‘Bangladesh can be source of Muslim-friendly tourism’

State Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism M Mahbub Ali has said Muslim-friendly environment across the Bangladesh can be a great source to meet the growing demand of Muslim travelers, reports BSS.
"Muslim-friendly tourism is the potential segment for Bangladesh to attract tourists from the Muslim countries as well as non-Muslim countries," he said while addressing an international seminar at a city hotel.
Bangladesh Tourism Board (BTB) and Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC), an organ of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) organised the seminar, styled 'Muslim-friendly Tourism'.
Noting that Bangladesh is the fourth largest Muslim populated country in the world, Mahbub said there are mentionable numbers of mosques, monuments, Islamic archaeological sites and shrine scattered across the country while nearly five millions of Muslims from around the globe congregate in the country during the 'Bishwa Ijtema'.
"Our capital Dhaka is known as the 'city of mosque'. This city is full of many heritage of Islam as well as all major religion of the world," he noted.
He mentioned that not only the Muslim countries but also the countries like Australia, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan and New Zealand are laying emphasis on Muslim-friendly products and services.
He hoped that private sector entrepreneurs working on tourism will play a vital role in popularising the idea of promoting Muslim-friendly tourism.
SESRIC Director General Nebil Dabur, Director on UNWTO office in Uzbekistan Mirzakhidov M. Mirtolib, Director General of Malaysian Islamic Tourism Centre Abdul Khani Daud and CEO of Bangladesh Tourism Board (BTB) Dr Bhubon Chandra Biswas were also present and spoke at the seminar.
At end of the seminar, SESRIC awarded three tourism service providers of Bangladesh - Journey Plus, Tourism Window and Annex Travel and Consulting Group - for their contribution to tourism development.
Dhaka was chosen as the 'City of Tourism for 2019' by the tourism ministers of the OIC member states at the closing session of the 10th Islamic Conference of Tourism Ministers (ICTM) that was held last year in Dhaka.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the two-day official celebration of the Dhaka's achievement in July last in the presence of representatives from more than 30 OIC member states including OIC Assistant Secretary General Musa Kulaklikaya.
With a market potential of more than 50 Muslim countries and no less than 1.6 billion Muslims, tremendous opportunities await those who are willing to meet the demands for Muslim-friendly tourism products and services.