I went to Myanmar during the Rohingya crisis and this is why I think more people should travel to 'unethical' destinations

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I travelled to Myanmar last year, spending 10 days skimming the country, from Yangon to Inle Lake to the temple fields of Bagan. Myanmar is a spectacular country, with surprisingly good food, and the Burmese were incredibly welcoming – although the timing of the trip raised a dilemma.

The trip was booked when the Rohingya crisis was unfortunately little more than a fleeting mention in The Economist. When the atrocities crashed onto international headlines, I did briefly wonder whether to cancel my trip and boycott Myanmar, as many people did.

I was warned by my travel agent not to discuss politics with any tour guides. I did anyway, and was surprised that my otherwise urbane guide in Yangon was only dimly aware of what was happening in Rakhine State (incidentally far, far away from any “typical” tourist itinerary). To him, the Rohingya were “terrorists” and responsible for the massacre of Burmese Hindus. It was ugly how little he understood about what was happening, or even the international outcry. But when news of the Rohingya plight was buried as a small news item near the back of the English language newspaper The Myanmar Times, really, would he have known any better?

In any case, my carefully curated pictures of Bagan temples and colonial architecture in Yangon went down like a ton of bricks on Instagram, where some had commented, “What about the genocide?” as if I was somehow unaware of what was happening within the country I was travelling to.

My first response is that visiting a country as a tourist does not mean you endorse the government and its actions. Yes, it itches that money you pay for a visa – particularly in developing countries where a visa on arrival often seems entirely unnecessary – and the airport tax often goes straight into government coffers, but even so: visiting is not the same as tacit agreement. When I travelled through Myanmar, I booked with a local travel agent, stayed in local hotels and employed local guides, ensuring that (to the best of my knowledge) money was being directed to those on the ground.

By actively staying away from these countries, we are hurting not the regime but the portion of society most in need of our tourist dollars. We hurt the shopkeepers, waiters and hotel staff, who are not to blame for the actions of their government. Judgement of Aung San Suu Kyi from tourists is small fry when the international community has swung into action and stripped her of various awards

www.independent.co.uk