Strengthen tourism infrastructure

A report published in this newspaper yesterday again brought into sharp focus the plight of domestic tourists cause by the lack of adequate infrastructure and other amenities take for granted in most other countries of the world.

We believe that Bangladesh’s tourism industry is a potential shot in the arm for the country’s economy, which is facing tough times these days.

However like many other sectors, tourism cannot flourish without proper planning, investment, marketing and sound government policies. Despite the growth of the domestic tourism industry, many popular destinations lack modern, and at time even basic, amenities.

It is very unfortunate that Bangladesh still does not have a masterplan for tourism, even after 51 years of its independence. The sector has not been able to reap much benefit despite huge prospects.

Experts say the main obstacles are the bureaucratic tangles, inadequate infrastructure facilities, backward communications, and a lack of decent accommodation, safety and security, professionalism and skilled manpower.

The above mentioned The Business Post report stated that hundreds of tourists had to spend nights under the open sky in Cox’s Bazar and Sajek of Rangamati as resort and hotel owners failed to accommodate a sudden influx of visitors at the weekend extended by an extra holiday on the occasion of Christmas. The report quoted hoteliers as saying that winter is the peak season for tourism. On top of it, the three-day holiday brought a huge swarm of visitors to popular tourist attractions, leading to a room crunch at the hospitality facilities.

Bangladesh is blessed with plenty of naturally stunning travel destinations to explore, starting from coasts and beaches to other archaeological, historic locations, from religious sites to hills and jungles. To harness the best possible output from our tourist attractions, we need to ensure security and build awareness regarding tourism. We need to find new ways to educate our people to communicate and serve better when they encounter tourists. Some people frequently complain that we cannot portray or highlight our tourism industry, compared to our neighbouring countries. In that, prospective people associated with the tourism industry must encourage the media and the youth to highlight our tourism attractions.

Currently, more than 4.5 million people are working in Bangladesh’s tourism industry. Experts predict that this sector will continue to create more jobs in the coming years. These days, many professional courses on hotel and hospitality management are available, and those are participating in such courses are opting to continue their career in this particular sector.

Our tourism industry is estimated to contribute more than 4 per cent to our GDP. Despite having a long list of different drawbacks, it is laudable that the Bangladesh tourism industry has enabled itself to this position today and showing signs of significant growth in the foreseeable future.

The authorities have set a goal for the next ten years. They want to contribute more than 6 per cent to the GDP. They plan to do that by ensuring new tourist zones for foreigners.

Many countries have turned their tourism industry into a lucrative source of earning foreign revenue and endorsing their countries at the same time. Before the pandemic started, about 0.3 to 0.35 million tourists from abroad used to visit our country annually. Now the concerned authorities want to double that number in the coming decade.

We also want to stress the need for responsible tourism. The government would have to regulate both the construction of hotels and the inflow of tourists to popular destinations, in order to conserve the scenery and reduce the carbon footprint. The tourism industry can thrive only in an atmosphere of security and convenience for travellers. This is missing at the moment.