FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE SUNDAY 29TH FEBRUARY 2004

STA Travel hit by nation-wide student protests over Burma links - Monday 1st March

The Burma Campaign UK student network is planning a nation-wide day of action against STA Travel on Monday 1st March. STA Travel is part of Diethelm Keller Travel, which organises tours to Burma.

Hundreds of students in beachwear and Bermuda shorts will be protesting at STA Travel offices demanding Diethelm pull out of Burma. Students from 33 universities including London, Norwich, Cardiff and Leicester, are expected to take part.

"STA and Diethelm are helping to keep the Burmese dictatorship in power by providing them with a vital source of income," said Beth Brockett, co-ordinator of the Burma Campaign student network. "STA specialise in student travel, but students are disgusted that STA is linked with Burma's brutal regime. We are calling for a boycott of STA Travel until their parent company pulls out of Burma."

These protests are part of an ongoing campaign against STA Travel. Following the day of action, STA boycott motions will be put before Student Unions across the country.

STA is a subsidiary of the privately owned Swiss travel giant Diethelm Keller Group. Diethelm Keller has over 15,000 employees in more than 35 countries in Asia, Europe and the Americas. The company boasts that it pioneered tourism to Burma. STA are the main agent used by students with 65 university and high street branches.

Burma is ruled by a brutal military dictatorship. Tourism provides the dictatorship with millions of dollars of vital revenue. Forced and child labour has been used to build tourist facilities. Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma's pro-democracy leader, has asked tourists not to visit Burma.

For more information contact Mark Farmaner, Media Officer 0794 1239640, or Beth Brockett, student co-ordinator, on 07736 937 854