Myanmar says protests not putting off tourists

Agence France Presse: - Hla Hla Htay
Thu 30 Aug 2007

Rare protests against the military regime in Myanmar have not so far hit the country’s small but growing tourism industry, government and industry officials said Thursday.

Pro-democracy supporters have staged more than 10 days of protests against a massive hike in fuel prices.

More than 100 people have been arrested, including some of the nation’s top pro-democracy leaders, according to activists.

But a tourism ministry official said no significant cancellations have been reported, and arrivals are still up over last year.

“We don’t think tourist arrivals will decrease because of the protests here. Now the number of arrivals is up 11 percent from April 1 to now, compared to the same period last year,” the official told AFP on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to reporters.

“These protests are not about tourists,” he said.

About 630,000 foreigners visited Myanmar, one of the world’s most isolated nations, last year. They spent some 164 million dollars, making tourism a key earner of foreign currency for the military regime.

Protesters have vowed to continue to defy the threat of beatings and arrests to attempt new rallies in Yangon and in other parts of the country.

Even though hundreds of plainclothes police and paramilitary groups are stationed outside Yangon’s city hall, tourists still wander past taking pictures of the moghul-style building and the nearby Sule pagoda.

With the peak tourism season set to begin in October, when the dry season starts and the weather turns cooler, travel operators say they are not worried about the protests scaring off holidaymakers.

“No tourists have cancelled their reservation yet because of these protests,” one tour company manager said.

A manager at a downtown hotel said his rooms were still fully booked.

“We have no worries at all. We are fully booked for high season. Even if some cancel because of the protests here, we can replace them,” he said.

“Almost all hotels in Myanmar are now in good condition as many tourists want to visit here,” he said.

Aung San Suu Kyi, the detained Nobel peace prize winner who leads the pro-democracy opposition, has urged tourists to stay away from Myanmar until the military leaves power.

But some protesters say they wish more tourists would come so they can see first-hand the conditions in the country.

Khin Khin Kyaw, 36, said she did not see any tourists when police arrested 17 protesters as they tried to rally outside city hall last Friday.

“When they arrested the protesters, including my mother, there were no tourists at that time near the city hall. I wish they had seen what happened. The so-called security forces were brutal in making the arrests,” she said.

Her mother, 62-year-old housewife San San Myint, is not in good health and authorities have given no information on her whereabouts, she told AFP.