The Views On Tourism Project celebrate 3 year anniversary, 300.000 blog visitors and 750 group members. Uniting the right people generates the resources, knowledge and visions to encourage a positive local tourism development in Bangladesh and South Asia.

This project started in 2008 as a Danish expat volunteer initiative in Bangladesh to support the emerging sustainable awareness. The blog provides knowledge and inspiration to the Bangladeshi tourism sector, nearby South Asian countries, developing countries or destinations facing similar challenges. The network group makes an online communication platform for the sustainable tourism stakeholders related to Bangladesh and South Asia.

I welcome you to use the Views On Tourism Project to increase knowledge, share best practice, spread information, make comments, announce events, start discussions, network and cooperate.

Furthermore I encourage you to please support a fantastic project, which is fighting poverty through positive tourism development.
Crowdsourced Travel Bangladesh is a community-powered collective that provides information, marketing and travel media services to ‘unusual’ destinations often overlooked by the world travel community.
Your donation will make a difference.

I wish you a happy and sustainable new year in 2012.

Yours faithfully Majbritt Thomsen, initiator the Views On Tourism Project

For further information please follow these links:
Views On Tourism – Knowledge and Inspiration Blog.
Views On Tourism – Network and Discussion Group.
Crowdsourced Travel Bangladesh – Campaign in Progress.

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A video script for this presentation is here. I’d be glad if the audience out there had feedback on this presentation and whether I’ve missed anything crucial to unlocking Bangladeshi tourism prospects. I plan to make a Youtube video with this prezi tomorrow, so it would be great to hear reactions or feedback before going to voice!

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“Tourism has an enormous potential to create jobs and economic benefit for Bangladesh,” says Leung. “At Crowdsourced Travel, we believe that this potential could be used to attack Bangladesh’s most vexing issue – poverty.”

The campaign is using a new form of fundraising called “Crowdfunding” by which a series of donors/supporters pledge small amounts. The cumulative effect of their donations allows a creative project to meet a funding goal. If the funding target is not met, the pledges are not collected and the project does not proceed.

“Crowdfunding is a severe test of audience coherence and the strength of the project creators to bind their audience into a cause,” says Leung. “If we’re not successful making our lower funding target, then we know that there are not enough resources to pursue a tourism marketing project at this point in time.”

The campaign has six weeks left and $10,000 left to raise for its lower funding goal, but has managed $5,000 in pledges so far. For more information please view the above videos and visit the campaign website. Also, a beautiful resource of photographs is being created at the Positive Light website.

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Hi everyone,

I hope you are all well where ever you may be and your work/personal projects are going well.

I wanted to let you know that I’m finally back in Bangladesh for the next six weeks. I’ve been in touch with all of you at various points regarding the update of the Bradt guide, but to be honest I haven’t managed to find enough personal time to keep everything and everyone coordinated. My sincere apologies for talking big and not following through.

The good news: I’m now back again giving Bangladesh my full and almost undivided attention. We’ve got a deadline to make (Jan 15), and a lot of work to do. And I cannot do it alone.

After many years of pondering the poverty problem, I’ve concluded that tourism is one of the best vehicles for developing new economic opportunities for Bangladesh. Tourism could provide massive economic opportunities for this country and I will no longer wait for the government or the tourism industry to reach the foreign audience. I’m taking matters into my own hands – and I am asking others to help me achieve this by volunteering (that’s you) or by seeding this business via the social business crowdfunding platform Start Some Good . Here is how to donate to Crowdsourced Travel .

Using social media and my video camera, I’m going to start shouting from the rice paddies that Bangladesh is now open to adventurous, socially-aware travellers. Bangladeshi people deserve to participate in tourism, a significant vehicle of economic empowerment, and I’ve now devoted several years of my life to sharing this important story with the world.

The purpose of my trip back is to achieve the following:
1. Consolidate a team of volunteers and tour operators who can help update the Bradt guide for a 15 Jan deadline and source new photographs for the guide.
2. Launch a crowdfunding campaign that will help start Crowdsourced Travel, a new social tourism venture. Begin creating its first products.
3. Tell the story of the country’s best social tourism operators and their products.

How can you help me?
1. Join Us: Stay informed by ‘liking’ our Facebook page or signing up on the newsletter .
2. Write: Publish your travel intelligence to the Wikitravel guide to Bangladesh or on Tripadvisor , sites that we plan to use as the info repositories for the travel community instead. If you have an iPhone or an Android phone you can publish directly to Wikitravel using the iTravelFree app. Those who take up larger roles in the project might get a free tour with an operator for research purposes!
3. Photograph: We need your best travel photography for the Bradt guide and for “Positive Light,” a new coffee table photography book I will publish if venture funding is successful. More news coming on this soon. Launch and exhibition event happening 27 October at the BAGHA club in Dhaka.
4. Spread the word: Forward this message!! Let your friends and contacts know that you are thinking of contributing to Bangladesh: The Bradt Travel Guide and Crowdsourced Travel, and that we are raising money to start a social tourism business. They can join us at Facebook or sign up for the newsletter at the Crowdsourced Travel website. We will be launching the crowdfunding campaign next week.
5. Come to the launch event: On 27 October, I am holding a photo exhibition at the BAGHA Club in Dhaka to launch this event, and if you can join us in celebrating the best of Bangladesh I would love to meet you or see you again.

Thank you for expressing your interest in this project. I’d be honoured if you continue to support this work in any way you can. You can reach me in Bangladesh at 01721 720 530.

Best regards,
-Mikey Leung, Author
Bangladesh: The Bradt Travel Guide
mikey@crowdsourced.travel
Bangladesh Traveller
Crowdsourced Travel

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GDP: Direct Contribution
The direct contribution of Travel &Tourism to GDP is expected to be USD523.0bn (2.7% of total GDP) in 2011, rising by 5.9% pa to USD953.4bn (2.8%) in 2021 (in constant 2011 prices).

GDP: Total Contribution
The total contribution of Travel &Tourism to GDP, including its wider economic impacts, is forecast to rise by 5.8% pa from USD1,607.4bn (8.2% of GDP) in 2011 to USD2,903.3bn (8.7%) by 2021.

Employment: Direct Contribution
Travel & Tourism is expected to support directly 63,891,000 jobs (3.5% of total employment) in 2011, rising by 1.9% pa to 77,502,000 jobs (3.7%) by 2021.

Employment: Total Contribution
The total contribution of Travel & Tourism to employment, including jobs indirectly supported by the industry, is forecast to rise by 2.4% pa from 145,802,000 jobs (7.9% of total employment) in 2011 to 184,709,000 jobs (8.9%) by 2021.

Visitor Exports
Travel & Tourism visitor exports are expected to generate USD288.6bn (4.3% of total exports) in 2011, growing by 8.3%pa (in nominal terms) to USD496.2bn (3.6%) in 2021.

Investment
Travel & Tourism investment is estimated at USD247.5bn or 4.1% of total investment in 2011. It should rise by 6.7% pa to reach USD482.0bn (or 4.1%) of total investment in 2021.

The Asia Pacific Region includes South Asia, Southeast Asia, Northeast Asia and Oceania. Download the Travel & Tourism report on Asia Pacific here

About WTTC
The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) is the forum for business leaders in the Travel & Tourism industry. With Chief Executives of some one hundred of the world’s leading Travel & Tourism companies as its Members, WTTC has a unique mandate and overview on all matters related to Travel & Tourism.
WTTC works to raise awareness of Travel & Tourism as one of the world’s largest industries, supporting more than 258 million jobs and generating 9.1 per cent of world GDP.

This article is quoted from WTTC .
Follow the links and get an overview of 2011 WTTC region reports or country reports.

This article is uploaded by Majbritt Thomsen, administrator on ‘Views On Tourism’. Photos from Thailand by Casper Magnussen.

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GDP: Direct ContributionThe direct contribution of Travel &Tourism to GDP is expected to be USD483.2bn (2.8% of total GDP) in 2011, rising by 6.6% pa to USD920.6bn (2.7%) in 2021 (in constant 2011 prices).

GDP: Total Contribution
The total contribution of Travel &Tourism to GDP, including its wider economic impacts, is forecast to rise by 6.8% pa from USD1,397.4bn (8.0% of GDP) in 2011 to USD2,727.3bn (8.4%) by 2021.

Employment: Direct Contribution
Travel & Tourism is expected to support directly 66,750,000 jobs (3.4% of total employment) in 2011, rising by 1.9% pa to 80,264,000 jobs (3.6%) by 2021.

Employment: Total Contribution
The total contribution of Travel & Tourism to employment, including jobs indirectly supported by the industry, is forecast to rise by 2.3% pa from 153,719,000 jobs (7.7% of total employment) in 2011 to 192,905,000 jobs (8.6%) by 2021.

Visitor Exports
Travel & Tourism visitor exports are expected to generate USD184.4bn (3.8% of total exports) in 2011, growing by 9.5%pa (in nominal terms) to USD315.8bn (3.2%) in 2021.

Investment
Travel & Tourism investment is estimated at USD216.2bn or 3.9% of total investment in 2011. It should rise by 7.5% pa to reach USD447.0bn (or 3.9%) of total investment in 2021.

BRICs and N11s Region includes the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China) and the N11s (Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Phillippines South Korea, Turkey, Vietnam)
Download the Travel & Tourism report on BRICs and N11 Economic Impact Report here

About WTTC
The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) is the forum for business leaders in the Travel & Tourism industry. With Chief Executives of some one hundred of the world’s leading Travel & Tourism companies as its Members, WTTC has a unique mandate and overview on all matters related to Travel & Tourism.
WTTC works to raise awareness of Travel & Tourism as one of the world’s largest industries, supporting more than 258 million jobs and generating 9.1 per cent of world GDP.

This article is quoted from WTTC . Follow this link to read the original article and download the tourism report on 2011 BRICs and N11 Economic Impact Report here.
Get an overview of all the region reports from WTTC here

This article is uploaded by Majbritt Thomsen, administrator on ‘Views On Tourism’.

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The positive momentum of the previous months held strong for Southeast Asia, which led the region with 15.5% growth during the month of June. The rebound in arrivals to Thailand (+54%) positively impacted this overall result, strongly supported by the other reporting destinations in this sub-region all of which enjoyed double-digit growth. This in turn was supported by strong travel demand within ASEAN and an increase in arrivals from China.

International arrivals growth to South Asia was a robust 12% in June, boosted by double-digit increases in inbound numbers to Nepal (+38%), the Maldives (+27%) and Sri Lanka (+20%). India maintained the same pace of growth seen in the previous month at 7%. European arrivals are amongst the main contributors to this growth.

Northeast Asia saw an improvement after posting slow growth of 0.6% in May, with a 3.7% increase in arrivals for June 2011. This growth, however, was very unevenly distributed among destinations in the sub-region. Tourism demand to Japan continued to recover, reducing losses in inbound arrivals from -63% in April to -50% in May and -36% in June. Chinese Taipei (-2%) and China (+1%) registered weak results while Hong Kong SAR (+16%), Macau SAR (+15%) and Korea (ROK) (+11%) enjoyed buoyant growth for the month, supported by the key origin market of China.

It should be remembered that even though the percentage growth rate may be relatively weaker than for other sub-regions, the sheer volume of arrivals to Northeast Asia means that 3.7% growth directly translates into more than 600,000 additional arrivals for the month.

International Arrivals to the Pacific recorded an aggregate decline of 4% in June. The main destinations of Australia (-4%) and New Zealand (-10%) showed significant decreases compared to the corresponding period last year. This downturn was caused – in part at least – by the ash cloud disruption to air travel from the Chilean volcano together with the continued effects of the earthquake in Christchurch. Nevertheless, some Pacific Island nations still managed to show positive growth, especially Palau (+63%), Vanuatu (+27%), Tahiti (+19%), Papua New Guinea (+16%), New Caledonia (+11%) and Cook Island (+8%).

January to June 2011
Of the 31 destinations reporting half-year arrivals (January to June 2011), 26 indicted positive growth, with 14 showing double-digit gains. Clear growth leaders over this period were Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand with gains of 37%, 29% and 28% respectively (January to June, year-on-year).

Collectively, these 31 destinations generated growth of 5.3% for the Asia/Pacific region during the first half of 2011. Even with the loss of almost 1.4 million arrivals to Japan, this cluster of destinations collectively not only countered that contraction but managed to add enough additional arrivals to the collective count to post a year-on-year gain of more than eight million international arrivals.

Kris Lim, Director of PATA’s Strategic Intelligence Centre, said: “The first-half year growth of around 5%, given the challenges the industry has faced so far this year underlines the resilience of travel and tourism in the Asia/Pacific region. The comparatively weaker economies of the USA and Europe mean that much of this growth has had to come from intra-regional travel and this in turn has only been possible because of the stronger regional economies and the continued expansion of airline seat capacity within the region.”

Lim added that at the current rate of growth, overall arrivals to the region will push to the 433 million mark by the end of the year, up from 408 million last year. The majority of the Asia/Pacific destinations will once again look at record numbers of arrivals, led by South Asia and Southeast Asia destinations in terms of percentage growth.

“While European arrivals remain key to South Asia’s growth, Southeast Asia will be driven by the rapidly growing China and India outbound markets while Northeast Asia is expected to see strong gains in arrivals from Southeast Asia driven by the steadily growing LCC network,” said Lim.

1)Asia/Pacific is defined as including the following sub-regions for the purposes of press releases:

For more market trends and insights, please visit www.pata.org/sub-regional-trends-2011

-ENDS-

Issued by:PATA Communications,
Bangkok, Thailand.
Tel: +66 2 658 2000
E-mail: communications@PATA.org
Online newsroom: www.pata.org/Press
Follow PATA on Twitter and Facebook

About PATA
The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) is a not-for profit membership association that acts as a catalyst for the responsible development of travel and tourism within the Asia Pacific region. This year, PATA is proud to celebrate 60 dynamic years of developing responsible tourism.

In partnership with private and public sector members, PATA enhances the sustainable growth, value and quality of travel and tourism to-from-and-within, the region. The Association provides leadership and counsel on an individual and collective basis to over 80 government, state and city tourism bodies; nearly 50 international airlines, airports and cruise lines and many hundreds of travel industry companies across the Asia Pacific region and beyond. Thousands of travel professionals belong to 39 active PATA chapters worldwide and participate in a wide range of PATA and industry events. PATA’s Strategic Intelligence Centre (SIC) offers unrivalled data and insights including Asia Pacific inbound and outbound statistics, analyses and forecasts as well as in-depth reports on strategic tourism markets. For more information, please visit www.PATA.org

This article is quoted from the newsletter PATAnews from PATA . Follow the green link to read the original article published on 2011.08.31.

This article is uploaded by Majbritt Thomsen, administrator on ‘Views On Tourism’.

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The majestic Royal Bengal Tiger is roaming near the brink of extinction. Once, the tiger ruled over a major part of the globe ranging from the Pacific to the Black Sea and from Ural Mountains to the Mountain Agung. It is an irony of fate that tiger is facing an onslaught of poaching throughout its range. The main factor contributing in the decline of cat population is habitat degradation. But poaching has put them in a vulnerable condition to survive. Right now tigers occupy only 7% of their historic range and they live in small islands of forests surrounded by a sea of human beings. Over the past few centuries tigers lost more than 80% of their natural habitats and what remain are only small fragments under heavy anthropogenic pressure.

Habitat loss: Anthropogenic disturbances envelop the forests as small pockets maintaining poor level of tiger population. In this circumstance tigers in one area can no longer breed with tigers in adjacent areas due to separation of one area from other by human settlements, infrastructures, villages, agricultural farms, roads, dams, fences and industry. Massive deforestation has forced tigers into small, scattered islands of remaining habitat. Tigers are bound to repeatedly interbreed with the same small group, eventually weakening the gene pool and leading to reproductive problems, birth defects and mutations. Consequently most tigers barely survive in tiny isolated and genetically unsustainable populations. Small islands of habitat are more accessible to poachers than continuous natural vegetation. Tigers also suffer from severe loss of natural prey due to habitat loss.

Habitat fragmentation: Large-scale habitat fragmentation is a major long-term threat to the survivability of the Royal Bengal Tiger population in the Sundarbans. At the beginning of the last century, tigers roamed across the whole Indian sub-continent. Their former range has been narrowed down due to increasing habitat loss and fragmentation. Tigers need large territories for moving, feeding, resting, preying and mating. Tigers love to reside in the larger patches. Many parts of the Sunderbans have become critically fragmented to the point where they are considered unlikely to maintain rich level of diversity.

The “edge” effect: Deforestation and degradation of forest creates many “edges”, where there were dense forests in the past. Edges are windier, drier, warmer and less shady compared to the interior forest. These changes in microclimate disturb the tigers’ distributions. The edges are treated as “ecological traps” wherein tigers are hunted by the poachers. Tigers prefer forests having medium dense canopy and few edges. Edges can be dangerous for the tigers when a forest shares an edge with agricultural lands or human settlements or suburban areas. This edge effect is frequently observed in Sharonkhola and Shyamnagar range of Sundarbans.

Destruction of riparian patches: The riparian forest is one that is located along bank of rivers, channels, lakes or other surface water bodies. The tiger uses such forests for resting, hunting, eating and drinking. Spotted deer, sambar, barking deer and wild pig are frequently visible along river bars and shorelines. The loss of riparian vegetations specially Nipa Palm (Golpata) Mangrove Date Palm (Hanthal) and Bain (Avicennia marina), has resulted in a great loss of tiger habitat in the Sundarbans.

Lack of buffer zones: There are no established buffer zones around the core zones of Sundarbans to provide further protection for the tigers. The buffer zone can provide the cats safeguard against further poaching. Buffer zones are not highly protective but limited to extract natural resources. Buffer zones are treated as imperative efforts in the conservation biology. It also provides an arena for genetic exchange between subpopulations.

Lack of tigers’ corridors: A biological corridor connects two core areas for roaming of wildlife. Tiger corridor can connect up many isolated and fragmented groups. This corridor also protects the tigers from poachers. A long tiger corridor ranging from Fatra forest of Kuakata to Shyamnagar range of Shatkhira district can boost the cats’ population and genetic diversity.

Habitat matrix: Tigers use matrix habitats for movement and feeding. The forest matrix often acts as a corridor for roaming across the landscape. They are capable of using matrix habitats, at least when large forest tracts are nearby. The surrounding matrix of the remnants serves as temporary habitats of tigers. The absence of scattered trees is hazardous for the tigers to connect the landscapes.

Territorial fight: A male tiger uses a few kilometers area for roaming and hunting, called a territory. The size of a territory depends on the abundance of prey. In Indian sub-continent, a male tiger only needs from twelve to ninety-five square kilometers, whereas it is 500 square kilometers in the Russian Far East. Female territories are usually smaller. Several tigers may use the same route at different times. Several females may live in the territory of a male. Both male and female tigers demark the territory by the alignment of rivers or canals and by spraying a mixture of urine and scent gland secretions on bushes and tree barks along their route. They also leave scratch marks on tree barks and excretory droppings on prominent places, and make ‘scrapes’ on the ground to provide olfactory and visual clues to their presence. A male protects its own territory deadly against other male tiger’s trespass and fight fiercely to keep its territory free from other male’s invasion. A male usually has more than one female in its territory. Every female guard individually its own small territory within the male’s large territory to rear cubs. Young and old males are pushed to the degraded forests where there are scarcities of prey. The stronger male adult wins the battle often killing the weaker.

Inbreeding depression: Individual female tiger loves to move freely and breed more widely. Right now tigers roam across the remaining pockets instead of wide territory. The exchange of genes is highly limited in these pockets. The subpopulations are becoming smaller and more isolated. The loss of genetic diversity causing a tremendous population reduction is one of the biggest challenges of tiger conservation.

Human-tiger conflict: Human populations are increasing much faster than the average global rate across most of the tiger habitats including the Sundarbans. Human-tiger conflict is a severe problem all over the world. As human populations expand and natural habitats shrink, people and animals are increasingly coming into conflict over living space and food. People lose their livestock and sometimes their lives. The cats are often killed by the neighbouring people as revenge or to ‘prevent’ future conflicts. This conflict not only threatens the tiger, but poses a major problem for communities living in or near tiger habitat. Most of the local communities living around tiger habitats depend on forests for various services. These increasing entrances have increased the frequency of tiger attacks in the recent time. Unsustainable activities within forests also further degrade the habitats of tigers and their prey. Tiger poaching is positively correlated with human-tiger conflict.

Climate change: As sea levels rise, Sundarbans has been overexposed to salt water. Sea level rise and coastal erosion are also shrinking the tigers’ ranges. The Sundarbans consists of low-lying swamps dotted with hundreds of small islands criss-crossed by water channels. Already it has lost 28% tiger habitat due to global warming over the last four decades. The cat loses bearing due to increased storminess. It is predicted that the cats are suffering from various diseases by drinking saline water. One-metre rise of sea level will destroy the whole ecosystem of Sunderbans.

Poaching and piracy: Illegal hunting of herbivores like deer and wild boar significantly reduces prey availability for cats. Abundance of preys has shrunk considerably over past 15 years in most parts of the world. Humans are the cause of 75%-85% mortality of tigers. Tigers are usually killed for their fur and for their body parts. These are widely used as traditional medicine despite the fact that any part of tiger’s body has no medicinal value. Tigers’ hides are being used for decoration and ceremonies by a variety of Asian cultures.

Food shortage: The tiger is facing food shortage all over the world as poaching of the spotted deer has been increased in recent years. It will be difficult for the tiger to survive with this food shortage. When it does not get sufficient prey inside the forest, it strays into locality in the vicinity and hunts cattle and also hurts or hills humans, which in turn results in counter killing of the big cats by the angry people.

The writer Dr. Md. Mizanur Rahman, a biodiversity specialist, is UNO, Mongla, Bagerhat (mizan_peroj @yahoo.com)

This article was first published in The Daily Star, Bangladesh. The original article published on 2011.09.03.

The article is uploaded by Majbritt Thomsen, administrator on ‘Views On Tourism’. Please join the online Views On Tourism network and discussion group in order to achieve personal goals as well as encourage a sustainable tourism development in Bangladesh and South Asia. Read more about this group and how to become a member here.

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From the experience of countries which has seen considerable growth in tourism, it is found that tourism development is not the job of a single ministry alone. It is a coordinated effort of all the ministries.

Human beings are instinctively curious. From time immemorial people moved from one place to another to know the unknown, see the unseen, discover the undiscovered and go into ecstasies about the newness. With the advent of civilization and technological advancement, the world has become smaller. With the rise of income level, people are being liberated from the clutches of poverty gradually. People of the global village can afford to move easily from one corner to another.

This is why the number of tourist arriving is always rising. In 2010, about $852 billion business has been generated at a high growth rate of 7%, which was 5% in the previous year. In the coming days, it is predicted to witness an even higher growth rate. With the passage of time more and more countries across the world are showing increased interest in tourism, investing bigger amounts and also reaping higher benefits.

In the context of the global scenario, only 1% of global tourism transactions are generated in the Saarc region, where India alone seized almost half of it. 1% of the total business means $10 billion, where Bangladesh earned $78.3 million in the year 2010, which is below 0.01%. Several countries of this region earn much more every year.

It is not at all difficult for Bangladesh to achieve $1billion. We need to ensure that there would be one million tourists arriving per year, and provide facilities so that each tourist spends around $1,000. This target is not too ambitious considering the varieties Bangladesh can offer.

It is good news for Bangladesh that tourists who usually visit the destinations of developed world are now looking for new and unexplored destinations. Saarc countries and surrounding regions, which are less familiar to the world, are getting attention now.
Since the international communities are showing interest, the countries of this region have become eager to foster the tourism industry. Nepal and Sri Lanka, two of Saarc member countries, have declared separately 2011 as Tourism Year in their nations.
South Korea also declared 2011 as Tourism Year. Maldives, Bhutan, India have already started huge promotional and development work in tourism. Besides, countries like Iran, Turkey, Kazakhstan, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand etc. and the Middle Eastern countries like Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait etc, are spending billions of dollars for the development of tourism and earning benefits out of this industry.

There is expectation among many in Bangladesh that we should keep pace with other countries in developing the tourism sector. The present government initiated some administrative measures.
An inter-ministerial coordination committee, headed by the secretary tourism, was formed. Besides, an advisory committee headed by the minister of tourism, cabinet committee for tourism headed by the finance minister and the national tourism council, the apex committee for tourism headed by the honorable prime minister, have been formed with the aim to coordinate the efforts of all ministers including stakeholders.

A tourism cell has been established in each deputy commissioner’s office with the objective to identify tourist attractions, maintain tourist spots, build infrastructure and ensure overall quality management.
Besides, the cell is responsible in taking necessary measures in providing guide services, transportation and ensuring safety and security to the tourists. The expenditures for these purposes will be earned from the visitors. The excess expenditure, if necessary, especially for development work, is to be borne by the district council funds.

Ministry of local government, rural development and cooperatives will manage to get the allocation from the national budget as per the demand submitted by the district councils. This programme could not be made effective in reality due to a lack of awareness among the concerned officials and stakeholders.

The ministry of tourism is preparing multi-participatory tourism development projects jointly with other ministries like local government, forest and environment, cultural, shipping, etc. Proper allocation of fund is necessary for implementing them.
The survey of the vast areas of Cox’s Bazaar up to Teknaf and St. Martins Island and Kuakata has been conducted, and the preparation of two separate master plans is now in the final stage. A Cox’s Bazaar development authority, under ministry of housing and settlement, is being created for implementing the development work of Cox’s Bazaar.
Authorisation committees have been formed to oversee and guide all development activities in the Cox’s Bazaar area and Kuakata till specific development authorities are formed. It can be expected that tourist facilities will flourish in accordance with the master plans from now on.

It addition, Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation (BPC) has been building some facilities in different places of the country as and when needed, subject to the availability of fund. The website of BPC (tourismbangladesh.gov.bd) has also been modernised.

The present government has made a pragmatic tourism policy. A new law has been enacted for the preservation of the tourist attractions of the country and also for establishing exclusive tourist zones. A new national tourism organisation, e.g. Bangladesh Tourism Board (BTB) has been created.

BTB has been constituted with representatives of related ministries and stakeholders from the private sector. This has allowed a closer interaction between governmental agencies and private sectors for an overall development of this sector. A web portal (visitbangladesh.gov.bd) is being designed to provide all vital information on the tourism sector. We also declared the year 2011 as the Tourism Year for Bangladesh.

In spite of all this, the development of international tourism in Bangladesh is not satisfactory. The entire government needs to be involved under the leadership of the head of the government.
It is also clear that the endeavour of the government is not enough for the maximum exploitation of the tourism potential. Every stakeholder in business, society and opposition political parties need to be involved too.

In fact, development of tourism is not possible until and unless a social movement, involving the entire nation, can be launched to support it. This is exactly what has happened and is happening in countries like Nepal, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Bhutan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, China, India etc.

Countries that have made remarkable achievement in tourism have witnessed direct involvement and/or patronisation of the head of the government. In addition, tourism has been put on top of the priority list of the government. We in Bangladesh lacked in both.

The reason for this is a lack of national confidence in tourism development potentials and the potential benefits from this sector. As such, it is felt that a practical demonstration has become essential to show the potential and the benefit tourism sector can bring.

We believe that Bangladesh has immense prospect in the tourism sector with its natural beauty, historical and archaeological attractions, architectural structures, local culture and lifestyle, colourful indigenous entities and different festivals. Apart from these, the most enticing proposition of Bangladesh for the tourists is the hardworking, resilient, ever-smiling and hospitable people of the country.
There is no denying that both the public and private sectors have developed different tourist facilities and skilled human resources.

As regards enhancement of tourism facilities, we feel we have enough for the present or even to some extent to meet future demands. New facilities are coming up with the increase of demand. If the demand starts growing fast so will the facilities.

Considering the situation, it is believed that if we can project our country to the international community, we will be able to attract quite a good number of tourists who seem eager to find new destinations.

Projecting Bangladesh in the international electronic and print media is necessary to catch more attention. Moreover, different events in our foreign missions can be done highlighting tourism. Participation in different tourism fairs, arrangement of familiarisation tours, and distribution of printed promotional materials are also crucial.

It is felt that “on arrival visa” should be allowed for the tourists from Saarc countries unilaterally. It may also be considered for other countries from where we anticipate large number of visitors.
Tourism can create a huge employment opportunity and can contribute substantially to the economy. Tourism, thus, can play a vital role in poverty alleviation. The biggest barrier to development of tourism is the lack of trust and the main challenge is to create confidence.

The article is quoted from Daily Star and originally published on 2011-07-15.

This article is uploaded by Majbritt Thomsen, administrator on ‘Views On Tourism’.

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• 

GDP: Direct Contribution
The direct contribution of Travel &Tourism to GDP is expected to be USD44.8bn (2.1% of total GDP) in 2011, rising by 7.5% pa to USD92.7bn (2.1%) in 2021 (in constant 2011 prices).

GDP: Total Contribution
The total contribution of Travel &Tourism to GDP, including its wider economic impacts, is forecast to rise by 8.1% pa from USD103.8bn (4.8% of GDP) in 2011 to USD226.1bn (5.1%) by 2021.

Employment: Direct Contribution
Travel & Tourism is expected to support directly 28,437,000 jobs (4.3% of total employment) in 2011, rising by 2.1% pa to 35,008,000 jobs (4.5%) by 2021.

Employment: Total Contribution
The total contribution of Travel & Tourism to employment, including jobs indirectly supported by the industry, is forecast to rise by 2.4% pa from 45,595,000 jobs (6.9% of total employment) in 2011 to 57,757,000 jobs (7.4%) by 2021.

Visitor Exports
Travel & Tourism visitor exports are expected to generate USD18.1bn (4.0% of total exports) in 2011, growing by 8.6% pa (in nominal terms) to USD34.3bn (2.2%) in 2021.

Investment
Travel & Tourism investment is estimated at USD29.7bn or 4.6% of total investment in 2011. It should rise by 8.4% pa to reach USD66.5bn (or 4.7%) of total investment in 2021.

World ranking (out of 12 regions):
Relative importance of Travel & Tourism’s total contribution to GDP
• 9 ABSOLUTE size
• 12 RELATIVE contribution to national economy
• 1 GROWTH forecast

The South Asia Region includes Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka

Download the regional report on South Asia tourism 2011 here

About WTTC
The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) is the forum for business leaders in the Travel & Tourism industry. With Chief Executives of some one hundred of the world’s leading Travel & Tourism companies as its Members, WTTC has a unique mandate and overview on all matters related to Travel & Tourism.
WTTC works to raise awareness of Travel & Tourism as one of the world’s largest industries, supporting more than 258 million jobs and generating 9.1 per cent of world GDP.

This article is quoted from WTTC . Follow this link to read the original article and download the report on South Asian tourism 2011 here.
Get an overview of all the region reports from WTTC here

This article is uploaded by Majbritt Thomsen, administrator on ‘Views On Tourism’.

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