The sector has been incurred a loss of Tk 10,000cr in the last decade

Golam Mostafa Jibon:

Country’s largest potential tourism sector has been facing manifold challenges one after another while trying to turn around.

Experts said, natural disasters and political unrests are the mains among other challenges that hurt the sector repeatedly.

In the last of 2020, this sector fell into uncertainty due to onslaught of Corona pandemic. Though, it tried to turn around next time, it was hit hard by several other disasters like cyclone and floods. Besides, political unrest pushed the sector to incur crores of taka loses.

In this circumstance, tourism business is becoming risky day by day that making the new entrepreneurs disinterested to start such as business by investing money, insiders said.

In the beginning of this year, the sector was downward due to pre and post election excitation. During the two Eid festivals, tourists did not show courage to flock at tourist spots in the country due to the then intolerable heat wave.

The sector faced crisis in July and August this year centering the ‘Anti-discrimination Students Movement’ and then it was sufferer for devastating flood that took serious turn at eastern parts of the country. Lastly, the instability in Hill Tracts has brought another catastrophe in the sector. As a result, the lives and livelihoods of people involved with at least 16 types of service providing sectors have become threatened.

According to the businessmen involved in the sector, the tourism sector has incurred a loss of about thousands of crores of taka due to the curfew and internet shutdown by the immediate past government to suppress the movement of the students-public in July-August.

After the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government on August 5, the instability created in the country’s politics for several days also affected the tourism sector drastically.

After this, many popular tourist spots in greater Sylhet and Chattogram Hill Tracts were also affected by the floods. The Chattogram Hill Tracts became devoid of tourists for few days centering the latest violence between the people of Bengali and Hill in Khagrachari and Rangamati.

Traders and service providers in this sector say that, travelers need a stable environment. But, such environment has been remained absent in the country for a long time. Businessmen involved in the sector now want good cooperation of this interim government to ensure safer environment for the tourists.

On the other hand, the tourism of northern Bangladesh especially in 16 districts of Rajshahi and Rangpur divisions is being neglected for long due to lack of political will. As a result, no mentionable infrastructure has been established in the region in the last decade for the tourists.

According to the Tour Operators Association of Bangladesh (TOAB), about 4 million people are directly and indirectly involved in the tourism sector in the country. Currently, the number of tourists worldwide is about 1100 million. About 75 percent of tourists travel to Asian countries. But Bangladesh is not getting full benefit and success from it due to unplanned activities.

“The tourism sector generates thousands of crores of taka annually. Of them, about 30 percent come from two Eids. Particularly, about 20 percent comes from Eid-ul-Fitr and 10 percent from Eid-ul-Azha.

But the sector has been incurred a loss of at least Tk 10,000 crore in the last decade due to various instabilities. All in all, the amount of losses may cross millions of crores.”

———–said Md. Rafeuzzaman, President of TOAB.

Seeking anonymity, one of the directors of TOAB said, “Tourims sector is very sensitive. Activities of this sector are shut first, of any kind of political instability or natural disaster is found. Most of the tours, scheduled until upcoming December, have already cancelled due to repeatedly instabilities.”

He also expressed his dissatisfactory saying that, “Apparel sector is getting incentive from the government because the sector earns foreign currency. But, tourism sector don’t get such as facilities even after it brings foreign revenue through foreign tourists in almost similar manner.”

He urged the interim government to provide incentive for the tourism sector to recoup the losses.

AKM Altaf Hossain Pramanik, Chairman of Bangladesh Tourism Corporation said, “Tourists always give priority on safety issue before starting travelling. But, various disturbances in the last 15 years have not supported the tourism sector to move forward.”

“We however, are trying to turn around now overcoming all the challenges,” he added.