A lot has been written about tourism and its prospects in Bangladesh. The Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation, (BPC), which we would call Parjatan for short, is a huge public sector corporation created to promote the tourism sector of the country. But compared with its size, manpower and cost, the corporation could produce little. There are, however, some tourism ventures like hotels, motels, restaurants and curio shops and some vehicles to carry tourists operated by Parjatan. How far these facilities operated by the state-run costly behemoth are contributing to the tourism industry is an open question. However, the overall condition of the tourism sector shows what a plight this service industry is in, if one is considering only the government body that looks after it. What is the picture of the private sector-run part of this service industry? It is still in a state of nascence to be labelled as an industry proper in its own right.
The number of tourists visiting the country during the last four years between 2003 and 2006 does not at all portray a very cheering scenario. Taking 2003 as the base year when about 244,000 tourists visited Bangladesh, in 2004 the number increased by 12.5 per cent to 271,000, while in the year that followed (2005), the number of visitors fell by about 15 per cent to 208,000. However, last year (2006), the figure rose slightly (around 4.5 per cent) in comparison to the base year to 255,000, though it remained below the 2004's level.
Do the above noted figures showing the number of tourists, who entered the country during the past four years, bear comparison to any South East Asian or some Middle Eastern destinations? Thailand, for example, draws around 20 million visitors annually, while Dubai pulls around 10 million visitors. India is unhappy that it gets a very small share (about 4.5 million) of this huge tourism market, despite its colossal size and potential as a tourist destination. Where does Bangladesh stand vis-à-vis its eastern and western neighbours when one is counting the number of tourists it is able to attract? Not to speak of countries like Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Dubai or even India, Bangladesh is lagging behind even the Maldives Islands in attracting foreign tourists.
The government and local tourist operators on various occasions, seminars and events organised by them often talk about developing this service industry in a big way, but nothing happened during all these years since the nation became independent. The answer to the question as to why we have failed to make any progress in this regard is again the same old story that have been retold again and again in the case of other sectors of economy.
The importance of the tourism sector in newly emerging economies need not be overemphasised. But to develop this sector, aggressive marketing of the country's tourist potential is necessary. The tourists are travellers who want to spend their money just for the pleasure of their eyes, minds and hearts. They want to enjoy their time and to their heart's content at that during such sightseeing tours. And, of course, they would like to have their money's worth. So, to project the spots of natural beauty, heritage, history, the cities, hotels, beaches and whatever of interest the country has before our guests, we have to go for an aggressive marketing. Since tourism has a lot to do with the country's image before the world at large, the government has a big role to play to create a very positive and glamorous image of the country and highlight its most interesting points.
To develop tourism, the first thing that comes into consideration is the relevant infrastructure. The places of historical interest should be made accessible and hospitable to the visitors. The roads leading to those places should be in good order; transports of all modes should be available in plenty and at reasonable costs. A change in perception and attitude in this connection is necessary. Foreigners on tour do not always mean that they are very rich and want to blow their money. Not at all. Most tourists, whether from home or abroad, have a tight budget. So it is a damper on a tourist's spirit when the transport operators, the food shops, the curio shops, etc, put exorbitantly high charges on their articles or services on offer. The first condition to satisfy before we go for making the places of tourist attractions of the country really attractive to the eyes of the visiting guests is to bring those within their reach in terms of their accessibility, cost and the qualities of being hospitable.
The road, rail, river, sea and air transport services will have to go through a complete overhauling to attract foreign tourists. The related physical infrastructures need to go through similar renovation. Being a landscape crisscrossed by a thousand rivers, streams, lakes, ponds and water bodies, cruises on the waterways can be a source of great attraction to the visitors. Both the government and the private sector have to come in a big way to invest and develop the water transport sector as well as make the water ways more navigable and attractive. The traditional boats can have a boost and their operators can have a new lease of life if the water routes of the country can be made more accessible and attractive to the foreign tourists.
It is said that the Cox's Bazar has the longest sea beach in the world. But what is that to a foreign or even a local tourist if that beach continues to remain an unattended, inhospitable and unpredictable wilderness? People visiting the beach are not supposed to risk their lives while having a fun. The Kuakata is another place of extraordinary beauty on Bangladesh's shores. But to make them tourist-friendly a lot of work has to be done and investment made both by the government and the private sector.
The Tour Operators' Association of Bangladesh (TOAB) in a recently held press conference said that they have adopted a strategy to promote tourism in the country. It is a very timely step while economies are growing at a very fast pace in neighbouring India and China. The World Tourism Organisation has predicted that by 2012, about 73 per cent of the tourists in the global market will come from India and China. And most of them will visit their neighbouring countries.
To get hold of that great opportunity in the tourism business opening up before us in the near future, Bangladesh's tourism sector must start taking all the preparations from this moment. At the same it must not also ignore the increasing prospect of the domestic market of this sector.
As has been said earlier, it is not enough that the country possesses a potential for becoming a covetable tourist destination. To turn that possibility into reality, marketing is a pre-condition. One needs only to look at Malaysia or even the Maldives to have an idea of how to do to that.
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