EC of the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI).
Read MoreSince four years ago, from 2015, my team and with myself leading them, have actively participated in several activities which are related to responsible and sustainable tourism.
We have attended the 4th National Conference on Communities and Tourism, workshops on Development of Marine Tourism in Goyangyi Island, Destination Management, and other product development workshops and training given by Travelife, for responsible and sustainable practices.
We also share our beliefs in sustainability & social responsibility with our partners, stakeholders, & suppliers, as well as encourage them to play an active part in this very important mission to help ensure that our world is liveable and enjoyed by our future generations.
We believe that given our strategic position as a travel company of influence in Myanmar, Shan Yoma Travel & Tours, together with our employees, our customers, our partners & suppliers, can do our part in contributing to, and creating an active eco-system to help protect our environment and culture for our future generations.
Let us all work together in this journey of Sustainable & Responsible Tourism, so that together we can promote human dignity and the standards of living & employment conditions in the places that we travel to & do business in, especially in our Golden Land of Myanmar.
Mr. Hla Aye - +(95) 95002424
Sustainability Champion & Ambassador
Managing Director, Shan Yoma Travel & Tours
Mr. Phone Myint Win - +(95) 9440783277
Sustainability Manager
Mr. Zaw Zaw Nyi - +(95) 9782220874
Special Projects Executive
Email: sustainabletourism@exploremyanmar.com
Contact Us
“We warmly welcome those who appreciate and enjoy our heritage, our way of life and who travel with respect.”
Myanmar Responsible Tourism Policy
