—Md. Ziaul Haque Howlader—

Overcoming many challenges over the last few years, global tourism industry has bounced back to its normal position. The countries that have witnessed a double-digit spectacular growth in tourism industry opted for favourable policy, employed necessary manpower and made budgetary allocation. The top ten tourism destinations of the world underwent many challenges and resolved those meticulously. If we analyse some case studies of Belgium, France and Spain, we would find the massive initiatives they have undertaken along with huge budgetary allocations and coordination among all key organisations.
Bangladesh needs to decipher and understand its stage of competitiveness for tourism in the global market. The strengths and weaknesses need to be justifiably portrayed with an intent to find out effective solutions. Within a year all the weaknesses may be minimised by implementing some umbrella projects.
Leveraging the six seasons, hospitable people and diversified tourist attractions and cultural heritages of Bangladesh, tourism industry can find its way back. However, it requires international standard basic infrastructure and super infrastructure with proper maintenance. Uninterrupted connectivity and hassle-free transportations have to be introduced at each and every tourist destination. Hygiene and quality of services should be continuously improved. Proper hygiene, delicious food and amenities would always attract tourists to any destination.
Bangladesh can learn from the top tourist recipient countries of the world. Enforcement of Quality Tourism Service (QTS) guidelines is a must. Local community must be engaged in every step of the project. Opinion from all the relevant stakeholders and international tourism experts have to be sought. Skilled people with handsome wages should be employed in this industry. Professionalism in tourism and hospitality industry is the backbone that is often ignored. Bureaucratic entanglement sometimes appears as a barrier as well. To solve this, professionals should come forward.
Bangladesh may seek foreign assistance with technical-know-how under the UN sponsored South-South collaborations. Continuous effort for attracting foreign investment by BPC and BIDA is necessary. There requires a concerted effort for a specific time-frame. These two organisations may enter into agreement for collaborative efforts and frame a general guideline for attracting more foreign investments. Aggressive marketing strategy is also helpful for luring in foreign investments.
There should be a clear policy guideline about the incentives government would offer to foreign investors, specifically for tourism industry. Dedicated officials may be deployed in different foreign missions of Bangladesh to attract foreign investors. If necessary Malaysian Model or Maldives model may be followed. The National Board of Revenue (NBR) may consider relaxing their rules in case of importing materials necessary for developing basic and super infrastructure for tourist destinations. This relaxation of rules may remain effective for a certain period, say for five years.
A monitoring team under the BIDA may be formed who will data-mine information related to global tourism and provide analytical report to government agencies and private stakeholders. Concerned authorities can then develop papers stipulating guidelines for attracting tourists. Concept paper for such projects needs to be widely circulated so that it reaches the potential investors of different countries.
Meanwhile, the last-mile connectivity in Bangladesh are yet to be developed. There exists a conceptual gap about tourism among the organisations assigned for development of connectivity. They need to be aware of tourists’ taste and trends. Archaeology Department of Bangladesh needs to be more open to welcome tourists. This organisation may be brought under the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism. National Tourism Council (NTC) chaired by the head of the state may be activated. It is necessary for the NTC to have at least two or three meetings in a year. Proper implementation with sufficient budget and clear guidelines would help our tourism sector flourish.
Moreover, more FamTours for the international media and renowned bloggers may be organised. International channels that promote tourist destinations may be invited frequently to Bangladesh. Women engagement should also be increased in the industry to create good image about our tourism sector.
Bangladesh has everything that’s needed to lure in more tourists and investors. Bangladesh needs to boost up the confidence level of the investors. Concerted efforts would definitely take Bangladesh’s tourism industry to international level.
However, attracting foreign investment is not an easy task. It requires proper planning. We have to identify primarily 15-20 tourist sites that can offer immediate return to the investors. On the other hand, to develop new sites, government may invest through BPC. When there will be more foreign investment in our hospitality sector, its service quality will automatically reach international level.
Nature of investment might vary depending on the objectives. Some destinations might be developed for the youth, some for leisure activities, some for children or senior citizens while a few for the physically challenged people. There should be a committee dedicated to luring in foreign investments. The Bangladesh missions in other countries need to be proactive to familiarise Bangladesh’s tourism sector to the foreigners. Let’s begin right now without wasting our precious time.
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The writer is a tourism planner