Local hostility to hotel groups makes it harder for governments to work at developing tourism.

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With the November release from house arrest of Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, activist groups have called an end to a 15-year tourism boycott of the military-ruled country.

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The groups are anxious to protect their own tenant farmers but tourism's also extremely important and some will be looking to reopen areas where there is little or no risk.

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Fearing mass cancellations by tour groups, Mina Gabor, the head of the government's tourism department, immediately went to Boracay and took a swim.

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Dr. Alexis Celeste Bunten, an anthropologist and co-chair of the tourism studies working group at the University of California at Berkeley, says that willing groups and communities need to find a way to commoditize their identity without selling out.

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In an effort to harmonize these efforts, sustainable tourism heavyweights including Rainforest Alliance, the United Nations Foundation, as well as travel groups such as Expedia, Federation of Tour Operators (FTO) and Hyatt Hotels have joined together to create the Global Partnership for Sustainable Tourism Criteria.

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