The Inle Heritage Foundation, which has operated for 15 years, announced that it will cease its activities at the end of this year.
“The closure of the Inle Heritage Foundation is the result of insurmountable challenges. These include the country’s current crisis and lingering difficulties following the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite these hardships, we choose to celebrate the successes we have achieved together under Inle Heritage,” the foundation stated in its release.
The Inle Heritage Foundation is set to close on December 31, 2024. It began with the support of the Chian Exploration and Research Society (CERS), which aimed to reintroduce and raise awareness of the Burmese Cat, a rare breed that had disappeared from Myanmar, marking the foundation's origins.
In 2010, the foundation expanded its operations to sustain heritage conservation efforts through the establishment of a restaurant, a souvenir shop, and stilt houses designed to accommodate tourists and educate them about the traditional lifestyle of the Inle region.
Later, the foundation opened the Inle Heritage Hospitality Vocational Training School, which trained up to 366 students. The training school is recognized as the only national-level, quality-assured training institution in Shan State.
The foundation’s restaurant and stilt houses were once popular tourist attractions, drawing many international visitors to experience the unique cultural and natural heritage of the Inle region.
