Country's tourism industry feels pinch of global financial crisis
Wednesday, 19 November 2008
Naim-Ul-Karim
The country's tourism industry felt the pinch of the global financial tsunami and the political instability as these led to a huge drop in arrivals of foreign tourists, operators said Tuesday.
They said political instability surrounding the parliamentary election, scheduled for December 18, has virtually refrained foreign tourists from visiting Bangladesh during this peak season of tourism business.
"The number of arrivals of foreign tourists has dwindled this year," Hasan Mansur, president of Tour Operators' Association of Bangladesh (TOAB), told the FE on the day.
He said: "The global financial meltdown and the political instability in the country have seemed to be the key causes of decline in the number of arrivals of foreign tourists in the country during the on-going peak season of the tourism business."
But, he could not cite any percentage of drops in arrival of foreign tourists until date compared to any previous period of last year.
Mr. Mansur, also managing director of the Guide Tour, said the country's tourism industry, that created over 2.0 million jobs but failed to receive a good number of foreign tourists last year due mainly to super cyclone SIDR on November 15, would pass another dull year that might pose a threat of job cut in the sector.
Shiblul Azam Koreshi, managing director of Abakash Parjatan Ltd, said the number of knocks from foreign tourists particularly from the USA and some European countries is below expectation.
Every year during October-March period, a huge number of tourists from Germany, Norway, Italy, the UK and some other counties visit Bangladesh, he said.
He, however, said the flow of tourists from some Asian countries including China, India and Japan has gone up in recent years.
Sector insiders said the country's tourism industry is unlikely to contribute its full potential to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth due to slowdown in businesses.
Referring to a report of the World Travel Tourism Council (WTTC), they said the contribution of the Bangladesh travel and tourism industry to the country's GDP has been estimated at around 3.9 per cent or over $2.9 billion in 2008.
According to WTTC estimate, Bangladesh's tourism industry contributed around 1.5 per cent or around $998.2 million to the country's GDP in 2007.
However, the hotel industry, which seems to be the worst affected, is making all efforts to woo tourists slashing food rates and providing cheap accommodation.
"We are observing the situation and have started to offer special discounts to impress tourists," Badruzzaman Khan, marketing manager of NABA Inn, said.
The TOAB president expressed the hope that the flow of foreign tourists in the country might go up if there was political stability following the ensuing general election despite the hit of recession.
He said the tourism industry is yet feel the extreme pinch of trouble as the domestic tourism has remained in a steady position.
Quazi Raqibul Islam, proprietor of Tourist Club, said they are getting very good response from their corporate clients and other individuals since the beginning of the season.
"The domestic tourism virtually helped us keep our position still better," he added.
The country's tourism industry felt the pinch of the global financial tsunami and the political instability as these led to a huge drop in arrivals of foreign tourists, operators said Tuesday.
They said political instability surrounding the parliamentary election, scheduled for December 18, has virtually refrained foreign tourists from visiting Bangladesh during this peak season of tourism business.
"The number of arrivals of foreign tourists has dwindled this year," Hasan Mansur, president of Tour Operators' Association of Bangladesh (TOAB), told the FE on the day.
He said: "The global financial meltdown and the political instability in the country have seemed to be the key causes of decline in the number of arrivals of foreign tourists in the country during the on-going peak season of the tourism business."
But, he could not cite any percentage of drops in arrival of foreign tourists until date compared to any previous period of last year.
Mr. Mansur, also managing director of the Guide Tour, said the country's tourism industry, that created over 2.0 million jobs but failed to receive a good number of foreign tourists last year due mainly to super cyclone SIDR on November 15, would pass another dull year that might pose a threat of job cut in the sector.
Shiblul Azam Koreshi, managing director of Abakash Parjatan Ltd, said the number of knocks from foreign tourists particularly from the USA and some European countries is below expectation.
Every year during October-March period, a huge number of tourists from Germany, Norway, Italy, the UK and some other counties visit Bangladesh, he said.
He, however, said the flow of tourists from some Asian countries including China, India and Japan has gone up in recent years.
Sector insiders said the country's tourism industry is unlikely to contribute its full potential to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth due to slowdown in businesses.
Referring to a report of the World Travel Tourism Council (WTTC), they said the contribution of the Bangladesh travel and tourism industry to the country's GDP has been estimated at around 3.9 per cent or over $2.9 billion in 2008.
According to WTTC estimate, Bangladesh's tourism industry contributed around 1.5 per cent or around $998.2 million to the country's GDP in 2007.
However, the hotel industry, which seems to be the worst affected, is making all efforts to woo tourists slashing food rates and providing cheap accommodation.
"We are observing the situation and have started to offer special discounts to impress tourists," Badruzzaman Khan, marketing manager of NABA Inn, said.
The TOAB president expressed the hope that the flow of foreign tourists in the country might go up if there was political stability following the ensuing general election despite the hit of recession.
He said the tourism industry is yet feel the extreme pinch of trouble as the domestic tourism has remained in a steady position.
Quazi Raqibul Islam, proprietor of Tourist Club, said they are getting very good response from their corporate clients and other individuals since the beginning of the season.
"The domestic tourism virtually helped us keep our position still better," he added.