There is no organized boycott against travel to Zimbabwe, but some who live there urge tourists to stay away. Doing so, they reason, sends a strong message of disapproval to the Mugabe government and starves it of badly needed tourist dollars (see Out of Africa). The U.S. State Department continues to warn about Zimbabwe's ongoing humanitarian and economic crises, food and fuel shortages, and the general state of political unrest. As a result, few Americans are traveling to the once-thriving destination, and tourism revenue has dropped precipitously.

Myanmar
The glittering wats and lush countryside of this small nation adjacent to Thailand are big draws for travelers seeking a land frozen in time. In truth, though, many of its most pristine-looking areas were created when the ruling military junta relocated tens of thousands of residents to outlying villages and used slave labor—including children—to raze homes and build roadways to pave the way for the lucrative international tourism business. Although the country is still referred to by many as Burma, the junta officially changed the name to Myanmar in 1989.

The London-based advocacy group Burma Campaign UK, which has pressured tour companies and guidebook publishers to drop Myanmar trips and titles from their catalogs, vigorously supports a tourism ban. "We have found that people are very sympathetic once they hear about the boycott," explains Burma Campaign spokesman Mark Farmaner.

In June, the U.S. Congress voted almost unanimously to continue trade sanctions against Myanmar under the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act. The legislation is part of a juggernaut of sanctions and boycotts launched against the country when its National League for Democracy party was prevented from taking office after a landslide election victory in 1990. During the campaign, the party's leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, was placed under house arrest; she was later released but has been rearrested several times.

"What is key about this boycott is that it is not something dreamed up by well-meaning middle-class white people in a faraway land," Farmaner says. "The call for the boycott came from within Burma—from Burma's elected democratic leaders and from students and ethnic minority organizations. We campaign for a boycott on their behalf."

Slowly, though, travelers and even some vocal supporters of the boycott are reconsidering the ban, reasoning that tourism would expose the people of Myanmar to life outside their borders and that tourist dollars might find their way to those in need.

"If the people don't get money through tourism, they are going to use up the environment and natural resources faster," says Ka Hsaw Wa, a dissident and former proponent of the boycott who now thinks tourism may be helping the locals in small ways and believes the country should be more open to visitors. "I want the world to see Burma as Burma. For now, tourists can only visit areas the military has prepared for them."