Home ›› 11 Jan 2022 ›› Opinion
The Covid-19 pandemic disrupted our lives and livelihood in a big way. It has had a profound social and economic impact on the world. Billions of people have dropped below the poverty line. The tourism sector has also suffered a lot. Millions of organizations, enterprises and individuals are associated with this sector. The tourism and travel industry, one of the sectors hit hard by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, estimates its loss at Tk 114 billion possible loss till the middle of 2021. The sector insiders said many tour operators, hotels, resorts, airlines and catering services where some four million people are involved are now struggling to survive. The depressing situation of this sector is also reflected in the government’s travel tax collection. The tax revenue from it during the immediate past financial year was the lowest in the last five years.
Considering risk factors, banks were not willing to provide loans to the tour operators, as there were travel restrictions in many of the countries across the world. On the other hand, the main source of travel tax is outbound passengers. It is mandatory for the outbound passengers, except for infants, from Bangladesh to pay travel tax at certain rates for traveling by air, land or sea.
In today’s world travel and tourism is going through a really difficult time. For the whole of 2020 and 2021, there have been various restrictions on travel and recreational activities which made the people in this sector feel somewhat cornered. Other industries are usually confined to certain geographical areas. But the tourism sector is more or less spread all over the world. In other words, directly and indirectly, almost all the countries of the world are paying special attention to the tourism sector these days. In the olden days, the practice of visiting different places on the initiative of individuals was common, but with the advent of modern trade, it has now risen to the level of ‘art’.
In the pre-pandemic world, the travel and tourism sector contributed about 10.6 percent to total global employment. In other words, one out of every ten employees was in this sector. Moreover, those in the know expressed hope for another 100 million new jobs in the sector in the next decade. That too has fallen into uncertainty due to the adverse impacts of the pandemic. The tourism sector has a special tendency to create employment for women and youth. As a result, a significant portion of them is now facing challenges regarding employment. The picture is almost the same in all parts of the world.
Expenditure on domestic travel has halved worldwide. Expenditure on international travel has declined by 69.4 per cent. Attempts are being made in some countries to retain the jobs of the workers by providing government incentives and short working hours. However, if the whole sector is not able to turn around in a short period of time, that attempt is likely to fail.
Sustainable development requires inclusive growth of every citizen, which is possible only by following the ‘Live No One Behind’, one of the principles of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030 agenda. This requires the eradication of all forms of poverty, reducing inequality, ensuring decent jobs and economic growth.
In the last two decades, the concept of inclusive growth has become more pronounced in international development discussions. Because, without it, no country has been able to significantly increase income and reduce poverty. Eliminating inequality and ensuring equal opportunities for all are keys to inclusive growth. Goal 10 of the SDGs, recognized by the UN, states that growth in a country will be “inclusive and sustainable” only when its income growth rate is below 40 per cent and above 10 per cent.
There is a relation between inclusive growth and tourism. Tourism is projected to be one of the fastest-growing and most labour-intensive industries in the world, with real growth expected to continue at 4.3 per cent over the next 10 years. A single tourist can engage 10 people. Its direct and indirect contribution is 11 percent of the global GDP, 9 percent of global employment, 12 percent of global exports and 11 percent of global investment. There is hardly any other industry that can play such an important role in the overall development of a country by having a sustainable and diversified multiplying effect on the economy. By creating employment opportunities for all sections of the society, tourism helps in eliminating economic inequality.
The Bangladesh Tourism Board has already identified sub-sectors of tourism and prepared a master plan. Bangladesh Tourism Board acts as a guardian of the tourism industry, tourism-related partners and beneficiaries, such as tour operators, tour guides, travel agents, hotels, resorts, small and medium enterprises in tourism, amusement parks, spas, salons, parlors, food,, develops and promotes tourism through coordination with staff and artists, event management firms, tourism training centers, various service providers and organizations in the tourism sector and local communities and administrations.
In addition to direct employment in hotels, motels, resorts, amusement parks, tour operators, travel agencies, airlines and transports, it also creates a wide range of jobs in tourism-related supply chain management and backward and forward tourism services. There are other sectors including transportation, construction, engineering, manufacturing, agriculture, food telecom, information technology, security, healthcare, which provide opportunities for safe and comfortable travel for tourists. So, tourism can play a role in inclusive growth.
First, Bangladesh has never received a significant number of foreign tourists. It is not more than 3 per cent. In other words, our market is largely dependent on domestic tourists. The richest people in our country did not usually partake family tours inside the country. Whenever they had the opportunity, they would travel abroad and spend huge sums of money. Since the pandemic began for a long time, they could not go to many tours and they were out of breath. As a result, they are going to visit different places of interest in the country. The recent occupancy rates are quite good, especially in luxury hotels and resorts. Many resorts are running out of space on weekends. Once this group is satisfied with the expected quality of service, our tourism sector will be especially benefited in the long run. Many of the service providers in the sector previously lacked professionalism. Occasionally there were allegations of misconduct and non-cooperation from the tourists. But during this long break, they have been able to realize the importance of tourists. They are deeply aware of the consequences of not having tourists. This has led to a big change in their attitude towards business and tourism. Domestic tourists are the lifeblood of our tourism industry. As a result, it is important to bring prosperity to the business by keeping them satisfied - this feeling must be awakened among the stakeholders.
The writer is a Research Fellow, BNNRC. He can be contacted at hiren.bnnrc@gmail.com
