Posted on 12-8-2004
More
Travel Firms Quit Burma
Four companies come off ‘Dirty List’
The Burma Campaign UK today welcomed news that two more travel
firms have
dropped Burma from their 2004-2005 brochures. As a result Magic
Of The
Orient and Explorers Tours have both been removed from the ‘Dirty
List’ of
companies directly or indirectly funding the regime in Burma.
They follow
the announcement by Carnival Corporation/P&O two months
ago that it is
ending cruises to Burma.
Two publishers have also been dropped from the list as they
have stopped
promoting tourism to Burma. Highbury House Communications has
stopped
facilitating tourism on its travel website, and Oddessy Guidebooks
have
informed the Burma Campaign UK that it has no current plans
to produce
another guide to Burma. The last guidebook was published in
1999 and is no
longer widely available.
“This is welcome news,” said Anna Roberts, Campaigns
Officer at the Burma
Campaign UK. “It continues the steady flow of travel companies
ending
their involvement in Burma. The British public are boycotting
Burma as
they know travelling there helps fund the military dictatorship.
Travel
companies that have refused to pull out for ethical reasons
are being
forced to pull out for economic reasons.”
Swiss travel company Kuoni is not now expected to return to
the ‘Dirty
List’. Despite telling the Burma Campaign UK last year
that is was ending
tours to Burma, Kuoni subsidiaries in the US and Germany continued
selling
tours to Burma. Another subsidiary was also considering tours
to Burma in
their 2004-2005 brochure. German subsidiary Euro Lloyd is now
stopping
tours to Burma, and US subsidiary Intravel will end tours from
October
2004. A review earlier this year led to Kuoni deciding not to
resume tours
to Burma.
Burma’s democracy movement has called for a tourist boycott
of the
country. In no other country are human rights abuses and tourism
so
closely linked. Slave and child labour was widely used to build
tourist
infrastructure. Burma’s regime claims it earns $100 million
a year from
tourism. It spends around 50 percent of its budget on the military.
The
Burma Campaign UK is publishing an updated version of its ‘Dirty
List’ on
August 24th. More than 20 companies from the travel industry
are expected
to be on the list.
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