Travel, tourism investment in BD to rise by 6.5pc this year

---

Kamrun Nahar
Travel and tourism investment in Bangladesh will rise by 6.5 per cent this year against the total amount of Tk 34.3 billion in 2011, said a global report.
World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) in their Travel & Tourism Economic Impact 2012, Bangladesh, mentioned that the investment will reach Tk 36.52 billion in 2012 and rise by 6.7 per cent over the next 10 years to Tk 69.8 billion in 2022.
Travel and tourism investment in 2011 was Tk 34.3 billion, or 1.7 per cent of the country's total investment.
The report also said in 2011 travel and tourism directly supported 1.32 million jobs or 1.9 per cent of total employment. This is expected to rise by 3.6 per cent in 2012 totalling 1.36 million jobs. The job creation will rise by 2.9 per cent to 1.84 million jobs or 2.0 per cent of total employment in 2022.
WTTC is the forum for business leaders in the travel and tourism industry. Some 100 chief executives of the world's leading travel and tourism companies are its Members.
The direct contribution of travel and tourism to GDP reflects the 'internal' spending on travel and tourism (total spending within a particular country on Travel and Tourism by residents and non-residents for business and leisure purposes) as well as government 'individual' spending - spending by government on travel and tourism services directly linked to visitors, such as cultural (eg museums) or recreational (eg national parks), the report said.
Francis Dilip Vasant Desilva, an adviser to International Labour Organisation (ILO) in Dhaka, said it's no wonder that WTTC has forecast about various aspects of tourism industry of Bangladesh.
"Bangladesh cannot forecast like this as it does not have any data on tourism industry. They provide the information to WTTC based on what the global organization predicts all these issues," De Silva told the FE Saturday. He has been closely involved in the development of tourism sector of the country for the last couple of years.
Bangladesh government must take actions how to achieve those anticipated target, he said, adding: ILO has set up tourism skills council and activities are underway to introduce tourism toolkit developed for poverty alleviation through sustainable development.
Taufiq Rahman, Chief Executive of Journey Plus said political stability is a big issue for achieving the set target in 2012.
Regarding the investment forecast he said major investment will take place in developing the tourism destinations.
"There is a vacuum of accommodation in the tourist destinations in Rajshahi, Naogaon, Rangpur, Dinajpur, Bogra and Jessore where many will want to invest if the government formulates a policy to give incentives to these investors," he told the FE.
Besides, in recent times the membership of Tour Operators Association of Bangladesh (TOAB) has crossed more than 200 that means many entrepreneurs are coming in tourism business.
"What we need is a master plan for tourism sector. There are plans but not a single one is finalised yet, not even the master plan for Cox's Bazar," said Mr Rahman.
Syed G Qadir, director of TOAB, said many hotel, motels and resorts are being set up in Dhaka, Chittagong and Cox's Bazar which is a major indicator of investment for tourism development.
Besides, the government has various plans to develop infrastructure in tourist zones and global lending and development partners also have various projects to develop the tourism sector of the country alongside the government, he added.