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| LATEST NEWS |
Aug 18, 2009 | |
Burmese opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi has indicated that she is no longer opposed to tourism to her country. |
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| She is now saying that the development of the tourism sector can be encouraged, so long as it is part of private and not government enterprise, and that it might actually help draw more world-wide attention to the oppression of the Burmese people by the military junta. She made her views known through a member of her political party, the National League for Democracy (NLD). | ||
In 2002, when interviewed by the BBC, she commented on tourism to her country, saying: “We have not yet come to the point where we encourage people to come to Burma as tourists.” |
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News of her change in position is being welcomed by the tourism industry, but has left campaigners against the military dictatorship unmoved. |
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| The director of TransIndus Travel, Amrit Singh, who was raised in Burma, commented: “I am thrilled and heartened. Three years ago I heard through a senior member of the NLD, that the Lady [as Aung San Suu Kyi is known to the Burmese] was reconsidering her view, and I am delighted that she has. The call to boycott Burma has had no impact on the military’s stance. It has only managed to isolate the ordinary people by encouraging the world to look away.” | ||
| www.telegraph.co.uk | ||
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Globetrotting Gourmet pre: Aug 18, 2009 |
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| Your safety is paramont. Due to last year's instability in Burma/Myanmar, we will continue to closely monitor the situation prior to this tour. Tour dates, however, are guaranteed. If you feel there is any risk for your personal well fare, we offer an unconditional 100% money back guarantee. That being said, we stress that the Burmese depend on tourism dollars to survive. | ||||||
Boycotts never achieve a great deal in changing regimes and they can actually be counterproductive, by harming the people you're trying to help. More importantly, Globetrotting Gourmet personally sees how tourism dollars help individuals in Burma -- people who otherwise would have no opportunity to earn foreign currency. |
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| Travel to Burma/Myanmar, does attract critics. It took us many years to reconcile ourselves first to visiting here, but our personal observations have since helped us understand tourism's importance to its innocent citizens who merely try to eke out an existence. One satisfaction we have today -- that was not possible a decade ago -- is that private tour companies, airlines and hotels now operate in the country, when in the past they were all government owned. Likewise, contact with the outside world helps inform the country's citizens. | ||||||
After due consideration, we have included Burma/Myanmar on our travel agenda again this year. It is the enchanting encounters with its citizens -- too long out of contact with the outside world -- that makes travel to Myanmar rewarding to us. And in the process, we know we are helping those we meet. |
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| As with all of our Globetrotting Gourmet® food tours, we will be donating a portion of our proceeds to the Kalawya monastery and school, formerly home to 1300 monks and 200 nuns from across the country. This is our personal way of saying thank you to the Burmese community for allowing us to visit their country. | ||||||
Advocates of travel to Burma/Myanmar now include the British group Voices For Burma. Lonely Planet's founder calls the country one of his personal favorite destinations. |
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For further information on the ideological debate about travel to Myanmar, check out the Lonely Planet website link: |
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| http://www.lonelyplanet.com/worldguide/destinations/asia/myanmar/ | ||||||
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