The effect of shear stress on bovine nucleus pulposus cells

Abstract

The Inlay Lake Region is one of Myanmar's flagship tourism destinations, with over half of all international visitors to the country visiting the region. Myanmar emerged from six decades of military rule in 2012, re-joining the international community. This period of isolation, combined with international sanctions, had impoverished the country, making it one of the poorest in Southeast Asia. Since 2012 international tourist arrivals have increased dramatically, leading the Myanmar government to identify tourism as a focal ‘industry’ to lead economic development, especially in rural areas. At the same time, the international development sector has arrived to assist Myanmar in developing politically, socially, and economically, using tourism as a tool to reduce poverty in rural areas. As a cultural and natural heritage landscape, stakeholders in the Inlay Lake Region lacked the institutional capacity to conduct comprehensive tourism destination management planning to prepare for the inevitable tourism growth the region would likely see. It was also likely that international Development Partners would start supporting responsible tourism development at the destination level in Myanmar, however from the researcher's over 15 years of professional experience, support from these Development Partners would be uncoordinated: the Inlay Lake Region would benefit from destination management planning that would guide Development Partners in their support to the region. This led to the development of the Destination Management Plan for the Inlay Lake Region, which forms the core of this thesis as a case study. This thesis explores how international Development Partners engage with an emerging destination in a country that is re-joining the international community, posing the following question: How effective are international Development Partners in developing and implementing host-led destination management planning processes, with special reference to the Inlay Lake Region, Myanmar?