Development of tourism promises overall economic growth
Thursday, 3 June 2010
Muhammad Mahboob Ali
and Rehana Parvin
Many countries are now dependent on the tourism sector for foreign currency earnings. The expansion of the tourism throughout the world has increased competition among the tourist destinations, which try to attract more tourists by adopting appropriate marketing techniques and strategies. As an important element of marketing mix, promotion plays the vital role in tourism marketing like any product and services. Tourists want to know in advance about the attractions and the facilities of a particular destination. They also desire to know other related information of his/her visit to make it safe, secured and enjoyable. As a result, dissemination of information on travel and tourism-related products and services are highly important.
Though promotion plays an important role in tourism marketing, the tourism marketing in Bangladesh is far behind in that respect. This is mainly due to inadequate and ineffective promotional measures of the tourism sector of Bangladesh. Both the private and public tour operators of Bangladesh have the resource constraints and cannot afford to draw a sufficient budget for the promotional purpose. They only depend on the local media which is not sufficient for such diversified industry.
The country also needs to employ creative people for this purpose and the quality of the promotional materials also needs to be developed. The promotional activities should also be directed in correcting the present image towards Bangladesh as tourists' destination. By ensuring these measures Bangladesh tourism industry can emerge as one of the major contributing sector of the national economy of Bangladesh.
The need of an integrated strategy
Without strategic leadership, tourism sector cannot be built. Both the government and the private organizations need to be readdressed the issue and seriously consider to develop strategic leadership. Quality leadership will develop the organization and driven out the inefficiency and ineffectiveness. Gross domestic product of the country can be raised with the interrelated effort like raising foreign exchange earnings, environmental management to attract tourists, product diversifications, infrastructure developments, improving transportation systems, and human resource development.
The following steps may also be considered actively:
i. Development of regional tourism, which will help maximise use of the social, cultural, and traditional bondage of the people of neighboring countries.
ii. Development of International Tourism, which will target tourist visiting neighboring countries to have transit in Bangladesh and Golf players of Japan and Korea for participating in tournaments in Bangladesh.
iii. Conservation of eco-system in coastal Zone and Islands of Bangladesh and simultaneously build up eco-tourism in the area based on the natural bio-diversity.
iv. Development of amusement and entry facilities in order to lengthen period of stay of tourists.
v. Involvement of the private sector activity in the overall tourism activity of the country.
Policy implications
Through developing tourism sector economy of Bangladesh and standard of the living of living condition of the people can be raised significantly. As such all the components of strategic management i.e. strategic leadership, strategic formulation and strategic implementation should work simultaneously so that gross domestic products growth rate can be increased.
Image of Bangladesh abroad should be improved. Bangladesh embassies work in this respect. To develop tourism culture in this region, for which combined cooperation among the SAARAC countries are required.
World Tourism day on September 27th may be declared as a holiday to create a culture of tourism in Bangladesh and different types of programs may be arranged to mark the day. Product differentiations may be arranged based on the income level of the tourists'. Entertainment and recreational facilities may be arranged for tourists.
Most potential areas include developing river based tourism centering round the Sunderbans forest, Rangamati, beach resort in Cox's Bazar, Patenga sea beach, Kuakata, St. Martin's Island, cultural tourism based on Buddhist and Islamic archaeological and historical -monuments, general interest features in the Dhaka region and tea plantation in Sylhet area and bird watching tours in the Jahangirnagar area. Conservation of archaeological and historical monuments and the important natural environments are essential. Special attention should be given to preserve the environment so that the natural beauty and ecological balance of Cox's Bazar and Sunderbans are not impaired. Other areas of the country should also be developed to attract tourists and eco-tourism should be well established.
Historical places related to the independence of the country should be well preserved and may be arranged for visit by the tourists. Those who are pilgrims and religious tourists must be well entertained and to fulfill their level of satisfaction religious spots should be properly done.
The biggest barriers standing in the way of developing Bangladesh into a buzzing international tourist location are political instability, low level of managerial skills, unwillingness to provide good services, rent seeking and insecurity. In view of tourism's vast potentiality to become a lucrative business, opening the door for enormous employment opportunities and positive contribution towards increasing gross domestic product of the country, it is expected that both public and private should be more serious about overcoming existing barriers. Rules, regulations and infrastructure planning done by the government will be effective when it is implemented. The problems like, political instability, social unrest and absence of proper security for the tourists have to be solved. If Bangladesh can follow the guideline for infrastructure provided by WTO, Bangladesh can definitely attract international tourists.
The visa restrictions for the tourists must be relaxed. Immigration officials need to be friendly. Trained manpower can do miracles. The tour operators need to be professional in providing those services. Good law and order and uninterrupted power supply are essential as it will be necessary to have all support infrastructures in place. The private and public universities and professional human resource development institutes have to pay attention to create the professionals for the tourism and hospitality industry for domestic and foreign employment. Health management system should be improved mainly by the initiatives of the private sector. International standard diagnostic centers, Hospitals and medical colleges may be set up under joint ventures. Foreign direct investment may be welcomed in the health management sector. This will help attain macro economic sustainability and sustainable economic development of the country can be possible.
The government should appoint a high-powered board to regulate tourism related activities by taking the services of knowledgeable persons both from private and public sectors. This should help the government formulate policy and boost this sector by removing all barriers to its growth. The negative image of Bangladesh, depicted abroad for some time, needs to be corrected. This will require a concerted effort and a massive marketing campaign to improve image of Bangladesh.
Dr. Muhammad Mahboob Ali is Professor, School of Business and Economics, Atish Dipankar University of Science and Technology and Rehana Parvin is a lecturer in the same department of the university. They can be reached at e-mail: MuhammadMahboob Ali:
pipulbd@gmail.com
and Rehana Parvin
Many countries are now dependent on the tourism sector for foreign currency earnings. The expansion of the tourism throughout the world has increased competition among the tourist destinations, which try to attract more tourists by adopting appropriate marketing techniques and strategies. As an important element of marketing mix, promotion plays the vital role in tourism marketing like any product and services. Tourists want to know in advance about the attractions and the facilities of a particular destination. They also desire to know other related information of his/her visit to make it safe, secured and enjoyable. As a result, dissemination of information on travel and tourism-related products and services are highly important.
Though promotion plays an important role in tourism marketing, the tourism marketing in Bangladesh is far behind in that respect. This is mainly due to inadequate and ineffective promotional measures of the tourism sector of Bangladesh. Both the private and public tour operators of Bangladesh have the resource constraints and cannot afford to draw a sufficient budget for the promotional purpose. They only depend on the local media which is not sufficient for such diversified industry.
The country also needs to employ creative people for this purpose and the quality of the promotional materials also needs to be developed. The promotional activities should also be directed in correcting the present image towards Bangladesh as tourists' destination. By ensuring these measures Bangladesh tourism industry can emerge as one of the major contributing sector of the national economy of Bangladesh.
The need of an integrated strategy
Without strategic leadership, tourism sector cannot be built. Both the government and the private organizations need to be readdressed the issue and seriously consider to develop strategic leadership. Quality leadership will develop the organization and driven out the inefficiency and ineffectiveness. Gross domestic product of the country can be raised with the interrelated effort like raising foreign exchange earnings, environmental management to attract tourists, product diversifications, infrastructure developments, improving transportation systems, and human resource development.
The following steps may also be considered actively:
i. Development of regional tourism, which will help maximise use of the social, cultural, and traditional bondage of the people of neighboring countries.
ii. Development of International Tourism, which will target tourist visiting neighboring countries to have transit in Bangladesh and Golf players of Japan and Korea for participating in tournaments in Bangladesh.
iii. Conservation of eco-system in coastal Zone and Islands of Bangladesh and simultaneously build up eco-tourism in the area based on the natural bio-diversity.
iv. Development of amusement and entry facilities in order to lengthen period of stay of tourists.
v. Involvement of the private sector activity in the overall tourism activity of the country.
Policy implications
Through developing tourism sector economy of Bangladesh and standard of the living of living condition of the people can be raised significantly. As such all the components of strategic management i.e. strategic leadership, strategic formulation and strategic implementation should work simultaneously so that gross domestic products growth rate can be increased.
Image of Bangladesh abroad should be improved. Bangladesh embassies work in this respect. To develop tourism culture in this region, for which combined cooperation among the SAARAC countries are required.
World Tourism day on September 27th may be declared as a holiday to create a culture of tourism in Bangladesh and different types of programs may be arranged to mark the day. Product differentiations may be arranged based on the income level of the tourists'. Entertainment and recreational facilities may be arranged for tourists.
Most potential areas include developing river based tourism centering round the Sunderbans forest, Rangamati, beach resort in Cox's Bazar, Patenga sea beach, Kuakata, St. Martin's Island, cultural tourism based on Buddhist and Islamic archaeological and historical -monuments, general interest features in the Dhaka region and tea plantation in Sylhet area and bird watching tours in the Jahangirnagar area. Conservation of archaeological and historical monuments and the important natural environments are essential. Special attention should be given to preserve the environment so that the natural beauty and ecological balance of Cox's Bazar and Sunderbans are not impaired. Other areas of the country should also be developed to attract tourists and eco-tourism should be well established.
Historical places related to the independence of the country should be well preserved and may be arranged for visit by the tourists. Those who are pilgrims and religious tourists must be well entertained and to fulfill their level of satisfaction religious spots should be properly done.
The biggest barriers standing in the way of developing Bangladesh into a buzzing international tourist location are political instability, low level of managerial skills, unwillingness to provide good services, rent seeking and insecurity. In view of tourism's vast potentiality to become a lucrative business, opening the door for enormous employment opportunities and positive contribution towards increasing gross domestic product of the country, it is expected that both public and private should be more serious about overcoming existing barriers. Rules, regulations and infrastructure planning done by the government will be effective when it is implemented. The problems like, political instability, social unrest and absence of proper security for the tourists have to be solved. If Bangladesh can follow the guideline for infrastructure provided by WTO, Bangladesh can definitely attract international tourists.
The visa restrictions for the tourists must be relaxed. Immigration officials need to be friendly. Trained manpower can do miracles. The tour operators need to be professional in providing those services. Good law and order and uninterrupted power supply are essential as it will be necessary to have all support infrastructures in place. The private and public universities and professional human resource development institutes have to pay attention to create the professionals for the tourism and hospitality industry for domestic and foreign employment. Health management system should be improved mainly by the initiatives of the private sector. International standard diagnostic centers, Hospitals and medical colleges may be set up under joint ventures. Foreign direct investment may be welcomed in the health management sector. This will help attain macro economic sustainability and sustainable economic development of the country can be possible.
The government should appoint a high-powered board to regulate tourism related activities by taking the services of knowledgeable persons both from private and public sectors. This should help the government formulate policy and boost this sector by removing all barriers to its growth. The negative image of Bangladesh, depicted abroad for some time, needs to be corrected. This will require a concerted effort and a massive marketing campaign to improve image of Bangladesh.
Dr. Muhammad Mahboob Ali is Professor, School of Business and Economics, Atish Dipankar University of Science and Technology and Rehana Parvin is a lecturer in the same department of the university. They can be reached at e-mail: MuhammadMahboob Ali:
pipulbd@gmail.com