Kuoni – Europe’s sixth largest travel company – has announced it will stop operating in Burma at the end of this year. The company has been on a ‘dirty list’ of companies in Burma published by the Burma Campaign UK.
Sue Biggs, Managing Director of Kuoni, told the Burma Campaign UK: “As a result of the recent events in Asia and low public demand, we will not be offering holidays to Burma in 2004. However, we very much look forward to returning to Burma once the British public demands it back, which we expect to happen as soon as democracy is restored in the beautiful country of Burma.”
Yvette Mahon, Director of the Burma Campaign UK welcomed the move. “We are absolutely delighted that Kuoni are pulling out of Burma”, she said. “Tourism is a vital source of income for the dictatorship in Burma. This means less money for the generals, and sends a strong message to other tour operators that they should get out too. We hope they follow Kuoni’s lead.”
Burma, ruled by one of the most brutal military dictatorships in the world, is the subject of a tourist boycott following calls by Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of Burma’s democracy movement, for tourists to stay away. Tourism provides the generals with an important source of foreign currency, and slave labour has been widely used to build tourist infrastructure.
“Travel companies operating in Burma are helping to prop up the regime”, says Yvette Mahon. “We will now be turning our attention to Orient Express, one of the last significant tour operators left in Burma.”
For more information contact Yvette Mahon, Director of the Burma Campaign UK, on 020 7281 7377 or Mark Farmaner, Media Officer, on 020 7281 7377