Myanmar: A blight in Asian tourism that must be resolved

The events in Myanmar raise cause for concern not least within ASEAN political circles and, by extension, the region’s tourism industry fraternity.

As the events unfolded in Myanmar – from silent protests by monks, later joined by ordinary citizens, to the military crackdown – one of Asia’s leading tourism events, the PATA Travel Mart, was taking place in Bali.

The event – the mart – was hailed a success, going by most reports. PATA’s chairman Richard Beere (Tourism Australia) told the Jakarta Post, “This year’s PATA mart has been very good.”

At the start, PATA had issued statistics that Asia would continue to dominate the tourism market, capturing in excess of 70% of all international inbound trips to Asia-Pacific this year, which are expected to total 87.8 million.

“Given the speed of economic and social reform across much of the region, together with ever-improving levels of disposable income and easier travel options, it is not surprising Asia-Pacific is regarded as a powerhouse of travel and tourism growth,” said Strategic Intelligence Center director John Koldowski.

In the midst of the mart, one of PATA’s members, Laurent Kuenzle, managing director of Asian Trails Myanmar, left Bali to return to Yangon.

He left the day the crackdown began to ensure the safety of his customers and staff.

Asian Trails arranged the departure of about 100 customers who were in Myanmar at the time, and moved staff from their office to the Summit Hotel, just in case things got worse.

All bookings for October have been cancelled and the operator is asking clients booked for November and December – the peak months of travel – to hold on and “wait and see”. It is also negotiating cancellation fees with hoteliers so that it does not bear the financial brunt of the turn of events.

Contacted in Yangon on Sunday night, Kuenzle sounded exhausted. While he says the situation had calmed down Sunday night – “it looks like I can move back home and our staff can return to our office” – he, like everyone else, is unsure of how events will unfold over the next few days, weeks or months.

So here’s the tricky question – one that has always dogged the tourism industry and one that has now returned to haunt it. By visiting Myanmar as a tourist, are you supporting the military junta?

If you’ve ever visited Myanmar, you will know it’s not as black and white as that. When you are there, you know your spending benefits the local community. You know that because you see the smiles on their faces. And you are touched by the genuine warmth of the people. You also know your visiting keeps their arts and crafts alive, puts food on their table and their kids in school, among other things.

You also hope that by meeting and getting to know travellers, local people will also be exposed to the outside world so that they know what life can be like – and not accept what is clearly a raw deal from a government that is as corrupt as it is cruel.

You then pray that your visits help raise awareness and keep hope alive.

The latest turn in events will, for sure, intensify calls to boycott all travel to Myanmar. In the UK, tour operators have long felt the pressure of political groups not to sell Myanmar. This can now be expected to spread worldwide.

On Sunday night, on BBC news, the chairman of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Europe suggested the world boycotts the Beijing Olympics to put pressure on China to do something about Myanmar.

Are such radical measures, proposed by the West, the answer? Or is the slowly, slowly catch monkey approach, practised by ASEAN, the right path?

Clearly, both have not worked. So does the answer lie in between? That ASEAN and China need to do more than talk, and the West needs to tone down its rhetoric?

Whatever the answer, Asian tourism cannot hold its head up high until the Burma issue is resolved.