As awareness of the situation grows, more travelers who visit Myanmar are choosing tour operators that do not patronize government-owned hospitality services. Jarrod Hobson, of Asia Transpacific Journeys, in Boulder, Colorado, says his company contracts with ground operators that avoid government-run accommodations, although he acknowledges that a portion of the money travelers spend will inevitably fall into government hands. Overall, he sees it as a small price to pay: "If we stop people from visiting," Hobson says, "the rest of the world will not see what's going on there."

Mary Holte, a researcher in Santa Clara, California, had visited Nepal, China, and Japan and was eager to contrast Myanmar's culture with those she had already experienced in Asia. She chose to travel with the Michigan-based tour company Journeys International because its representatives told her that it uses private, rather than government-controlled, ground operators and hotels, and she believed it would conduct a "socially responsible" trip. "I came home convinced that sanctions do more harm than good," Holte says. "The struggling middle class bears the brunt of the sanctions, not the government. Contact with the rest of the world is what is going to open the door and bring about change." (For another traveler's perspective, see No Regrets.)

Supporters of the boycott say that those who think they can travel to Myanmar and not help fund the regime are misinformed. "I don't know how travelers to Burma can say they don't provide money to the government," says Aung Din, a spokesman for the U.S. Campaign for Burma, a group based in Washington, D.C., that is working to end the military dictatorship and to raise awareness about the regime's human rights violations. "All airlines pay to park at the airport, so tourists are supporting the junta just by buying their plane ticket. When you apply for a visa, you pay a fee, and that money goes straight to the government." Even avoiding government hotels is not as easy as it might seem, Din says. "How can travelers be sure that they're not staying at a hotel owned by government cronies? How can they be sure it was not built by forced labor? As long as they have money, they can train child soldiers and expand military torture and military intelligence. They can control."

Cuba
Americans considering a trip to Cuba face not only an ethical decision but a legal one as well: U.S. Treasury Department regulations make it illegal for Americans to spend money in Cuba without special U.S. government authorization. Tourists are never granted such approval, effectively banning leisure travel to the island. Despite the fact that both houses of Congress voted to ease travel restrictions to Cuba, the Bush administration in May announced that it would be tightening the vise, reducing the amount authorized travelers can spend from $167 to $50 a day, and cutting down on the number and types of approved visits Cuban Americans can make.