'Responsible Tourism' Begins at Home

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COMMENTARY
'Responsible Tourism' Begins at Home

By YENI

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

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It can also be a method for showing the members of the regime who may be inclined towards change that opening up to the outside world will not bring about the apocalypse that the paranoid hardliners predict.

But for Burmese tourism to be done right, the government must make the changes necessary to allow responsible travelers to conveniently visit the country, and those tourists that do visit must listen to all of what Suu Kyi said and demand that their stay benefit the Burmese population as a whole, and not just the powerful elite.

If both these things occur, then the Burmese people can happily say to visitors: “Welcome to the Golden Land.” But if either does not occur, then visitors to Burma will be walking right into a tourist trap.

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COMMENTS (7)

Myanmar Patriots Wrote:

28/06/2011

"The debate about whether it is appropriate to visit Burma is over. It ended when pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), changed their policy from calling for a tourism boycott, which they had done since 1996, to calling for 'responsible tourism.' "

It ended because of the influence of our King in europe Union, who has been working tirelessly for the good of Burtma and Burmese people.

Everywhere His Majesty went, the people were explained about the truth about Burma (NOT half as bad as neo-colonialist media has been projecting) and HM actively promoted tourism to Burma and investment in Burma and charities for the Burmese poor.

So don't deny it.

WE FORCED TRAITOR SUU KYI ARIS TO SUBMIT TO OUR WILL!

We hope she is reading this message.

WE ARE FEARLESS. BUT WE USE BRAIN

NDA Wrote:

25/06/2011

Hi Ava, Your organization sounds really interesting! However, I just checked out your website, but I couldn't find any of the reports you mentioned as having published, nor is there any business directory. I'm just curious, but don't you think it would be wiser to wait until your organization actually accomplishes or produces something before you start advertising it with misleading comments tacked on to other articles?

TAH Wrote:

24/06/2011

Yes, the biggest obstacle is military regime itself, not only in this tourism sector but in all other sectors as well. If they cannot allow tourists to visit currently conflict-prone areas, there are many other relatively peaceful areas like Arakan State for tourists to visit. But still tourists cannot visit as they like. They are just confined to Akyab and Mrauk-U. Don't be worry about poverty marks, being produced by your misrule, to be seen by tourists in many parts of Burma as these are already known by the world. Or if tourists want to feel how it is like to live under severe movement restriction should visiti Burma.

Christoph Wrote:

24/06/2011

Responsible tourism must be a multilateral approach. Burmese authorities certainly must provide the basic conditions - what they haven't done yet. But also many foreign tourists see the Burmese locals and culture as mere parts of a product that they have paid for. Tour operators often have a similar attitude of complacency about the people. I noticed even in privately owned hotels those scary photos of army senior people on a visit, giving their "blessing". Just pampering spoiled tourists and the tourist industry simply isn't enough.

ktun Wrote:

23/06/2011

I met a German tourist who visited Rangoon in Jan 2010. My Burmese friend who was very helpful to tourists met her on the plane from Pagan. This tourist was frank enough to tell us that her visit to Burma was very costly because she had to pay tip money everywhere she went. The hotels were not that cheap too, but she found one where she paid under $20 a day. She told us she had to cut short her visit because she ran out of her money in the 5 days she was there. My friend took her sight seeing and paid for all entrance fees Burma charged all tourists.

If tourists feel that it costs more to visit a country that has not much to offer other than its difference from the developed world, Burma will never have tourism like in other countries.

I first thought increased tourism would also bring in the wrong type of culture with many new diseases. But even with limited tourism, Burma has its own share of STDs, no doubt brought in by some workers who tried to get employment in neighboring countries.

Samarinde Wrote:

22/06/2011

Nice article. I don't think the underdeveloped transport and other systems are a major player in this. For many visitors to countries like Burma, the fact that the country is so different is part of the attraction and reason why they visit. If visitors (from 'developed' countries) want luxurious and carefully planned and organised travel, they would go somewhere else. You mention Laos and Cambodia. Travelling around these countries is not always easy and comfortable either. Yet it does not stop tourists from coming. The same in Burma: the beauty of the country and the Burmese people outweighs problems with travelling there by large. The biggest obstacle to a blooming tourism industry is the current regime, which abuses its population and makes it difficult for tourists to visit. Many tourists from foreign countries are used to freedom. Freedom of movement. Which is lacking in Burma. For its own people too. Who would - no doubt - also be happy with a more developed transport system.

Ava Wrote:

22/06/2011

Please check out Tourism Transparency! Campaigning for an open and accountable tourism industry, this new NGO promotes political awareness amongst tourists visiting Burma. Ensuring that tourists are not naive when they visit Burma, Tourism Transparency publishes reports on the impacts of tourism in Burma and provides free access to a business directory that informs about tourism businesses in Burma, and their owners. In this way, tourists will actually know where their money goes!

http://www.tourismtransparency.org/