抄録
Sustainable tourism development is often regarded as an effective strategy for rural livelihood development, but tourism development can lead to transformations in traditional livelihoods. Inle Lake is a popular tourist destination in Myanmar due to the unique Intha culture and floating-garden farming. The majority of lake households’ income comes from agriculture, and relatively recently, tourism became a source of income in Inle Lake. Two adjacent Inthas villages, LN and IO, in Inle Lake were selected because of their long histories of floating-garden farming and different access to tourism-related livelihoods. Conducting focus group discussion and in-depth interviews of 54 households from different socio-economic backgrounds in the two villages, this paper provides evidence for the transformation of floating-garden farming following the political transition from 2011 to 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. After the 2011 political transition, the average planted floating-garden area per household drastically decreased in LN, whereas it remained unchanged in IO. Severe droughts and water scarcity reduced the profitability of traditional agriculture, leading some villagers to explore tourism as a viable income source. Even though the tourism industry provides locals with income opportunities, the negative impacts including labor market disruption and economic inequalities were found. The Inle Lake region has transitioned from traditional agriculture to tourism, providing income to local residents through tourism-related activities. After the collapse of the tourism industry due to COVID-19, floating gardens were revived to adapt. The balance between tourism’s economic benefits with the preservation of local cultures and traditional livelihoods can serve as a safety net during crises.
