Boycott Lonely Planet!

New Internationalist, March, 2008

Tourism is a major source of foreign exchange for Burma, despite the military regime's brutal human rights record. The junta has been actively promoting tourism since 1995. Since then more than a million people have been displaced by 'beautification' schemes near tourist attractions while others have been pushed aside for resorts and golf courses. The use of forced labour, including children, on these developments, has also been documented. That's why a new campaign is targeting the celebrated Lonely Planet series of guidebooks. Lonely Planet is now 75-per-cent owned by BBC Worldwide but the company has so far refused to withdraw the Lonely Planet Guide to Myanmar (Burma).

Any Burma guidebook implicitly promotes and encourages travel to the country as well as signalling to tourists that such travel can be done in an 'ethical' way. It validates the brutal military regime, as do the tourists using the guide and visiting the country.

Tourism Concern, the New Internationalist, Burma Campaign UK and Britain's Trades Union Congress are calling on BBC Worldwide to withdraw its Lonely Planet Guide to Burma in order to send an unambiguous message to the military junta, the tourism industry and the general public.

You can add your voice to these calls by telling BBC Worldwide that you will not buy any Lonely Planet guidebooks until the Burma edition is withdrawn. Sign the petition at www.thepetitionsite.com/1/Burma-Campaign-Action

And watch out for a special focus on Burma in the May issue of the NI.