For better tourism industry

As many countries have attained prosperity by promoting their tourism industry, Bangladesh, too, has a potential to develop this sector. The country has natural gifts for tourism. By attracting international tourists who visit South and Southeast Asia in Bangladesh's neighbourhood, the country has the scope to create more jobs, earn more foreign exchange and spur gross domestic product (GDP) growth. In the process of establishing the country as one of major tourists' destinations in the world, we will be able to brand Bangladesh globally.

However, in order to make a large number of tourists Bangladesh-bound, we need to improve our infrastructures including roads, tourist resorts and security system. Bangladesh is blessed with rich archaeological sites and natural sites like the Sundarbans, the coastline, the hilly region, rivers and unique deltaic landscape. Unfortunately, historical sites are hardly maintained and the country's main sea beach of Cox's Bazar is losing beauty due to reckless infrastructure building and lack of proper waste management. Apart from addressing the issues at home, we have to promote our tourist spots worldwide so that the people living in distant places can know about them. Our official and commercial websites need to be updated with smart text and images of tourism in Bangladesh. Our government need to understand that a vibrant tourism industry will increase revenue in a variety of ways since it is a sector which can contribute to growth of a number of sectors.

Md. Salman Haider

International Relations, Rajshahi University