Home ›› 03 Dec 2022 ›› Governance
Secretary of the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism Mokammel Hossain said that, proper coordination of strategic partnership between the aviation and tourism sectors is necessary which will have an immense impact on the Gross domestic product (GDP) of the country.
The tourism and aviation industry are closely related and growth of tourism depends on a steady aviation sector to draw tourists from all around the world, the secretary said, while attending a seminar as a chairperson in the Bangladesh International Travel and Tourism Expo (BITTE).
Association of Travel Agents of Bangladesh (ATAB) organised the seminar title “Prospect of Aviation and Tourism, connecting Bangladesh to the world” on Friday.
Some countries like Indonesia and Maldives rely on aviation to attract visitors towards exotic destinations in their countries, Mokammel Hossain said, adding that, many developing countries also require a growing tourism industry to maintain the momentum of growth in the economy driven by an accessible and efficient air transport system.
“Bangladesh has an emerging economy and the world has no doubt about our resilience and potentials. Many countries are therefore willing to establish connectivity with Bangladesh and interested to sign air service agreements with us,” he said.
“We hope that the volume of air travel will also increase after completing the third terminal. I am happy to share with you that Bangladesh is maintaining aviation safety and security standards above the world average,” he added.
The secretary said that, “Bangladesh Tourism Board and A21 are now working jointly to brand each district of the country. Each district of Bangladesh has specific specialties. Some districts are good for tourism while some others are for special products or food. 36 Districts out of 64 are directly linked with tourism while the rest are also linked indirectly.”
“We are encouraging our entrepreneurs to invest and tap on the potential of tourism sector by using the district branding initiative as a guideline,” he added. Civil Aviation Authority, Bangladesh (CAAB) Chairman Air Vice Marshal M Mafidur Rahman, who presented the keynote paper said that, aviation creates job, opportunity and aviation industry contribute 3.6 per cent of the world’s GDP. Any kind of tours on business, education, health purposes are considered as tourism, he said, adding that, growth of aviation comes from improved connectivity.
Bangladesh has huge opportunities in tourism like other countries as our geography is very viable location for air transport to connect the other parts of the world, Mafidur Rahman said, adding that, Bangladesh’s economy has expanded faster than other countries in the last several years.
The CAAB chairman said that the aviation industry is currently facing several challenges including rising oil prices, shortage of new advanced technology, Ukraine-Russia war, ensuring passengers’ comfort and safety, modernisation of security systems after 9/11 attack and climate change.
