One of Britain’s leading responsible tourism companies is considering offering trips to Burma for the first time — flying in the face of advice issued by Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize winner and leader of Burma’s National League for Democracy, who has been urging a tourist boycott of the SouthEast Asian country for years.

Responsibletravel.com says that it is rethinking its policy on Burma, which has been run by a military junta since 1962, after hearing a report on the Qatar-based television station Al Jazeera in which an anonymous member of the NLD says that tourists should start returning.

The official is quoted as saying: “I personally have no objection. When I say tourists, I mean real tourists, who are interested in the social, economic and cultural conditions. I think these people can always come to us, no problem.”

Burma is the only country to which Responsibletravel.com does not offer trips on principle. Like many other British travel companies it has followed the directions of Suu Kyi, who asked tourists not to visit in the 1990s as she believes that holidaymakers’ cash goes into the pockets of corrupt politicians. Nevertheless, many tour operators still sell breaks and it is estimated that as many as 175,000 tourists visit each year, contributing £165m to the economy.

Justin Francis, the co-found-er of Responsibletravel.com, told Times Travel: “Ten years of sanctions are in danger of hurting the population more than the government. It may be time for a serious rethink.”

However, pro-democracy campaigners have responded by saying that the official quoted on Al Jazeera was a “lone voice” and not respresentative of the policy of the National League for Democracy.

Yvette Mahon, the director of the Burma Campaign in the UK, which publishes a “dirty list” of tour operators offering trips, said that she is sure that Suu Kyi, who is under house arrest, believes that tourists should stay away.

Mahon, who met Suu Kyi in 2003, said: “We asked how we would know whether she wants tourists to return. She told us: ‘You will know because I will tell you.’ She made that very explicit. As we have not heard from her, then we believe tourists should stay away.”

Travel companies that sell Burma holidays include Aber-crombie & Kent, Andrew Brock Travel, Audley Travel, Bales Worldwide, Gecko’s Adventures, Mekong Travel, Orient Express, Peregrine Adventures, Pettitts, SilverBird Travel, Steppes East and Voyages to Asia. Most trips cover the ancient sights of Mandalay, the capital, Rangoon, and tribal villages near Kengtung.

A spokeswoman for Aber-crombie & Kent, which offers 12-day “Mystery of Myanmar” tours, said that recent demand for holidays has been strong. She added: “While A&K does not condone human rights abuses, the company firmly believes that its clients have a right to decide for themselves whether they should visit.”

Derek Tonkin, a former UK Ambassador to Thailand and Vietnam and an expert on Burma, added: “I don’t believe that isolating the country is in the interests of the people.”

Burma would benefit from “responsible, enlightened and interested” tourists, he said. “It is not true that millions are going into the coffers of the generals from these tourists.”

Details: Burma Campaign (020-7324 4710, www.burmacampaign.org.uk).

Times recommends

• Oasis of the Seas: the Times review
• The 20 best new year party places to stay
• Green Spaces 2009: are you the winning writer?