Intrepid Travel will continue it’s suspension of tours to Myanmar. Intrepid chose to suspend trips to Myanmar (Burma) in 2001 following much internal and external debate over the human rights issues resulting from the…
Intrepid Travel will continue it’s suspension of tours to Myanmar. Intrepid chose to suspend trips to Myanmar (Burma) in 2001 following much internal and external debate over the human rights issues resulting from the country’s military junta.
This week saw Intrepid Travel revisit that debate and following the careful consideration of the vast research gathered and the opinions of both pro-travel NGOs and NGOs who choose to boycott Myanmar, Intrepid has elected to continue its decision and not travel to Myanmar.
While boycotting travel to Myanmar is a controversial debate, Intrepid who have a strong belief in responsible tourism felt that with a growth in tourism comes an increased need for further infrastructure to feed that tourism and thus support is given to the government and its approach to human rights and forced labour. Travelling in Myanmar is virtually impossible without contributing to the government and with numerous reports stating that no other country has a stronger link between its human rights abuses and the tourism industry, Intrepid were led to their conclusion.
Intrepid Travel communications manager, Jen Bird, communications manager for Intrepid, says: “As an operator with a strong belief in responsible tourism we’ve always paid a considerable amount of interest in the impact tourism has on the destinations that we visit. Our original decision to suspend travel to Myanmar in 2001 was a result of a great deal of research and the gathering of opinions from recognised experts. When we came to re-visit our policy on Myanmar last week we again looked at both internal and external research and felt that our concerns regarding human rights abuses and the impact of tourism on government policies warranted a continued suspension. This decision has been strongly supported by our return travellers and we greatly look forward to a time when the decision can be reversed and we can return to Myanmar.”
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
