Action Alert : Club Med going into

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Subject: Action Alert : Club Med going into Burma ! 

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Headline: Club Med close to closing Burma dvelopment deal, beach site already selected
Keywords: May crackdown, National League for Democracy (NLD), Aung San Suu Kyi, human rights, Club Med, Serge Trigano
Date : 12 Jun, 1996 
Source: dawn star <cd@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, http://www-uvi.eunet.fr/ (Dawn Star)
Section: ebn
Rubrique: tb

Paris (Euro-Burmanet)  - Burma is soon to be a site of the international tourist resort multinational,  Club Méditerranée, according to a television interview with Club Med  président directeur général Serge Trigano, on the business program "Capital",  which aired recently on the highly popular youth-oriented television channel M6. 

 "1998 is the date for the project opening ", a company press spokewoman told Euro-Burmanet, Paris-based  Free Burma news organisation,  in a telephone interview.

Although details of the development were not released,  the spokeswoman added that "the site for Club Med 'a priori' been  selected. It is on the coast of Burma. "

"Obviously it is too early to annonce officially", she cautioned, saying only that  "it is an active project of development. The agreement is already signed."

Mr. Serge Trigano, who took direction of the company in 1993, said that Club Med is targetting some of the best beach sites in the world, and will not overlook Burma, which despite the appeal by Nobel Prize winner Daw Aung San Suu Kyi not to invest in Burma at this time, remains part of the Club Med's overall development plans for South East Asia.

However, the timing of Mr. Trigano's announcement could not be worse for the company.  Dissident opposition leader Suu Kyi has stepped up  repeated appeals to the world press to avoid travelling to Burma and to boycott the "Visit Myanmar Year 1996", the Slorc propoganda tourist campaign that by all indicators has so far been an economic failure. 

So, why  then has Club Med choosen to flagrantly ignore the French national press reports of the May crackdown by the Burmese junta Slorc, and arrests of hundreds of leaders of the democratic party, the National League for Democracy (NLD) remains to be answered. Part of the company's determination to minimalise countless reports of human rights violations in Burma is due to the company's millions of dollars lost due to the French nuclear testing in the Pacific region where Club Med had enjoyed a strong tourist activity. 

According to the spokeswoman, " Club Med did everything they could to get into Burma. They (the company) are in the process of doing the maximum to installing a site there. " She said that as soon as the agreement became a done deal, it would be officially announced, sooner or later.

" You know ", she said, " Asia is very complicated. It takes a lot of time before a project is finalised ".

 Other Club Med vacation resort sites range from the Philippines, Hongkong, and China, where the company is currently  negotiating sites.Earlier this year the Club Med announced a ten-day travel package from Paris to the Burmese capital Rangoon, Pagan and Mandalay for 17 000 francs, and labelled the trip "The Charms of Discovery ".

end

BOYCOTT "  VISIT MYANMAR YEAR 1996 " . Write CLUB MED today.

Monsieur SERGE TRIGANO
Président Directeur Général
Club Méditerranée
25 rue vivienne
75088 Paris Cedex 02
France

Tel directe : (33 1)  42 86 48 76 
Fax directe:  (33 1)  42 86 40 19

Club Med encompasses a very large network of travel agencies :

* 62 Boutiques Club Med Voyages
* 423 agences Havas Voyages 
* 25 agences Forum Voyages
* 40 agencies American Express

Club Med
Paris : (33 1) 42 96 10 00
Marseille :     91 77 20 00

BOYCOTT "  VISIT MYANMAR YEAR 1996 "

Euro-Burmanet
http://www-uvi.eunet.fr/asia/euro-burma