May 15, 2008
The manner in which some companies continue to do travel business in Myanmar is simply incomprehensible
I was sickened, literally sickened, to read statements in the travel trade press of various American travel companies, about their continuing involvement in running tours or cruises to Myanmar. One of them, an outfit called Explore Asia, was quoted in Travel Agent Magazine (May 6, 2008) as having given assurances to would-be visitors of the safety of continuing to travel in Myanmar, following the disastrous cyclone that hit there on May 2:
"Nancy, a partner in Explore Asia", wrote Travel Agent Magazine, "notes her company has confirmation from its land operators that, with some modifications in the affected areas, travel to and around Myanmar remains safe... Travel agents will want to redirect their customers around the affected areas. Hotels and tourist destinations upcountry are operating normally".
In other words, travelers should continue to flaunt world public opinion and continue to travel like happy-go-lucky tourists to suffering Myanmar.
Another group of sensitive journalists, our friends at World Hum, have recently, in effect, applauded the U.S. operators of river cruiseboats in Myanmar for making their vessels available for relief efforts. And they have implied that this aid is a positive benefit of the earlier refusal to boycott travel to Myanmar.
After all, if these riverboats had never been sent to Myanmar for American tourists to use, they would not now be available for relief efforts!
These grotesque justifications of tourism to Myanmar deserve to be condemned by every individual. The democratic opposition in Myanmar has repeatedly pleaded for an end to tourist visits there, arguing that touristic expenditures simply maintain the military junta in power. If anything, we should redouble our efforts to condemn the thuggish generals of Myanmar, stop the flow of dollars there through tourism, and eventually rescue its poor, starving people.
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"Nancy, a partner in Explore Asia", wrote Travel Agent Magazine, "notes her company has confirmation from its land operators that, with some modifications in the affected areas, travel to and around Myanmar remains safe... Travel agents will want to redirect their customers around the affected areas. Hotels and tourist destinations upcountry are operating normally".
In other words, travelers should continue to flaunt world public opinion and continue to travel like happy-go-lucky tourists to suffering Myanmar.
Another group of sensitive journalists, our friends at World Hum, have recently, in effect, applauded the U.S. operators of river cruiseboats in Myanmar for making their vessels available for relief efforts. And they have implied that this aid is a positive benefit of the earlier refusal to boycott travel to Myanmar.
After all, if these riverboats had never been sent to Myanmar for American tourists to use, they would not now be available for relief efforts!
These grotesque justifications of tourism to Myanmar deserve to be condemned by every individual. The democratic opposition in Myanmar has repeatedly pleaded for an end to tourist visits there, arguing that touristic expenditures simply maintain the military junta in power. If anything, we should redouble our efforts to condemn the thuggish generals of Myanmar, stop the flow of dollars there through tourism, and eventually rescue its poor, starving people.
Write and read comments about this post.
Labels: bad states
Fifty years ago, 
Arthur Frommer is generally acknowledged to be the nation's foremost travel authority. He is the founder of the
