Tourists flock to military-ruled Myanmar

Agence France Presse 15 December 2004

Yangon: Pausing to photograph Buddhist monks at Yangon's glittering Shwedagon pagoda, Spaniard Carlos Iribas explains why he was drawn to military-ruled Myanmar, which has emerged as one of Asia's fastest growing tourist destinations.

"It's a controversial decision with the political situation, I know," the 29-year-old conceded to AFP.
"But here you can find an Asia that is fast disappearing," he said, adding that he and other tourists did all they could to avoid directly benefiting the junta which runs the country with an iron fist.

It is a common refrain among tourists who fuel one of the only growth areas in an economy decimated by years of neglect, mismanagement and international sanctions.

Tourists mulling a visit to this beautiful but repressed country find themselves in a quandary; torn between a plea by the opposition not to visit until reforms are introduced, and a craving for the old Asia that has all but vanished in tourist centres like Thailand, Singapore and Hong Kong.

That desire to discover appears to be winning out. Nearly 600,000 foreign visitors arrived last year, an increase of more than 20 percent over 2002, generating 116 million dollars, up from 99 million, according to the junta.

Border tourism skyrocketed 44 percent over the same period, accounting for more than half of all visitors in 2003.

A junta survey at Yangon airport revealed visitors from Thailand topped the list of Asian tourists, accounting for 10.8 percent, followed in order by Taiwan, Japan and China.

Germany provided the highest number of Western tourists, trailed by the United States, France, Britain and Italy.

"Asian economies are doing very well, so more Asians are traveling and this is coupled with the fact that for everyone, the country offers discovery and a refreshing window into the past," Ken Scott of the Pacific Asia Travel Association told AFP.

Myanmar's tourist spurt flies in the face of an international outcry over the ongoing detention of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, whose National League for Democracy (NLD) party supports a tourism ban, as advocated by some human rights groups, until the junta introduces democratic reforms.

The military has ruled Myanmar since 1962 -- ignoring a landslide election victory by the NLD in 1990 and stands accused of widespread human rights abuses.

Scott said most travelers who visit the country are aware of the situation. "They think that whether they go or not isn't going to resolve the impasse which has to be solved at the top," he said.

"They also know that while some money inevitably goes into the hands of the generals it also goes to many hard-working local people."

Buoyed by the figures, the junta has launched tourism initiatives that have drawn a mixed reaction abroad.

The most controversial is a plan to build a 60-metre-high observation tower at the ancient city of Bagan, a historic collection of thousands of 11th and 12th century Buddhist monuments which is the nation's second most visited site after Shwedagon pagoda.

The plans alarmed preservationists at UNESCO, the United Nations cultural body, which is in protracted negotiations with Yangon to list Bagan as Myanmar's first World Heritage site.

Local hoteliers in October launched a drive to develop resorts along Myanmar's undiscovered beaches, starting with a five-star resort on undeveloped Maungmagan beach southeast of Yangon.

The beaches along Myanmar's 2,830 kilometres (1,758 miles) of coastline are acknowledged as ripe for resort development, although the coast is battered by monsoons from May to October and includes large swathes of mangroves.

Myanmar's best-known beach destination, Ngapali northwest of Yangon, has just seven hotels, but another 10 are due to open there by next April, with approval given for 20 new resorts south of Ngapali.

The tourism promotion board has also added seaside destinations to its familiarisation tours for travel agents.

But experts say Myanmar's true delights lay far from the coasts and warn the regime needs to wake up to its strengths and weaknesses if it wants the fledgling tourism boom to continue.

"Burma (the country's former name) is never going to compete with neighbouring Thailand for beaches," Steven Martin, co-author of the current Lonely Planet guide for Myanmar, told AFP.

"It needs to realize its strengths are historic architecture, old-world charm and an amazingly warm and open people as-yet unjaded by hordes of tourists."

Not everyone is pleased with the tourism upturn, with Debbie Stothard of pressure group Altsean-Burma urging people to skip Myanmar and engage in more "ethical" tourism.

"What people have to remember is the money they spend doesn't go on things like education but on weapons so the junta can terrorise their own people," she said.

For many, Myanmar's tourism route -- often taking in Yangon, the historic city of Mandalay, Bagan and Inle Lake -- pulls back the curtain on Asia's past.

"People looking for final frontiers can ride on old trains while seeing sights they won't easily find in parts of Southeast Asia, such as water buffalo still plowing fields and people riding ox-drawn carts," Martin said.