Chapter-05
Tourism in Bangladesh
1. Introduction
Bangladesh is full of natural beauty. Rivers, coasts and beaches, archaeological sites, religious
places, hills, forests, waterfalls, tea gardens surround it. The Sundarbans, Historic Mosque in
city of Bagerhat, Ruins of the Buddihist Vihara at Paharpur are the three world heritage sites in
Bangladesh among 1007. To observe the beauty of nature, huge amount of domestic and
foreign tourists visit the country and its tourist attraction sites. In 2012, around six-lakh (6
hundred thousand) tourists came Bangladesh to visit and enjoy its beauty. The total
contribution of tourism to GDP was 4.4%, 3.8% to employment and 1.5% to investment in 2013.
Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation (BPC) looks after the tourism sector in Bangladesh under the
ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism. Due to some limitations, Bangladesh has failed to
introduce itself as a tourist destination country. So it is important to focus on the attractive
tourist spots of Bangladesh and the contribution of tourism in the Bangladesh economy. The
major concern is to highlight the factors by which Bangladesh can be one of the major tourist
attractive country in the world in near future.
Tourism is a travel for recreation, religious, leisure, family or business purposes, usually for a
limited duration. Tourism can be domestic or international. Nowadays, tourism is one of the
major sources of income for many countries. Guyer Feuler first defined tourism in 1905. In
order to prevent the disaccords to define “Tourism”, UNWTO defined it as it is indicated
below: “Tourism comprises the activities of persons traveling and staying in places outside
their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and
other purposes”. Tourism is different from travel. Not all travel is tourism. In order for tourism
to happen, there must be a displacement.
2. Importance of tourism
Tourism is an important driver of economic growth. Besides this, People have an opportunity
to exchange culture. Tourism can earn huge amount of foreign currency. Tourism can support
the Balance of Payment (BOP) of a country. Tourism can create employment.
3. Variety in tourist areas of Bangladesh:
Tourist spots in Bangladesh are not concentrated in any particular place. Instead, they are
scattered throughout the country. Division wise, we can present the tourist spots in
Bangladesh as in Table 1.
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3.1. Jaflong
Jaflong is one of the best natural tourist spot in Sylhet. It is situated at the border between
Bangladesh and the Indian state of Meghalaya. It is takes two hours to drive. Tourist can learn
something from the lifestyle of Tribe Khasia in Jaflong.
3.2. Ratargul
Ratargul is a fresh water swamp forest situated in Sylhet by the river of Goain. The water
comes here from the adjacent Goain River. The flavor of Amazon forest is available there.
3.3. Madhabkunda waterfall
This is one of the largest waterfalls in Bangladesh. It is situated in Moulvibazar District. On the
way visitors can see the greenish beauty of tea garden and the hills. Rubber and lemon
plantations form a beautiful landscape.
3.4. Satchari National Park
This Park is in Habiganj District. Wildlife in this park is rich.
3.5. Bisanakandi
Bisanakandi is situated at Bangladesh-India border in Sylhet. It is a landscape beauty among
gardens and hills. Winter is not a suitable time to visit Bisnakandi due to mechanised mining
and stone-laden boats and lorries.
3.6. Srimongal
Srimongal is famous for the largest tea gardens of world. Most of the tea estates are in
Srimongal. It is called "The land of two leaves and a bud". It is known as the tea capital in
Bangladesh. Bangladesh Tea Research Institute (BTRI) and Tea Museum are functioning there.
3.7. Lawacherra Rain Forest
Well-reserved forests in Bangladesh. Prime attraction of this forest is rare Chloroform tree of
Asia. It is like "A Piece of Paradise".
3.8. Patenga Sea Beaches
It is about 22 km. from Chittagong city. Besides the sea beach, you can enjoy boating and river
cruise in the River Karnaphuli.
3.9. Port Area
This is the principal sea port of Bangladesh. Cox's Bazar: World longest (120 km long) beach
.Winter is the season to visit the Cox’s Bazar. St.
3.10. Martins Island: St. Martins Island is the most beautiful Coral Island.
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3.11. Himchori : Himchori is famous for waterfall. Visitor can reach there by jeep from Cox’s
Bazar.
3.12. Parki beach: It is situated in Anwarathana under southern Chittagong region.
3.13. Lalmai, Moinamoti and Shalbon Bihar: They are famous historical and archeological
places around Comilla city.
3.14. Rangamati: If you don't visit Rangamati you will unable to discover a big portion of
natural beauties of Bangladesh.
3.15. Khagrachari: Khagrachhari is the natural wild beauty of Bangladesh. Here visitor can visit
the tribal lifestyle.
3.16. Kaptai Lake: Built in early sixties Kaptai Dam and the lake are the main attractions of
Kaptai.
3.17. Bandarban: Chimbuk hill is one of the major attractions of Bandarban.
3.18. Ahsan Manzil: Ahsan Manzil was a residential palace for Dhaka Nawab Family.
3.19. Shaheed Minar: The Shaheed Minar is a national monument in Dhaka.
3.20. Jatiyo Smritisoudho: Jatiyo Sritishoudho is the symbol in the memory of sacrifice of all
those who gave their lives in the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971.
3.21. Jatiya Sangshad Bahavan: It has been used for the Bangladesh National Assembly.
3.22. Sundarbans: The Sundarban is the world largest tidal mangrove forest. The Sundarbans
cover approximately 10,000 square kilometers, of which 60 percent is in Bangladesh with the
remainder in India. The Sundarbans is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
3.23. Kuakata: Kuakata is a panoramic sea beach located in the Patuakhali district. Kuakata has
a wide sandy beach from where one can see both the sunrise and sunset.
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Table.1: Tourist spots in Bangladesh at a glance
Name
of
division
Barisal
the Location
Bangladesh
Southwest
in
Places to visit
Kuakata
Chittagong
Southern
Patenga Sea Beach, War Cemetery, Port, Cox's Bazar, St.
Martins Island, Himchori and Inani Beach, Parki beach,
Lalmai, Moinamoti and Shalbon Bihar, Chittagong Hill
tracks (Rangamati, Khagrachari, Bandarban and Kaptai)
Dhaka
Capital city
Shaheed Minar, Jatiyo Smritisoudho, Ahsan Manzil, Jatiya
Sangshad Bahavan
Khulna
Southwest
The Sundarbans
Rajshahi
Northern
Mahasthangarh,Varendra Museum
Rangpur
Northern
Kantagir Temple, Sayedpur railway junction
Sylhet
Northern
Jaflong, Ratargul, Madhabkunda waterfall, Satchari
National Park , Bisanakandi, Srimongal, Lawacherra Rain
Forest
4. Economics of Tourism in Bangladesh
The inbound tourism severely fall to 267,107 in 2009 from the previous year 467,332. This may
be due to the global financial crisis. The number of tourist, however, show increasing trend
after 2009. The inbound tourism has recovered to 303,386 in 2010 and has increased to
588,193 in 2012.
5. Contribution of tourism in the economy
Travel & Tourism is an important economic activity in most countries around the world. As
well as its direct economic impact, the industry has significant indirect and induced impacts.
WTTC recognises that Travel & Tourism's total contribution , and aims to capture its indirect
and induced impacts through its annual research.
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GDP: DIRECT CONTRIBUTION
The direct contribution of Travel & Tourism to GDP was USD2,570.1bn (3.2% of total GDP) in
2017, and is forecast to rise by 4.0% in 2018, and to rise by 3.8% pa, from 2018-2028, to
USD3,890.0bn (3.6% of total GDP) in 2028.
GDP: TOTAL CONTRIBUTION
The total contribution of Travel & Tourism to GDP was USD8,272.3bn (10.4% of GDP) in 2017,
and is forecast to rise by 4.0% in 2018, and to rise by 3.8% pa to USD12,450.1bn (11.7% of GDP) in
2028.
EMPLOYMENT: DIRECT CONTRIBUTION5
In 2017 Travel & Tourism directly supported 118,454,000 jobs (3.8% of total employment). This
is expected to rise by 2.4% in 2018 and rise by 2.2% pa to 150,139,000 jobs (4.2% of total
employment) in 2028.70
EMPLOYMENT: TOTAL CONTRIBUTION
In 2017, the total contribution of Travel & Tourism to employment, including jobs indirectly
supported by the industry, was 9.9% of total employment (313,221,000 jobs). This is expected
to rise by 3.0% in 2018 to 322,666,000 jobs and rise by 2.5% pa to 413,556,000 jobs in 2028 (11.6%
of total).
Figure 1: Contribution of travel and tourism to global GDP (WTTC annual report, 2018)
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Figure 2: Contribution of travel and tourism to global Employment (WTTC annual report, 2018)
Figure 3: Contribution of travel and tourism to global GDP & Employment (WTTC annual
report, 2018)
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According to World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) report (2014), The total contribution of
travel and tourism was 4.4% of GDP in 2013 and is expected to grow 7.9% to 4.5% of GDP in
2014. It is forecasted to rise by 6.5% per annum to 4.7% of GDP by 2024. Notable that, total
contribution consists of direct, indirect and induced contribution
Figure 4: Contribution of travel and tourism to GDP in Bangladesh
Travel and Tourism generated 1,328,500 jobs directly in 2013 and this is forecasted to grow by
4.0% in 2014. This includes employment by hotels, airlines, travel agents and other passenger
transportation services. It will increase by 2.7% per annum on average over the next ten years.
The total contribution of Travel and Tourism to employment was 2.8% of total employment in
2013. This is forecasted to rise to 3.9% of total employment in 2014. By 2024, travel and tourism
are forecasted to support 4.2% of total employment.
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Figure 5: Contribution of travel and tourism to employment generation
6. Dynamics of tourism
Travel & Tourism market is one of the most important and dynamic: GDP associated with T&T
Demand (Direct and Indirect) was in 2007 of US$ 5.4 Trillion, e.g.10.4% of Total Gross Domestic
Product (World Travel and Tourism Council).The dynamism and elasticity, together with
mobility are other characteristics specific to the market of tourism. Due to the variety of the
tourist’s products, on one hand, and to the diversity of the consumer’s needs, on the other
hand, the market borrows a fragmented character, as well, which will influence its
assessment. The tourism can be viewed as a social phenomenon, not a production activity
(Theobald 2005: 29).
6.1. Impact of globalization
Globalization is an extremely important factor influencing the tourism from several points of
view. Homogenization of the consumers’ needs and way of life, the nature of the modern
international tourism, as well as, the development of the computer and telecommunication
network, all of these have led to an international tourism market, a continuously extending
market. For example: in 2008, international tourist arrivals grew by 2% to reach 924 million, up
to 16 million over 2007. International tourism generated US$ 856 billion (€ 625 billion) in 2007,
or 30% of the world’s exports of services.
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6.2. Demographic issues
Due to several causes and factors, the business environment, in tourism, is in continuous
changing. This way, the ageing of the population from the developed countries, as well as, the
decreasing of the family members’ number, all of these affect,more or less, the entire
economy. The universally accepted influence of family, religion and of cultural institutions was
partially replaced by a new way of thinking, oriented towards ecology and a healthier way of
life, which will, clearly, affect the nature of tourism. Due to the extension of longevity (life
duration expectancy), the international tourist’s companies will be more and more interested
by older tourists, having a stable income and less family responsibilities.
The number of the family members can be another factor influencing the tourist’s industry.
Small families with a smaller number of children will have different ways of spending money, a
great mobility, and consequently, a special interest for spare time spending and for travels of
pleasure.
6.3. Security issues
An o lder problem, having, at present, new connotations and very seriousimplications, is the
international tourism security. Even before the September 11 2001,when the bloody terrorist
attacks took place in USA, the security was an important issue on each tourism company
agenda, but now, this element is on the top of the list. When spending his spare time or
holidays or when visiting places he wants to, the tourist is interested in being safety, his
security being on the first place.
6.4. Environmental issue
Another factor, not at all less important, is represented by a concern regarding the
environment safety and protection. A continuously extending town-planning will oblige the
consumers to search for as clean as possible, nature and environment. On the other hand,
within the world’s states, there already exists a strong pressure regarding the ecologist and
environment protecting policies.
At the end of ’70, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD –
1980) has formulated the sequence of impact upon the environment, which contains 4 stages,
showing the effects of tourism upon the environment:
1. The stressor activities – which initiate the sequence of impact upon environment (restructuring and deterioration of environment, generation of toxic residues, tourist’s activities,
etc.);
2. The environmental stress – which alters the environment by means of stressor activities;
3. The environmental responses – which represent the changes appearing as a result of
stress, which changes can be direct, indirect, immediate or on long term;
4. The human responses – which can, also, be direct, indirect, immediate or on long term;
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The environment has become a “mega-power”, which will undoubtedly influence all the types
of products and services available, on the market, in the near future. The growing number of
the tourists interested in environment will oblige one way or another, the international
tourist’s companies to revise the environmental policies and to time them to the new
demands.
7. Impact of tourism
Tourism can bring many economic, social and environmental benefits, particularly in rural
areas and developing countries, yet mass tourism is also associated with negative effects.
Tourism can only be sustainable if it is carefully managed so that probable negative effects on
the host community and the environment are not permitted to outweigh the financial
benefits. There are economic, socio-cultural and environmental key benefits of tourism.
i) Economic benefit
Tourism can provide direct jobs to the community, such as tour guides and hotel
housekeeping. Indirect employment is generated through other industries like agriculture,
food production and retail. Infrastructure development and visitors’ expenditure generates
income for the local community and can lead to the alleviation of poverty.
ii) Social benefit
In addition to the revenue, tourism can bring about a real sense of pride and identity to
communities. It allows them to look at their history, and community identity. This helps the
local residents to maintain their tradition and culture.
iii) Environmental benefit
Tourism provides financial support for the conservation of ecosystems and natural resource
management, making the destination more authentic and desirable to visitors.
Negative effects of tourism are also not ignorable. These are:
i)
ii)
iii)
Negative economic effect: Jobs created by tourism are often seasonal and poorly
paid, yet tourism can push up local property prices and the cost of goods and
services. Place of tourism can be affected by terrorism.
Negative social effect: Visitor’s behavior can have a detrimental effect on the
quality of life of the host community. For example, crowding and congestion, drugs
and alcohol problems can occur. Interaction with tourists can also lead to an
erosion of traditional cultures and values.
Negative environmental effect: Tourism poses a threat to a region’s culture and
natural resources, through overuse.
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8. Problems of tourism sector in Bangladesh
A number of significant factors affect the image of tourism in Bangladesh. Tourism industry of
Bangladesh is suffering from numerous problems like;
1) Poor Image of Bangladesh, as a tourist destination
2) Lack of proper publicity
3) Bangladesh is often projected in foreign electronic and print media as a country of
flood, cyclone, strike, political violence etc.
4) Unavailable forging aids or investment in the tourism sector of Bangladesh
5) Lack of social and political commitment
6) Lack of well trained, skilled and efficient manpower
7) Terrorism and robbing are common incident
8) Lack of required fund allocation in national budget
9) Development planning of the government does not give importance to proper
infrastructure development in the tourism sector.
10) Problems of security, accessibility and accommodation for tourist.
11) Complicated visa and travel formalities in Bangladesh mission.
12) Lack of initiative to preserve, conserve and maintain the tangible tourism products.
13) Lack of proper marketing plans for tourism products for the generation countries of
the world.
14) Lack of institutional capacity of the ministry of civil aviation and tourism in general and
the BPC in particular.
15) Continuous campaign against Bangladesh by certain quarters as a fundamentalist
country is another obstacle.
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8. Social conflict and development of tourism
The study of social conflict has received attention from a variety of disciplines. In contrast, the
social conflict issues in tourism destinations have not been systematically investigated by
tourism scholars, or if analyzing issues of power, they have chosen not to use the concepts of
conflict resolution, being drawn more to the concepts of network theory. However, in many
tourism-directed communities, tourism development largely influences social conflict; tourism
brings more groups and subgroups, varies and complicates conflict nature and forms, and
there influences social structure and cultural change in the communities. Social conflict was
mentioned in the early tourism studies that characterized the ‘cautionary. Conflict of interest,
values and goals happens between stakeholders. Examples are the conflict between the
indigenous owners of the land and the foreign investor over tourism development, the
conflict between ethnic community and outsider entrepreneurs over economic benefits from
tourism and the conflict between tourists and locals towards limited resources .Cultural
conflict, as one of the themes of tourism impact studies, has been addressed by researchers,
such as the studies in the book “Tourism and Cultural Conflicts” industry and host community
are:
(1) the nature and the extent of the commodification of the host culture;
(2) the utilization of natural resources and its cultural resources; and According to), cultural
conflicts occur on a regular basis at different levels and between different interest groups in
tourism. The determinants which influence the conflict between tourism
(3) the degree of economic dependency of the host community on tourism.
Economic benefit has been a major subject of conflict. It has been commonly believed that
tourism brings economic benefit to tourism destinations; however, the economic benefits
may not be distributed evenly across different groups. Who should be the main beneficiaries
from tourism development is always the subject of conflict and tensions in developing
countries. Conflict and tensions over economic benefits derived from tourism commonly
happen between ethnic community and outsider entrepreneurs between local people and
local tourism administration (Feng,2008), and between other different groups and subgroups.
From a political and social perspective some evidence suggests that conflict between a
predominant and minority ethnic group may reduce the citizenship rights of particular groups
and further reduce the multicultural character of a particular society. On the other hand,
community bonds have been enhanced because local groups become united against outside
enterprises and against the local government, such as in Fenghuang County of China.
9. Conclusion and Recommendations:
Now Bangladesh is low-middle income country. Its average GDP growth rate is 6%. The
economy is highly dependent on work force export, Ready Made Garments (RMG) and
agriculture sector. Other prominent sectors are shipbuilding, pharmaceuticals etc. The rate of
employment is 90 %, which is below expected level. As a result, disguised employment and
employment at low wage rate is rising. Many of the people are illegally crossing border in the
hope of better life. In order to improve employment rate and to stop the illegal migration,
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government has to take and implement some projects and policies, through this, it has to try
to receive the social, cultural and economic benefits of the tourism sector. As part of tourism
sector development, recently government has passed the Cox’s Bazaar Development
Authority (CDA) at the meeting of ministry. This is supportable but not enough. The
government of Bangladesh should place equal emphasis in its policy on the development of
the tourist spots all over the country. This will create employment opportunity on the one
hand and on the other hand it reduces the dependence of the country on some other specific
sectors.
Following measures are necessary for the development of tourism sector in Bangladesh:
1. Up-date the present tourism policies in Bangladesh compare to the world tourism market.
2. Run tourism business both by the government and private sector simultaneously to
maintain the standardization of services.
3. Tourism related discipline like hotel and tourism management should be start at the all
university in Bangladesh.
4. Infrastructures around the tourism sector should be built and maintained. Rail connection
between Cox’s Bazaar and Chittagong is necessary. Because present communication system
not enough for tourist attraction.
5. Political stability should be maintained to attract the foreign tourist.
6. Government should take the actions about the security system at the tourist place.
7. Need sufficient publicity
8. A robust need for tourist guides and training centers.
9. Government should take initiatives to develop infrastructural facilities so that tourists feel
interest to visit the country.
10. Community awareness and participation, social tolerance for tourist should be created.
10. References
Alina BĂDULESCU, Sergiu RUSU:The dynamic of the international tourism market :Recent
development and challenges., GeoJournal of Tourism and Geosites., Year II, no. 2, vol.
4, 2009, pag. 145-152.
Sanjay Chandra Roy, Mallika Roy: Tourism in Bangladesh: Present Status and Future
Prospects., International Journal of Management Science and Business Administration
;Volume 1, Issue 8, July 2015, Pages 53 – 61.
S.M humayunKabir and md Monzur morshed bhuiya, Ecotourism development in Bangladesh :
An overview, Pakistan, Journal of Social sciences 2:3339.
Uddin, Mohammed Asraf & Ahmed, Shaheen (2005):”Tourism in Bangladesh: Present status,
Problems and Prospects”, Journal of Business Studies, Southeast University, Vol-1, No2, July (P.143-154).
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World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC): Annual report-2014: The Economic Impact of Travel
and Tourism 2014.
World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC): Annual report-2014: The Economic Impact of Travel
and Tourism 2018.
Yang, J., Ryan, C., & Zhang, L. (2013). Social conflict in communities impacted by
tourism. Tourism Management, 35, 82-93.
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