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We have seen two oft-repeated things centring around our approach to tourism in Bangladesh. From pipe dreams to gradualism to having cold feet we have had it all!
The first we get to hear is, growth of domestic tourism spurs on international tourist arrivals in the country. This sounds like stating the obvious as it points to a certain development of infrastructure having taken place. And, this is conducive to both internal tourism and that of external origins. But little do we plumb deeper; much remains unsaid in that cryptic, rather presumptive and fashionable statement.
The underlying truth is that domestic and international tourists have differing requirements. The latter being of jet-set kind are used to customised services along with a range of choices preferably on offer, particularly in regard to adventure tourism. This variety of specialised adventure is offered on a competitive platter in intra-regional and inter-regional terms. This in-thing now comes in standardised forms!
Admittedly though, the galloping march of domestic tourism has had a lift-pump effect on travelling, hoteliery, handicraft and hospitality industries. What is equally auspicious is that more money into hands of the expanding middle class is rolling into worthwhile recreational , educative and energising purposes.
The second thing we like to indulge in is crystal ball-gazing into future of tourism in the country, sometimes on upbeat, at other times with disillusionment. We nurture high hopes but lack in appreciating the deeper prospects, let alone applying due diligence to translate them into reality. With tourism, we are not on a sidewalk but on a garden path with the nature-endowed countries. In the first place, we need a vision and then a strategy for implementing it with a reworked and rejuvenated private-public participation (PPP). Maybe, unalloyed private enterprise. Just look around and see how iconic five star globe-girdling hotel chains are gravitating to Dhaka in spite of its traffic jam and air pollution in terms of which other cities are no white lilies either!
The clincher here is the economic bonanza Bangladesh presents with its resilient growth of which the world may have only seen a slice of. So, we do need to be seized with the huge gap between potential and realisation that the current state of tourism in Bangladesh depicts. That way we'll be able to bridge it.
The world's longest sea beach , extensive mangrove forest, beauteous Saint Martin coral island, Kuakata offering a view of both sun rise and sunset are there to whet tourist appetite. Bandarbon's Niligiri blue swathe, Rangamati's Sajek valley where clouds hover and Jafflong-Bichhanakandi where rocks mingle with water keep beckoning tourists. Then you have anthropological sites, lush tea gardens stretching to the horizon , or the engulfing extensive watery bowls of haors and baors . To enable your comfortable sojourns eco-resorts are coming up.
Simultaneously, private airlines are working to attract foreign tourists to hitherto neglected 500 small to big natural and historical tourist sites. It is reported that experts researching on international tourism on behalf of the World Travel and Tourism Council ( WTTC) take the view that by 2050, tourists from 51 countries will visit Bangladesh. What efforts are getting underway in Bangladesh to optimise utilisation of that huge prospective bonanza is the question making rounds now. The WTTC in a report titled, "Travel , Tourism and Economic Impact -2018" having analysed Bangladesh's data for the last 25 years, said, " If development of tourist sector is sustained, it will set a rare example of socio-economic progress including export spike and job creation on an extensive scale."
The imperatives now have been identified as providing eco-friendly atmosphere underpinned by security arrangements including safeguards against extortionist forays.