Evaluation of Tourism Policy 2010 of Bangladesh with the context of Beach Tourism

1. 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

2. 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)

4. 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

5. Sonadia Beach, Photo Source: touristplace.bangladeshinformation.info

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. Costal Area Map of Bangaldesh
ii

10. 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.

11. 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

12. 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.

13. 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

14. 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.

15. 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.

16. 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.

17. 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
Travel
14%
Other 6%

18. 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

19. 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

20. 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.

21. 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

22. 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

23. 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)

24. 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

25. 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

26. 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

27. 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

28. 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.

29. 20
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

30. 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.

31. 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.

32. 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

33. 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.

34. 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.

35. 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

36. 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

37. 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.

38. 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

39. 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

40. 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

41. 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