Evaluation of National Tourism Policy 2010

with the Context of

Development of Sea Beach and Natural Tourism

Md. Abu Bakr Siddique

Roll No. 106

77th Senior Staff Course

Bangladesh Public Administration Training Centre (BPATC)

August 2016

Evaluation of National Tourism Policy 2010 with the Context of

Development of Sea Beach and Natural Tourism

Submitted by Md. Abu Bakr Siddique

Roll # 106 77TH Senior Staff Course

Course Advisor Mr.A.L.M. Abdur Rahman ndc

Rector

Course Director Mr. A.S. Shameem Ahmed

MDS(R&C)

Mentor Mr Ranjit Kumar Sen ndc

MDS

Module Director Dr. Rizwan Khair

Director (PPR)

Course Coordinators Mr. Abdul Baki

Director (Project)

Mr.SM Zobayer Enamul Karim PhD Director (Management)

Attached Coordinator Mr.Md Nazimuddin Assistant Director

Bangladesh Public Administration Training Centre (BPATC)

Acknowledgements

This evaluation report is the result of many persons working behind the scene. I would like

to unfold them through few words. I would like to pay my profound gratitude to respected

Course Director Mr A S Shameem Ahmed, Mentor Mr. Ranjit Kumar Sen ndc and Module

Director Dr Rizwan Khair for giving me valuable guidance to complete this policy evaluation

report for which I do not have any past experience at all.

Mr. Rashed Khan Menon, Honorable Minister, Mr SM Golam Faruque, Secretary and other

senior officers of the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism have given lots of policy level

information and thoughts on tourism industry of Bangladesh. Dr. Aparup Chowdhury,

Chairman, Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation and his colleagues, Mr. Aktaruzzaman Khan

Kabir, Chief Executive Officer, Bangladesh Tourism Board and his colleagues, Mr S.N Manzur

Murshed Mahbub, President, Association of Travel Agents of Bangladesh and his colleagues

have provided implementation level valuable inputs to write this report. Without their

supports, it was impossible for me to complete this report. I have collected information

from newspapers and web pages of home and aboard, I do acknowledge them. Although is

mentioned source of information at reference section so far. Out of these, I have collected

many information from many early works. I do acknowledge those writers to help me to get

idea and thoughts to utilize in this report as customized form.

Mr. ATM Nasir, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism has played important

role to coordinate with all officers of the ministry, departments and private organizations

related to tourism in favour of me to collect information and provide us warm hospitality.

My heartiest thank to him.

Finally, I am grateful to my course mates and group members, who had given valuable

suggestions and inputs for improving this report.

31 August 2016

Sonadia Beach, Photo Source: touristplace.bangladeshinformation.info

Table of Contents

List of Abbreviations and Acronyms i

Coastal Map of Bangladesh ii

Chapter-1: Executive Summary 1

Chapter 2: Introduction

2.1 Introduction 2

2.2 Background and context 2

2.3 Bangladesh Context 3

2.4 Beach and National Tourism in Natural Tourism Policy, 2010 4

2.5 Purpose of the Evaluation 5

2.6 Scope of Evaluation 5

2.7 Methodology 6

2.8 Limitations 6

Chapter 3: Findings

3.1 Nature of Tourism 7

3.2 Impact of Tourism Industry 9

3.3 Example of Malaysia 10

3.4 Tourism Industry in Bangladesh 10

3.5 Branding of Bangladesh Tourism 11

3.6 Stakeholders 12

3.7 Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism 13

3.8 Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation 13

3.9 Bangladesh Tourism Board 14

3.10 NHTTI 14

3.11 Activities 14

3.12 Beach Tourist Attractions in Bangladesh 16

3.13 Things need for Beach Tourists 18

3.14 Development of Beach Tourism 18 Chapter 4: Analysis of Findings

4.1 Relevance 20

4.2 Efficiency 20

4.3 Effectiveness 20

4.4 Impact 20

4.5 Sustainability 21

4.6 Weaknesses and barriers 21

Chapter 5: Conclusions, Recommendations and Lessons Learnt

5.1 Conclusions 23

5.2 Recommendations 23

5.3 Lessons Learnt 25

Annexes

A References 26

B Goals and Objectives 27

C Terms of Reference 29

D Persons Contacted 30

E Photos 31

List of Tables & Figures

Tables

1 Institutional Arrangement of National Tourism Policy 4

2 Key Facts of World Travel and Tourism Industry 8

3 Number of Foreign Tourist Visited Bangladesh 11

4 Income from Tourism Sector 11

5 List of Stakeholders 12

6 Income and Expenditure of BPC 13

Figures

1 Categories of World Tourists, 2015 8

2 Economic Contribution of Travel & Tourism 9

List of Abbreviations and Acronyms

ATAB Association of Travel Agents of Bangladesh

ATJFB Aviation and Tourism Journalists’ Forum of Bangladesh

ATM Automated Tailor Machine

BBIN Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal

BEZA Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority

BIWTC Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority

BPATC Bangladesh Public Administration Training Centre

BPC Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation

BRTC Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation

BSCIC Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries

BTB Bangladesh Tourism Board

ECA Ecologically Critical Area

DOE Department of Environment

ECOSOC Economic and Social Council (of the UN)

GDP Gross Domestic Product

ICAO International Civil Aviation Organization

JICA Japan International Cooperation Agency

LGED Local Government Engineering Department

LIC Low Income Country

MIC Middle Income Country

MOF Ministry of Finance

MoFA Ministry of Foreign Affairs

MOP Ministry of Planning

NHTTI National Hotel and Tourism Training Institute

PATA Pacific Asia Travel Association

PPP Public Private Partnership

QTS Quality Tourism Service

RMG Ready Made Garments

SOE State Owned Enterprize

TDAB Tourism Developers Association of Bangladesh

TEDS Tourism and Environment Development Society

TOAB Tour Operators Association of Bangladesh

TOR Terms of Reference

TSA Tourism Satellite Account

TVC Television Commercial

UN United Nations

WTO World Tourism Organization

WTTC World Travel and Tourism Council

i

Costal Area Map of Bangaldesh

ii

1

Chapter 1: Executive Summary

Tourism is an important human activity not only of economic significance, but also of social,

political, cultural and educational significance. It accounts for 6% of the world’s exports in

services. In many countries, the sector is the major source of foreign exchange income.

Bangladesh has very potential tourist attractions, but its tourism industry has been growing

at a very slow pace. To develop tourism industry, government has been implementing the

National Tourism Policy 2010. The policy has 30 goals and objectives and 11 policy actions.

The purpose of the evaluation is to examine overall advantage and effectiveness of the

National Tourism Policy with the context of development of sea beach and natural tourism,

related issues and barriers.

As methodology, the evaluation is conducted based on secondary data and discussion with

the related policy level and implementation level officials. The format and contents of the

report is followed by the guided format of the Bangladesh Public Administration Training

Centre.

Bangladesh has number of sea beaches and islands that are the attractive tourist spots that

play important role in the tourism industry of the Bangladesh. Recent years, government

has taken some initiatives to develop these tourist attractions. In this evaluation, it has

found that more allocation, skilled manpower, efficient management and development of

more facilities for tourists are needed to ensure quality beach tourism in Bangladesh. As the

industry needs huge investment, private sector investment is necessary to develop the

industry.

During the evaluation, some problems and barriers have been identified based on which

some recommendations have suggested for the improvement of overall development of

tourism industry including beach and natural tourism . Some of the recommendations are:

(1) Increase allocation and investment

(2) creating tourism office at filed level

(3) capacity development

(4) re-branding of tourism is necessary

(5) Identify a country icon

(6) Increase facilities and security

(7) fostering beach tourism

(8) Create friendly environment for foreign tourists

(9) introducing Tourism Satellite Account System

The lessons learnt from the evaluation suggested that beach tourism has the potentially to

generate huge employment, poverty reduction and earning foreign exchange. Development

of beach tourism needs proper attention particularly to protect ecological balance.

2

Chapter 2: Introduction

2.1 Introduction

Tourism has been emerged as one of the fast growing industries in different countries of the

world. It is a low-cost high-yielding industry, which can earn huge foreign exchange by

utilizing idle resources which may not be used otherwise. Beaches, snowfields are example

of natural resources, which cannot readily contribute to the economic well-being of the

area, except through the medium of tourism. Tourism is an important human activity not

only of economic significance, but also of social, political, cultural and educational

significance. The world is becoming a global village in which people from different countries

are made to feel like next door neighbors. Tourism can promote peace and tranquility

among the countries. It can help to overcome many real prejudices and foster new bonds of

alliance. When travelling away from home, tourists come in contract with the places they

visit and with their inhabitants, and social exchange takes place. Their presence and their

social background affect the social structure and mode of life at the destination. Tourists are

in turn affected by the experience and often carry back home with them new habits and

new outlook of life.

According to study conducted by World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), the tourism

sector has earned almost US$ 7.2 trillion across the world in 2015 which is equal to 9.8

percent of the world’s GDP. It accounts for 6% of the world’s exports in services being the

fourth largest export sector after fuels, chemicals and automotive products. In many

countries, the sector is the major source of foreign exchange income. Hence tourism is not

only a matter of entertainment also a mainstream prospective industry. All over the world,

27 September is being observed as World Tourism Day to promote tourism industry.

Bangladesh is a developing country with limited physical resources but has large manpower,

natural beauty, impressive heritage of culture, art and history. Despite having all the

potential to flourish, tourism industry in Bangladesh has been growing at a very slow pace. It

has not taken yet the exact form of industry. Recent years, government of Bangladesh has

given attention to develop and promote tourism industry of the country. For this purpose,

government has been implementing the National Tourism Policy 2010. In the policy actions,

development of beach tourism and natural tourism has given more priority and placed as

number one action.

2.2 Background and Context : International Prospect

Tourism has emerged from being a relatively small-scale activity into one of world's largest

industries since 1960s and onwards. The importance of tourism was formally acknowledged

when the XXI United Nations General Assembly designated 1967 as the International Tourist

Year with a unanimous resolution recognized that “tourism is a basic and most desirable

3

human activity deserving the praise and encouragement of all people and all Government”

(Burkart and Medlik, 1974).

Tourism is an international business. The expansion of the tourism throughout the world has

increased competition among the tourist destinations, trying to attract more tourists by

adopting appropriate strategies. There are some international organizations that provide

tourism related services for all countries. Most popular way of communication for the

tourists is airway. As a result, aviation industry and tourism industry have become

interdependent partners all over the world. Immediate after the Second World War, the

International Air Transport Association (IATA) was founded in 1945. Located at Montreal,

Canada, it is leading trade association of world’s airlines and also plays significant role to

promote tourism industry. In 1947, International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) had been

founded to ensure safe and orderly growth of international civil aviation throughout the

world. ICAO has the status of specialized organization of the United Nations. The

headquarters of the ICAO is also at Montreal, Canada. The World Tourism Organization

(WTO) is the most widely recognized organization in tourism which was established in 1957.

Located in Madrid, Spain, WTO is an official consultative organization to the United Nations

(UN), particularly to the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the UN. World Travel and

Tourism Council (WTTC) is a non-profit non-government global forum for the travel and

tourism industry. Founded in 1990, the organization plays leading role of the private sector

on the economic and social contribution of travel and tourism. It promotes sustainable

growth for the sector, working with governments and international institutions to create

jobs, to drive exports and to generate prosperity.

2.3 Bangladesh Context

Before independence of Bangladesh, Department of Tourism was responsible for tourism

activities. After independence, tourism sector was under the Ministry of Commerce.

Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation (BPC) had been started its journey from 1973 as an

autonomous body with all manpower and assets of former Tourism Department. In 1977,

Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism had been established. In 1982, the ministry had been

abolished and merged with Ministry of Defence. However, the Ministry of Civil Aviation and

Tourism had re-established in 1986(Annual Report 2012-13 of the Ministry). Bangladesh

Tourism Board had been established in September, 2010 under the Ministry of Civil Aviation

and Tourism. In private sector, there are number of organizations involve in hotel

management, tour operator and travel agencies, etc. Tour Operators’ Association of

Bangladesh (TOAB) is one of the big stakeholders of this sector. Association of Travel Agents

of Bangladesh (ATAB) also plays significant roles in management of travel related activities

particularly visa processing and air travel tickets for the passengers. The organization has

around 3000 members all over the country.

4

2.4 Beach and Natural Tourism in National Tourism Policy, 2010

The government of Bangladesh had formulated a National Tourism Policy in 1992 for the

first time. After necessary review of this policy, the government has further formulated the

National Tourism Policy 2010. It has 30 goals and objectives (Annexure-B). To fulfill the goals

and objectives, there are 11 policy actions. These are:

(1) Development of beach and natural tourism

(2) Development of sustainable eco-tourism in Sundarbans and other places of the

country

(3) Development of archeological and historical tourist places

(4) Development boat tourism and rural tourism

(5) Development of religious tourism

(6) Development of cultural tourism

(7) Development of tourism for domestic tourists

(8) Development of youth tourism

(9) Development of community tourism

(10) Development of sports tourism

(11) Development of heritage tourism and diversification of other potential tourism

There are provisions for institutional arrangements to implement the policy as stated in the

table below:

Table 1: Institutional Arrangement of National Tourism Policy

Name of the Body Headed by Terms of Reference

National Tourism Parishad Honorable Prime

minister

Coordinate with all related ministries

for development of tourist spots

Cabinet Committee on Tourism Honorable Finance

Minister

Development and promotion of

tourism sector

Advisory Committee on

Tourism

Honorable Minister,

Ministry of Civil Aviation

and Tourism

Overall improvement, publicity and

promotion of tourism industry

Inter Ministerial Coordination

and Implementation

Committee

Secretary, Ministry of

Civil Aviation and

Tourism

Implementation of the tourism policy

and instructions given by National

Tourism Parishad, Cabinet Committee

and Advisory Committee

Division and City Level

Committee

Not specified Management and development of

local tourist resources at divisions and

city levels

District Tourism Development

Committee

Deputy Commissioner Conservation of tourist attractions in

the district and coordination of their

development activities

Tourist Cell At the office of the

Deputy Commissioner

To promote tourism

5

The National Tourism Policy has described following plans to improve beach and natural

tourism of Bangladesh:

(1) Identifications of tourist spots and attractions

(1) Identification of special region/area/island for the foreign tourists

(2) Joint initiatives by airlines and tourism organizations

(3) Liberalization of visa process and boarder act for the foreign tourists

(4) Identification of tourist generating countries

(5) Marketing and publicity

(6) Development of professional manpower

(7) Joint ventures

(8) Security for the tourists

(9) Introducing quality tourism service (QTS) and other modern facilities such as

Automated Tailor Machine (ATM), Tourism Satellite Account(TSA)

2.5 Purpose of the Evaluation

The purpose of this policy evaluation is to examine overall advantage and effectiveness of

the National Tourism Policy, related issues and barriers with special focus one of the

important policy actions “Development of sea beach and natural tourism”. The policy action

is comprised with following activities:

Establishing ideal holiday making-destination based on world’s longest unbroken sea

beach Cox’s Bazar, daughter of the sea Kuakata, Teknaf sea beach, and other sea

beaches and islands including St Martin’s and Sonadia Island;

Development beach based facilities such as of beach football, volley ball, surfing,

cultural centers,, club and international standard resorts;

Development of beach based tourist spots;

Construction of Cox’s Bazar to Teknaf Marine drive to facilitate quick

communication,

Development of railway, airway and land communication related to tourism

including development of the airports.

2.6 Scope of Evaluation

Bangladesh has 580 kilometer coastline with the northern shore of the Bay of Bengal. It has

number of sea beaches including world longest unbroken sea beach at Cox’s Bazar. There

are some small islands in the Bay of Bengal that also attractive tourist spots. Success of the

tourism industry of Bangladesh largely depends on the development and management of

these beaches and nature around the beaches. In the evaluation, the prospect of the

development of beach and natural tourism is examined.

6

The objectives of National Tourism Policy are aligned with the Seventh Five Year Plan (2016-

2020) of the government of Bangladesh particularly with the first theme (GDP growth

acceleration, employment generation and rapid poverty reduction) and third theme (entails

sustainable use of natural resources) of the Plan. It also aligned with service sector

development strategy under industrial and economic service sector where stated that “the

emphasis on non-factor service exports such as ICT, aviation, shipping and tourism is a

critical element of the service sector development strategy for the 7th Plan. These activities

are high value-added and will help generate high income jobs both directly and indirectly.”

2.7 Methodology

The evaluation is conducted based on secondary data. The data have been collected from

various published articles, books, reports and websites, daily newspapers, discussion with

the officials of the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism, Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation,

Bangladesh Tourism Board, Association of Travel Agents of Bangladesh.

2.8 Limitations to the Evaluation

This evaluation is conducted as a part of 77th Senior Staff Course conducted by the

Bangladesh Public Administration Training Centre (BPATC). Time of evaluation was very

short and within the busy schedule of the course. For this no filed visit is conducted to see

practical situation of the beach tourist spots. The evaluation is focused on policy action

related to development of beach tourist attractions and natural tourism. But there is no

separate available data on beach based tourism to national economy and tourist statistics.

As the evaluation is conducted based on secondary data, facts and information may not be

matched with updated and real situation in some cases.

7

Chapter 3: Findings

3.1 Nature of Tourism

Tourism is a composite of activities, services and industries that delivers a travel experience,

namely, transportation, accommodations, eating and drinking establishments, shops,

entertainment, activity facilities, and other hospitality services available for individuals or

groups that are travelling away from home. It encompasses all providers of visitors and

visitor-related services. Tourism is the entire world industry of travel, hotels, transportation,

and all other components, including promotion, that serves the needs and wants of

travelers ( Micntosh and Goeldner, 1986).

Long term planning for promoting and developing all kinds of products can make a country

successful in the tourism industry. Development of tourism is a hard work and needs large

amount of fund. Among others, offices abroad to promote tourism are very much

important. For tourism, a country may have natural products, but it has to ensure

infrastructure near the natural products (Interview of Dato’ Dalijit Singh Dalliwal, Advisor to

the Minister for Tourism and Culture, published in the Daily Sun, Dhaka 23 April, 2016).

As a worldwide export category, tourism ranks third after fuels and chemicals, and ahead of

food and automotive products. In many developing countries, tourism ranks as the first

export sector. Tourism is increasingly an essential component of export diversification, both

for emerging and advanced economies. In recent years, tourism has shown a strong capacity

to compensate for weaker export revenues in many commodity and oil exporting countries.

International tourist arrivals have increased from 25 million globally in 1950 to 278 million in

1980, 674 million in 2000, and 1186 million in 2015. Likewise, international tourism receipts

earned by destinations worldwide have surged from US$ 2 billion in 1950 to US$ 104 billion

in 1980, US$ 495 billion in 2000, and US$ 1260 billion in 2015. International tourism now

represents 7% of the world’s exports in goods and services, up from 6% in 2014, as tourism

has grown faster than world trade over the past four years (UNWTO, Tourism Highlights

2016 Edition).

As per WTO, travel for holidays, recreation and other forms of leisure accounted for just

over half of all international tourist arrivals in 2015 (53%). Some 14% of all international

tourists reported travelling for business and professional purposes, and another 27%

travelled for other reasons such as visiting friends and relatives, religious reasons and

pilgrimages, health treatment, etc. The purpose of visit for the remaining 6% of arrivals was

not specified.

8

Figure 1 : Categories of World Tourists, 2015

According to World Travel and Tourism Council’s (WTTC) Annual Research 2015, the

following are the key facts of world travel and tourism industry:

Table 2 : Key Facts of World Travel and Tourism Industry

GDP:

Direct Contribution

The direct contribution of travel & tourism to GDP was USD 2,364.8bn

(3.1% of total GDP) in 2014, and is forecast to rise by 3.7% in 2015, and

to rise by 3.9% pa, from 2015-2025, to USD 3,593.2bn (3.3% of total

GDP) in 2025.

GDP :

Total Contribution

The total contribution of travel & tourism to GDP was USD7, 580.9bn

(9.8% of GDP) in 2014, and is forecast to rise by 3.7% in 2015, and to rise

by 3.8% pa to USD11,381.9 bn (10.5% of GDP) in 2025.

Employment :

Direct Contribution

In 2014 travel & tourism directly supported 105,408,000 jobs (3.6% of

total employment). This is expected to rise by 2.0% in 2015 and rise by

2.0% pa to 130,694,000 jobs (3.9% of total employment) in 2025.

Employment:

Total Contribution

In 2014, the total contribution of travel & tourism to employment,

including jobs indirectly supported by the industry, was 9.4 % of total

employment (276,845,000 jobs). This is expected to rise by 2.6% in 2015

to 283,983,000 jobs and rise by 2.3% pa to 356,911,000 jobs in 2025

(10.7% of total).

Visitor Exports Visitor exports generated USD 1, 383.8bn (5.7% of total exports) in 2014.

This is forecast to grow by 2.8% in 2015, and grow by 4.2% pa, from

2015-2025, to USD2, 140.1bn in 2025 (5.6% of total).

Investment Travel & tourism investment in 2014 was USD 814.4bn, or 4.3% of total

investment. It should rise by 4.8% in 2015, and rise by 4.6% pa over the

next ten years to USD1, 336.4bn in 2025 (4.9% of total).

Recreation and Leisure

53%Visiting

friends,relatives, religious, health

27%

Business & Professional

Travel14%

Other 6%

9

According to the number of tourist arrivals in 2015, top ten ranked tourist destination

countries were France, United States of America, Spain, China, Italy, Turkey, Germany,

United Kingdom, Mexico and Russian Federation (UNWTO, Tourism Highlights 2016 Edition).

3.2 Impact of Tourism Industry

Tourism industry has multi-dimensional activities that deliver transportation,

accommodation, food, shopping, entertainment and hospitality services available for the

tourists. All these activities can enhance the economic development process by creating

jobs, developing infrastructure and entrepreneurial skills, improving balance of payments,

earning foreign exchanges and export revenues. Tourism can bring real sense of pride and

identity to communities. It allows them to look at their culture, history and heritage. Thus it

is one of the main sources to exchange culture. Tourism provides financial support for

conservation of ecosystems and natural resource management.

Figure-2: Economic Contribution of Travel & Tourism

DIRECT CONTRIBUTION

Commodities

Accommodation

Transportation

Entertainment

Attractions

Industries

Accommodation

services

Food & Beverage

Services

Retail Trade

Transportation Services

Cultural, sports &

recreation services

Source of Spending

Resident’s Domestic

T&T spending

Businesses’ domestic

travel spending

Visitor exports

Individual government

T&T spending

INDIRECT

CONTRIBUTION

T&T investing

spending

Government

collective T&T

Spending

Impact of

purchases from

suppliers

INDUCED

CONTRIBUTION

Food &

beverage

Recreation

Clothing

Housing

Household

goods

TOTAL

To GDP

To

employment

Source: The Economic Impact of Travel & Tourism, 2015 WTTC

10

3.3 Development of Tourism Industry: Example of Malaysia

Malaysia started its tourism promotion more than three decades ago and now getting the

results. Malaysia promoted its tourism on the basis what the country has. These are natural

products and national heritage. Government allocates a large amount of fund in the

national budget for the development of tourism sector. Malaysia has an infrastructure fund

for building infrastructure related to the tourism. Development of tourist sites up to the

level for loving by the tourists and aggressive promotion are the key successes of tourism

development in the country. It has 43 overseas offices to promote tourism. Now alongside

the natural products such as islands, sea beaches, Malaysia has number of icon products,

theme parks, clubs, casino, hill rides, lots of world class hotels and resorts, bridges,

skyscrapers, mosques, monuments and other infrastructures that people love to travel. At

present, tourism is the second contributor of Malaysian economy. In 2014, Malaysia

received over 27 million tourists. In 2015, 70 billion ringgit (around 17.5 billion US$) revenue

came from tourism sector. All kinds of cuisine are available in Malaysia so that anyone to

have any kind of food. Malaysian cuisine also becomes the income provider for Malaysia.

Malaysia also is famous for health tourism, largest number tourist come from Indonesia and

Singapore to check up or screening their health. Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board under

Ministry of Culture, Arts and Tourism is the government nodal agency of tourism. Headed by

a Director General, the board is entrusted for promoting tourism in Malaysia domestically

and internationally. Malaysia has successfully branded its tourism all over the world as

“Malaysia, Truly Asia.” If anyone visits official tourism website of Malaysia

(http://www.tourism.gov.my) may understand how serious the country to promote its

tourism.

3.4 Tourism Industry in Bangladesh

In the tourism prospective, Bangladesh is a land of wide rivers, lakes, green fields, dense

forests, virgin beaches and beautiful islands. The country has two tourist attractions at the

top list of the world, these are the largest mangrove forests of Sundarbans and unbroken

longest sea beach of Cox’s Bazar. However, the sector is yet to gain full shape for some

limitations. Factors like convenient transport, no restriction on travel, availability of

information on various tourist spots and new marketing techniques contributed the growth

of overall number of tourists in the present world (Roy and Roy, 2015).

Bangladesh had earned foreign exchange equivalent to 4500 Crore Taka in previous five

years (Tourism Fellowship, 2016). As per Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation (BPC), domestic

11

tourism has been shown 11% annual growth since 2008. In 2015, total number of foreign

tourists arrival in Bangladesh was 5.83 Lacs and earning was 147.75 million US$. In this year,

tourism has generated 11.38 Lacs job supports. But foreign tourists yet to a satisfactory

level compared to other neighbor countries. Bangladesh has on arrival visa entry scope for

citizens of 64 countries; nonetheless, political unrest in previous consecutive years and

terrorist’s incidents in current year has pushed tourist arrival in back foot. The allocation

from government is inadequate to attain desired targets, on the other hand, private sector

and foreign investment also not commendable. Even government allocation is not adequate

to observe Tourism Year 2016, as a result campaign of the tourism year likely to be failed to

bring considerable benefit.

According to data of the report titled “5 Years Success” Published by Ministry of Civil

Aviation and Tourism, the number of foreign tourists in Bangladesh and income from

tourism sector has given below tables:

Table 3: Number of foreign tourist visited Bangladesh

Year Number Growth (%)

2009 467,332

2010 267,107 (-)43

2011 303,386 14

2012 593,667 96

2013 588,193 (-) 1

Table 4: Income from Tourism Sector (in Crore Taka)

Year Number Growth (%)

2009 576.22

2010 556.29 (-) 3

2011 620.16 11

2012 826.37 33

2013 949.56 15

3.5 Branding of Bangladesh Tourism

Branding of tourism is important for every country to create an identity of the country

which plays important role to attract the foreign tourist. It gives a quick message to the

tourists about a country from which they can know about the specialty of the country’s

tourism. Bangladesh government had introduced its tourism branding “Beautiful

Bangladesh” on 6 August 2008, during the caretaker government. However, this logo and

slogan has been criticized with argument that ‘beautiful’ is not an exclusive asset or symbol

of any country. Unfortunately Bangladesh does not have any icon yet to showcase the

country aboard.

12

3.6 Stakeholders of Tourism Industry of Bangladesh

As a multi-dimensional industry, there are many actors related to tourism sector. To

become a place attractive to the tourists, it is necessary to ensure good communication,

infrastructure facilities, accommodation, entertainments, food and beverage, professional

tourists guide, recreation, safety and security, marketing and promotion of products. To

make tourism as successful industry in Bangladesh, role of following stakeholders are

important:

Table 5: List of Stakeholders to develop Tourism Industry in Bangladesh

Sl Activity Stakeholders

1. Tourist spots development MF, MOP, BPC,PWD,

Department of Forests

Archaeological Department of Bangladesh

Ministry of Religious Affairs ,LGED

Ministry of Land, DOE

2. Communication development to

tourist spots

Civil Aviation Authority

Department of Roads and Highways

LGED ,Bangladesh Railway

3. Visa and Immigration Bangladesh missions abroad, Department

of Passport and Immigration

4. Transportations Airlines, BRTC ,Bangladesh Railway, BIWTC

Private transport services

5. Accommodation BPC, Private hotels and resort owners

6. Food and beverage BPC, Private hotel and restaurants, BSCIC

7. Training NHTTI,ATAB

8. Product development BPC,BTB,TOAB, BSCIC

9. Medical Tourism Ministry of Health, Private sector

10. Promotion BTB, BPC, ATAB, TOAB

Ministry of Cultural Affairs, MoFA

Department of Youth

11. Safety and Security Bangladesh Police, Coast Guard

12. Conservation of Eco-system Department of Environment(DOE) Department of Forests

13

3.7 Role of Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism

Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism is the lead ministry to deal with tourism related

activities in Bangladesh. There are two attached departments under the ministry namely

Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation (BPC) and Bangladesh Tourism Board (BTB). As per Rules of

Business of the Government, the ministry is entrusted to following responsibilities for

tourism:

(1) To formulate and update laws and policies related to civil aviation and tourism, their

implementation

(2) Modernization of airports, airlines and coordinate the services

(3) Agreement and coordination with local and international organizations related to

tourism

(4) Issue registration and license to travel agents, hotels and restaurants

(5) Development and promotion of tourist products, conduct research for tourism industry

development, modern management and creation of skilled human resources

(6) Establish, manage and control of tourism supporting organizations for over all

development of the tourism industry

3.8 Role of Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation (BPC)

Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation is a State Owned Enterprize (SOE). The role of BPC is to

create tourist facilities in different tourist attractions, promotional and marketing activities.

It has 42 commercial units including 17 hotel and motels. BPC has been taken Vision

Tourism 2021 through which yearly foreign tourist arrival is targeted to 1.3 million. It has a

training institute namely National Hotel and Tourism Training Institute (NHTTI) to develop

skilled human resource for the sector. As a corporation, BPC does not get any allocation

from the government. It has to operate from its own income. Income and expenditure of

BPC form 2010-11 to 2014-2015 is stated in the table below:

Table 6: Income and Expenditure of BPC( in Lac Taka)

Financial Year Income Expenditure

2010-2011 59,66.71 5,859.21

2011-2012 7,154.31 6,862.63

2012-2013 7,168.33 6,556.00

2013-2014 7,223.44 6,918.14

2014-2015 7,262.27 7,013.19

Source: Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation

14

3.9 Role of Bangladesh Tourism Board (BTB)

Bangladesh Tourism Board was founded in 2010 under the Bangladesh Tourism Board Act,

2010 to promote tourism industries in Bangladesh. BTB has 40 sanctioned posts, but yet to

recruit any manpower. Present activities have been operating with the help of manpower

attached from government and Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation. As per Annual Budget

Book of 2016-17 published by Ministry of Finance, total expenditure of the Board in 2015-16

year was 26.29 Crore Taka. In present 2016-17 year, BTB has 35 Crore Taka budget

allocation from the government. Bangladesh Tourism Board is a member of World Tourism

Organization (WTO) and Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA). BTB has planned to prepare a

Tourism Master Plan and to declare 2021 as the Visit Bangladesh Year 2021 for celebrating

golden jubilee of independence.

3.10 Role of NHTTI

The efficient management of tourism products depends upon professional training.

Recognizing the need for training in all areas involved with tourism development, the

National Hotel & Tourism Training Institute (NHTTI) was established in 1974 under

Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation (BPC). In order to develop professionalism and provide a

cadre of skilled and trained manpower to meet the increasing demands of the trained

personnel for hotel & tourism industry both at home and abroad, this Institute offers

various courses of different duration. During 2009-2014, NHTII had been provided training

to 5986 youths on Tourism and Hotel Management. The institute offers 2 years Diploma in

Hotel Management Course and 1 year Professional Chef Course. It also provides 18 week

long certificate courses on: (a) Food and Beverage Production (b) Food and Beverage Service

(c) Front Office and Secretarial Operations (d) Pastry and Bakery Production (e) House

Keeping and Laundry Operations (f) Tour Guide and Travel Agency Operations.

3.11 Activities of the government to implement National Tourism Policy

After formulation of the National Tourism Policy 2010 the following major activities have

been accomplished or planed to accomplish:

Recent past activities

Established Bangladesh Tourism Board in 2010

Cut duty for the tourism-related sector

Allowed quality hotels to import equipment and accessories without duty

Introduced on arrival visas to nationals of 64 countries

Established Tourist Police to ensure security for the travelers

Four-nation motor vehicle agreement involving Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal

(BBIN)

15

Developing relations with UNWTO and Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA)

Enactment of the Bangladesh Travel Agencies (Registration & Control) Act, 2013

Established Cox’s Bazar Development Authority through a bill passed in the parliament

on 25 February 2016

Declared 2016 as Tourism Year in Bangladesh

Arranged beach carnival at Cox's Bazar on 31st December 2015

Improved road communication to Kuakata

Construction of Motel and Youth Inn at Kuakata

Vertical extension of Parjatan motel at Dinajpur

Develop tourist facilities near to Kantaji Temple at Dinajpur

Develop tourist facilities at Satay Jeet Roy’s House at Kishoregonj

Construction of tourist complex at Sona Masjid area

Renovation and up gradation of Rajshahi Parjatan Motel

Renovation and up gradation of Rangpur Parjatan Motel

Construction of Parjatan motel at Rangamati

Introduced tourist help line 13801

Formed Adventure Tourism Clubs for the youth

On-going activities

Development of Bangladesh Airports Safety and Security System

Up gradation of Cox’s Bazar Airport

Construction of Khan Jahan Ali Airport, Khulna

Development tourism facilities at Parki sea beach

Construction of tourism building at Shere Bangla Nagar, Dhaka

Feasibility study of 12 potential tourist spots

Establishing Tourism and Entertainment Village at Hotel Shaibal premises at Cox’s Bazar

Establishing international standard hotel and other facilities at Sylhet

Activities to celebrate Tourism Years 2016

Production of documentary films and TVC to promote tourism

Construction of Bangabandhu Chinta Nibash (Sanatorium) at Monpura of Bhola

Creation of tourism facilities at Char Kukri Mukri

Creation of tourism facilities at Panchagar

16

Vertical extension of Motel Pashur at Mongla and installation of two tourists’ vessels

Construction of Tourism Training Centers at Barisal, Chittagong and Khulna

Establishment of international standard tourism Complex at existing motel Upal

compound at Cox’s Bazar

Future plans/activities

Establishment of an exclusive tourist zone at Sabrung, Teknaf for the foreigners

Establishment of Kuakata Development Authority

Generate 3.5 lacs new jobs in tourism sector by 2018

Widening Cox’s Bazar to Teknaf marine drive

Up gradation of Cox’s Bazar –Teknaf highway to four lane

Construction of third terminal at Hazarat Shahjalal International Airport, Dhaka

3.12 Beach Tourist Attractions in Bangladesh

Bangladesh is situated at the head of Bay of Bengal. It has 580 kilometer coastline with the

northern shore of the Bay of Bengal. It has number of sea beaches including world longest

unbroken sea beach at Cox’s Bazar. There are some small islands in Bay of Bengal which are

also considered as attractive tourist spots. Recognized beach tourist spots in Bangladesh

are: Cox’s Bazar, Teknaf, St Martin’s Island, Sonadia, Patenga, Parki and Kuakata.

Cox’s Bazar sea beach is the most-visited tourist destination in Bangladesh. Every year,

around 1.5 million tourists visit Cox’s Bazar, 5% of them are foreigner. It is considered as the

world's longest natural sandy sea beach for its unbroken 120 kilometers (75 miles) long

beach with a gentle slope into the Bay of Bengal. Attractions of the Cox’s Bazar sea beach

are: swimming, driving along sea beach, riding speed boat, surfing, beach sports, parasailing,

fancy shops on either sides of Cox’s Bazar main road, calm and peaceful Khyangs and

Pagodas, Rakhyne quarters, fish harbor of Kostura Ghat, the sights of the rising sun behind

the hills and setting of it into the Bay of Bengal, etc. Kolatoli, Labonee, Inani and Himchhari

are most popular spots of the Cox’s Bazar sea beach. Affordable seafood and cheap

shopping are also attractions of Cox’s Bazar. There are more than 300 hotels, motels,

cottage, rest and guest houses and restaurants developed by both private and government

sector.

Teknaf is a romantic border township in the southern tip of Bangladesh territory looking up

to the Myanmar high hill ranges across the river Naf. It is about 85 km away from Cox's

Bazar by road. Important habitats at the site include mangrove, mudflats, beaches, sand

dunes, canals, lagoons and marine habitat. Teknaf reserved forest is one of the oldest

17

reserved forests in Bangladesh. The town and its surrounding areas provide an opportunity

to see the people and culture of the Arakan and Magh communities.

St. Martin’s Island is a beautiful coral island. It is a small island with only 8 square Kilometer

area in the northeastern part of the Bay of Bengal about 100 kilometers off from Cox’s Bazar

sea beach and 9 kilometers from Teknaf. Local people call the island Narikal Jinjira (coconut

rows) since coconut trees grow in large numbers in the island. Attractions of the beach

around the island are: coral stones, coconut groves, sea crabs, turtle shells and pearls. Five

shipping liners run daily trips to the island. At present, government thinks to introduce

restricted tourism in the island as Ministry of Environment and Forest had declared it as

ecologically critical area (ECA) vulnerable site due to massive tourist use.

Sonadia is a crescent shaped island about 7-km north-west of Cox’s Bazar sea beach. The

area of the island is about 9 sq km. Its western coast is sandy and is rich in different kinds of

shells. Under the wide open blue sky fishing community, dry fish processing and colonies of

the red crabs are attractions of the island. Another attraction of the island is the sight of

games birds migrating here in great numbers during the winter season.

Patenga beach is very close to Chittagong port and Amanat Shah International Airport. Part

of the seashore is built-up with concrete walls and large blocks of stones have been laid to

prevent erosion. Patenga is the best place for delicious, mouth-watering street food at very

low costs. The beach has a wonderful cool atmosphere even at the evening and people

come to enjoy the soothing breeze. The beach is lined with massive shady palm trees and

fishing boats. It also has an array of speed boats for visitors. Most visitors come to Patenga

Beach as it is known for having some of the most stunning sunsets and sunrises in

Bangladesh.

Parki beach is situated in Gahira, Anowara thana under southern Chittagong region. The

beach lies about 28 km away from Chittagong city. The sandy beach is about 15 km long

and 3200-350 ft wide with 20 km tamarisk forest created by the forest department. As the

beach is situated at the Karnaphuli river channel, visitors can view both the Karnaphuli river

and the sea together. Tourists enjoy the views of big ships anchored at the outer anchor,

fishermen catching fish in the sea, sunset, various colored crabs at the beach and quiet

environment.

Kuakata is the second popular beach in Bangladesh. Located in the Patuakhali district,

Kuakata has a wide sandy beach from where one can see both the sunrise and sunset.

Locally known as Shagor Kannya (daughter of the sea), the long strip of dark, marbled sand

stretches for about 18 km. The beach is located 70 Km from Patuakhali district headquarters

and 320 km from Dhaka. Beside road, Kuakata can be reached by launch from Dhaka up to

Kalapara, then only half an hour drive by road. The attractions of Kuakata are: long and wide

18

sandy beach with gentle slopes into the Bay of Bengal, fairs and festivals during Rush

Purnima and Maghi Purnima, unique customs and costumes of the Rakhyne community,

ancient Buddhist temple and largest Buddhist statue of Bangladesh, etc.

3.13 Things need for Beach Tourists

In marketing view, the tourist product may be seen as a composite product, as an

amalgamation of attractions, transport, accommodation and entertainment, etc. A detail list

needs for beach tourists are given below:

Attractive environment of the tourist spot

Linkage with different service providers such as airliner, hotel and operators.

Tour map and brochures

Tour operators

Communication network to reach the spot

Tourist friendly transports

Tourist guide

Accommodation

Money exchange and ATM booth

Safe drinking water

Internet and telecommunication facilities

Restaurants with wide variety of food

Shopping facilities

Conference and meeting complexes

Events for enjoy and entertainment

Modern boat for sea cruise

Fishing spots

Theme parks, fitness centers, Gyms, sports facilities, club and cultural activities

Medical facilities

Emergency services

Security

3.14 Development Activities of Sea Beach Tourism

During world cup cricket in Bangladesh the government promoted Cox’s Bazar sea beach

video and sea beach photos worldwide through media. It was a positive initiative to

highlight image of Cox’s Bazar sea beach.

Cox’s Bazar sea beach was in the place during new7 wonders world competition

A Tourism and entertainment village is under construction through PPP at 120 acre land

of Shaibal motel of BPC.

The tourism year campaign was kicked off by organizing a beach carnival at the country's

most exciting tourist spot Cox's Bazar on 31st December 2015

19

Established Tourist Police in 2013 with 699 members headed by a Deputy Inspector

General to provide security and gourd around of the tourists

Project is being implementing to up gradation of Cox’s Bazar Airport

Established Cox’s Bazar Development Authority

Establishing an Exclusive Tourism Economic Zone at Sabrung, Teknaf has been started in

1200 acre land by Bangladesh Economic Zone Authority (BEZA). It is expecting that

around 12,000 Crore Taka will be investing there from private investors.

Plan to Cox’s Bazar to Teknaf marine drive widening in future

Plan to Cox’s Bazar –Teknaf highway up gradation to four lane in future

Project implementing to develop tourism facilities at Parki and Patenga sea beaches

Improved road communication to Kuakata by constructing some bridges

Government has decided to establish Kuakata Development Authority for the planned

development of the beach town and safeguard its ecological balance to attract tourists.

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Chapter 4: Analysis of Findings

4.1 Relevance

Beach tourism in Bangladesh is at growing stage now. From Malaysian example, it has found

that the sector needs long time to develop and comeback with desired results. Keeping this

is mind, the analysis of finding has done carefully to examine relevance, efficiency,

effectiveness, impact and sustainability.

No organization or any other human activity under any organized form whether it is a state

activity, public sector or private enterprise can exist without well defined objectives (Batra

and Chawla, 1995). National Tourism Policy 2010 has met this requirement through setting

objective to development of beach tourism. National Tourism Policy is very much relevance

with the socio-economic development targets and strategy of the country.

4.2 Efficiency

It has found that within the limited resource allocation, number of activities already had

completed to develop beach tourism of Bangladesh and many other activities are in the plan

to implement. Although some cases, progress is very slow for example, manpower

recruitment in the Tourism Board, nonetheless, policy has been implementing efficiently

within the resource constraint.

4.3 Effectiveness

Government already had established the Cox’s Bazar Development Authority and is planning

to establish Kuakata Development Authority. Master plan of Cox’s Bazar is under processing.

An exclusive tourist zone is very much essential for Bangladesh only for foreigners so that

they can enjoy their leisure without any conflict with culture and sentiment of local people.

This is going to implement at Sabrung, Teknaf. A number of other activities such as

introduction of new products at Cox’s Bazar sea beach, development of Parki sea beach

have been taken that demonstrate effectiveness of the implementation of the policy.

4.4 Impact

There are no industrial or high intensive economic activities in the coastal areas of

Bangladesh particularly the beach areas. Most of them are isolated. For ecological

consideration, other income generation activities are not possible in these areas. For a

result, only fishing is the main source of income of the people who live near the coastal

area. Only tourism sector can enhance their economic condition in many ways such direct

employment, production of commodities for tourists, retailers, work as guide and many

21

other. So implementation of tourism policy in beach areas of Bangladesh has direct

economic impact to the local people in terms of income generation and poverty reduction.

4.5 Sustainability

Sustainable tourism, specially the site development is considered the main driving force for

attracting tourists and earning more, where maintaining environmental issues are prime

concern along with infrastructural and safety issue (Altinary and Hussain, 2005). This

approach will sustain the regular flow of tourists, ultimately nation's GDP. The National

Tourism Policy emphasizes on development of beach tourism well as preservation and

conservation of natural resource. The policy under evaluation has addressed well these

issue.

4.6 Weaknesses and Barriers

During the evaluation of the policy in the context of beach and natural tourism development

targets, some weaknesses and barriers have been identified some are directly related to the

beach tourism, and others have indirect impact on development of beach tourism.

Allocation for infrastructure development and promotional activities of the beach

tourism is inadequate. There are many spots and products to develop, but it needs

huge investment. Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation has very limited capacity to

develop and promote beach tourism because it does not get any fund from the

government. of tourism is inadequate, on the other hand, capacity of the Tourism

Board to utilize fund also not adequate yet.

There is no field office both of BPC and BTB in the beach areas. The managers of the

hotel/motels located in some districts represent BPC at their respective district. The

district tourism committees headed by Deputy Commissioners are not active.

There is lack of skilled manpower to meet increasing demand of the beach tourism

business. Present capacity of the NHTTI is very limited to produce skilled manpower.

Tourism branding watchword of Bangladesh “Beautiful Bangladesh” is a very common

thing. It does not represent any special identity for Bangladesh as there are many

beautiful countries in the world. It seems weak compared to other countries

watchword such as: Incredible India, Malaysia Truly Asia or Amazing Thailand. This is a

weakness to attract beach tourist from aboard.

Bangladesh does not have any icon of the country which may promote tourism of the

Country. In India Tajmahal is the tourism icon of the country, in USA it is Statue of

Liberty, in France Eiffel Tower, in Malyasia it is Twin Tower. This is a weakness to

increase foreign tourist to Bangladesh as well as beach tourists.

22

There are many weaknesses of beach tourism industry in Bangladesh. Some of these

are poor tourist friendly facilities and hotels, inadequate infrastructure and

communication system, security, etc. Besides these, lack of publicity and marketing,

lack of English speaking tourist environment also are major causes.

In Cox’s Bazar, tourists do not find any night-life activities, after spending the day at

the beach, but to sleep in hotel rooms. Kuakata is the second priority beach for

tourists, but there are many hazards to reach Kuakata and inadequate facilities to stay.

To visit St Martin’s Island, there is lack of world class cruise vessel to take the tourist to

the island. Degradation of eco-system in St Martin’s Island also is a great factor.

International tourists like to enjoy food and beverage, wear dress according to their

own choice and culture. But it is not yet possible in beach tourist areas of Bangladesh

for religious consideration.

There is no separate data related to beach tourist’s arrival and revenue income from

foreign tourist. The “tourist arrival” figures are calculated on a monthly basis by the

police department from reports at the entry check points which is applicable for

country in a whole. Similarly, the foreign exchange figures are released by the

Bangladesh Bank on the basis of returns furnished by the stakeholders of the tourism

industry.

23

Chapter 5: Conclusions, Recommendations and Lessons Learnt

5.1 Conclusions

Bangladesh has entered in the group of low-middle income countries (LICs) and targeted to

be a middle income country (MIC) by 2021. For this it needs to achieve 7.4% GDP growth

annually over the period of 7th Five Years Plan (2016-2020). Employment generation and

poverty reduction are two major strategies of the government to reach at the middle

income country.

The economy of Bangladesh is highly dependent on work force export, Ready Made

Garments (RMG) and agricultural sector. Unemployment is a big problem for the country as

large portion of the population is within workforce age. To manage a job is very difficult and

salary or wage is not satisfactory. Consequently, many of the people are legally and illegally

crossing border in the hope of better life.

Tourism sector of Bangladesh has every potential to generate employment and economic

growth. It has the potentiality to reduce the dependence of the country on some particular

sector for foreign exchange earnings. It needs develop infrastructure and vigorous

marketing, branding and promotion. The government has resource limitation to massive

investment and aggressive promotional activities for the sector. In this backdrop, private

sector should join hands for development of the tourism industry as guided in the National

Tourism Policy.

The evaluation suggests that limited budgetary allocation for facility development, weak

promotional activities, weakness of management structure and scarcity of trained people in

the industry are major weaknesses of the beach tourism development. Proper

implementation of the National Tourism Policy to develop beach tourism may reduce these

weaknesses and able to contribute for developing beach tourism industry.

5.2 Recommendations

For developing tourism industry in Bangladesh, there are many things to do. In this

evaluation, some useful and actionable recommendations are given aimed to further

improvement of the beach tourism of Bangladesh.

(1) Increase allocation and investment: Tourism industry is basically a capital-intensive

industry. It needs huge investment and manpower. Government alone cannot do this.

If properly planned and entrepreneurs are motivated to invest, the industry will

definitely come out with flying colours. It will not only reduce the burden of large

24

capital investment on the part of government but will also mitigate gap of large capital

infrastructure such as hotels, resorts to small capital marketing and promotional

activities. The government should maintain a balance between public and private

sector and it should work only as a supporter. Special incentives such as tax holiday,

residence and work permits for the foreign investors should be given who want to

start their ventures in tourism industry so that in coming time, tourism demand may

be fulfilled. At the same time, government allocation should be increased particularly

for promotional activities.

(2) Creating tourism office at filed level: Separate Tourism offices are very essential to

look after activities of beach tourism and coordinate with other field level agencies.

(3) Capacity Development: For operations of increasing number of hotels, resorts and

rooms, adequate skilled manpower is required. The present strength of NHTII is not

enough to create this big number skilled manpower. It is necessary to take initiatives

to set more training centers with international standard to develop capacity of the

human resource in tourism sector.

(4) Re-branding of tourism: The present watchword used for branding of tourism

“Beautiful Bangladesh” cannot gain any attraction to the tourists as Bangladesh is not

only the beautiful country in the world. In the competitive market of world tourism,

this watchword is very common and uncompetitive. It is necessary to change and re-

branding Bangladesh tourism with exclusive watchword applicable only for

Bangladesh.

(5) Identify a country icon: A country icon to make Bangladesh attractive to the foreign

tourist is necessary. Government should identify a recognized country icon to

popularize overall tourism as well as beach tourism.

(6) Increase facilities and security : Beach areas are natural, but there should be some

facilities and infrastructure near to the spots to reach and stay. Proper safety and

security also most essential issue to increase tourists in the beach areas.

(7) Fostering beach tourism: After getting relief from urban busy life, silence is considered

as gold for the leisure tourists. For most of the tourists, calm and quite environment

with enjoyable atmosphere are desirable. Beach tourism can ensure this. To foster

beach tourism industry, Bangladesh needs a two pronged strategy of strengthening

facilities at home and improving the tourist image abroad. Introduction of new

products enjoyable for the tourist should be considered. For example, based on long

coastal line, creating cruise route from Teknaf to Kuakata linking Cox’s Bazar, Patenga,

Sundarbans may be a best investment to attract tourists.

(8) Create friendly environment for foreign tourists: Considering cultural and religious

reality of Bangladesh, exclusive tourist zone for the foreign tourist is necessary to

establish so that they can take food, beverage and use dress as their choice.

25

(9) Introducing Tourism Satellite Account System: To make available all tourism related

information, it is necessary to introducing Tourism Satellite Account (TSA) system for

beach tourism. Use of information technology is very essential element for tourism

industry, without which it is impossible to provide quality tourism services, particularly

the remote beaches and islands.

5.3 Lessons Learnt

In spite of having all potentials, growth of tourism industry of Bangladesh is very slow

compared to other neighbor countries. Bangladesh government had framed National

Tourism Policy 2010 where development of beach tourism is a priority area. Government

has been implementing the policy within the limited resource allocation. Beach tourism has

the potentially to generate huge employment, poverty reduction and earning foreign

exchange. But natural tourist attractions such as sea beaches and islands need careful use

of tourism to maintain ecological balance and sustainability of the attraction for future use.

26

Annexure-A

References

1. Altinary M, Hussain K, 2005, Sustainable Tourism Development: A Case Study of North

Cyprus, Int. j, Contemp. Hospitality Management, 17(3):272-280

2. Annual Budget 2016-17 for Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism, Ministry of Finance

3. Batra,G,S. and Chawla, A,S, 1995, Tourism Management, A Global Perspective, Deep & Deep

Publications, New Delhi, India. p 4

4. Burkaart, A.J and Medlik, S. 1981, Tourism, Past, Present and Future(2nd ed), Heinemann,

London, p 59.

5. Hogwood,B.G and Gunn,L.A. 1984, Policy Analysis for the Real World, Oxford University

Press, London.

6. Michtosh, Robert. W and Goeldner, Charles, R, 1986, Tourism Principles, Practices,

Philosophies, John Wiley & Sons, Inc, USA.

7. Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism, 2014, Five Years of Success 2009-2013(in Bangla).

8. Roy, Sanjay Chandra and Roy, Mallika(2015). Tourism in Bangladesh: Present Status and

Future Prospects, International Journal of Management Science and Business

Administration, Vol 1, Issue 8, July 2015, pp 53-61

9. Tourism Fellowship 2016, published by Aviation and Tourism Journalists Forum of

Bangladesh, Dhaka.

10. Tourism Highlights 2016 Edition, World Tourism Organization, Madrdid, Spain,

publications.unwto.org

11. Travel & Tourism Economic Impact 2015, World Travel & Tourism Council, London, UK

27

Annexure – B

Goals and Objectives of the National Tourism Policy 2010

Main goal of the National Tourism Policy is to establish tourism industry as one of the main

sectors for development of Bangladesh. The policy has following other goals and objectives:

(1) Include tourism development in development strategy, policy and program of the

country

(2) Development and maintenance a well planed tourism in Bangladesh

(3) Formulate an integrated vision for development of tourism industry; prepare and

implementation of long, medium a short term action plan and strategy

(4) Formulate national, regional and zonal master plan for development of tourism

industry

(5) Classifications, develop and flourish tourist-attractions in light of international market

demands

(6) Identification of tourist-attractions, their development and marketing

(7) Ensure contribution to poverty reduction by creating extensive employment

opportunity through flourishing tourist industry

(8) Ensure significant contribution in national income from tourism sector

(9) Supporting role of the government to ensure participation of private sector to develop

tourist industry and development of tourist industry and tourist attractions through

coordination between public and private sector.

(10) Ensure service quality and tourist attractions and formulation and update law

according to demand of the time

(11) Make favorable situation for foreign and domestic investment

(12) Extensive publicity to attract domestic and foreign tourists

(13) Take integrated initiatives to attract foreign tourists

(14) Integrated marketing and improve reputation of tourist attractions of Bangladesh in

other countries and give specific responsibility to Bangladesh foreign missions to

publicity and promote tourism

(15) Inter-ministry/agency coordination to promote multi dimensional tourism industry

(16) Involvement of local government institutes in developing-promoting and management

of tourism

(17) Improve socio-economic condition of the local people through developing and

flourishing potential tourism places of the remote and undeveloped areas including

Chittagong Hill Tracts

(18) Transform tourist-attraction through protecting indigenous culture, heritage and their

publicity and marketing

28

(19) Development and diversification of tourism attractions such as rural Tourism, boat

tourism, agriculture tourism, medical tourism, sports tourism, alternative tourism,

community tourism, etc.

(20) Development and maintenance of tourist resources through developing eco-tourism

keeping environment and ecological balance

(21) Development of low cost domestic tourism

(22) Establish and development of quality training institutes on tourism and services to

produce professional manpower

(23) Conduct research, formulate marketing strategy and master plan for growth of

tourism industry

(24) Use of IT in tourism industry and ensure availability of information and facts related to

tourism of Bangladesh in internet

(25) Attract foreign tourists by declaration tourist reserve area and establish Exclusive

Tourist Zone

(26) Ensure over all security of the tourists

(27) Ensure supporting facilities related to tourism

(28) Provide institutional and financial assistance for publishing souvenir of the tourist

spots

(29) Undertake integrated regional and sub-regional tourism program including countries

of SAARC and BIMSTEC.

(30) Increase cooperation and connectivity with World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and

tourism related all international organizations and arrangement to take support from

these organizations.

29

Annexure -C

Terms of Reference (TOR)

The evaluation has been carried out according to following Terms of Reference (TOR) :

To identify advantage and disadvantage of the policy in terms of effectiveness, costs,

enforcement, public acceptance

To identify potential barriers in implementation of the policy

To asses resource to be required to implementation of the policy

To know exclusion of any major issue which should include in the policy

To understand enforcement related issues of the policy

To understand compliance related issues of the policy

To analyze economic, social, cultural, environmental impact of the policy

To analyze impact of the policy on disadvantaged groups in the society

To make recommendations for further improvement of the policy

30

Annexure-D

List of Persons Contacted

1. Mr. Rashed Khan Menon, Honorable Minister, Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism

2. Mr. SM Golam Faruque, Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism

3. Mr. Md Rafiquzzaman, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism

4. Dr Nazmun Ara Khanam, Joint Secretary(Admin), Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism

5. Mr. ATM Nasir, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism

6. Mr. Jamal Abdul Naser, Deputy Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism

7. Ms Nasrin Mukti, Deputy Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism

8. Mr. Aparup Chowdhury, Chairman, Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation

9. Mr. Md. Moududur Rashid Safdar, Director(Fin and Admin), Bangladesh Parjatan

Corporation

10. Dr Mohammed Nasir, Director, Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation

11. Mr. Md. Shadat Hossain, Dirctor(Planning), Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation

12. Mr. Ahtaruzzaman Khan Kabir, Chief Executive Officer, Bangladesh Tourism Board

13. Mr. Bhubon Chandra Biswas, Director, Bangladesh Tourism Board

14. Mr. Nikhil Ranjan Roy, Director, Bangladesh Tourism Board

15. Mr S.N Manzur Murshed Mahbub, President, Association of Travel Agents of Bangladesh

16. Mr. Aslam Khan, Secretary General, Association of Travel Agents of Bangladesh

31

Annexure-E

Photos

Cox’s Bazar Beach, Photo Source: Website of Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation

Kuakata beach, Photo Source: Website of Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation

Patenga beach, Photo Source: Website of Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation

32

Teknaf beach, Photo Source: Website of Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation

Parki beach, Photo Source: Website of Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation

St Martin's Island, Photo Source: Website of Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation