Tie-up with Thailand to boost local tourism
Saturday, 18 April 2009
A Z M Anas
Travel operators have launched "strategic campaign" to promote Bangladesh's tourism by tying up with Thailand, which is a magnet for foreign tourists, industry leaders said Friday.
The Association of Travel Agents of Bangladesh (ATAB), the trade group, is building relations with the tourism authority and tour operators of the Southeast Asian nation to facilitate sharing of cross-border expertise and step up cooperation to help boost the country's potential sector.
"Our aim is to develop our capacity and how we can draw lessons from Thailand, whose economy is largely reliant on revenues from the tourism sector," MA Bari, ATAB's general secretary, said.
"We promised to vote for Fiji Patong beach and requested our Thai counterparts to do the same for Cox's Bazar sea beach. The idea is simple: Promoting sites of both countries. Since each participant can vote for five sites, Bangladeshi and Thai citizens can take the opportunity to promote each other's sites," he added.
Still, Cox's Bazar seabeach ranks top among seven natural sites, selected for New 7 Wonders of Nature campaign, launched by New7Wonders Foundation.
The 125- kilometer-long sandy seabeach with a gentle slope is the longest one in the world, edging the Bay of Bengal.
Last month, Mr Bari, who also owns top travel agency MV Travels, said that a large delegation comprising more than 50 members of the association visited Thailand as part of the diplomatic campaign.
"For us, the visit was particularly rewarding. It was really an eye-opener," he told the FE.
"We stayed there for five days and saw firsthand how Thailand developed tourism into a multi-billion-dollar industry. Much of that country's GDP comes from this sector," he added.
Thailand drew as many as 25 million foreign tourists last year, more than seven times Bangladesh did during the period.
He said tourism can be the only "effective" sector that can help Bangladesh tide over the worst global economic crisis in many decades and help drive growth. "Tourism sector can prove more effective than apparel industry to fight the global crisis."
Tourists' arrival in Bangladesh has been on the rise, even though the figure is much below the potential, experts say.
Last year, a record 3.5 million tourists arrived in Bangladesh, helped by relative political stability and improved security during the caretaker regime. In 2007, the number of inbound tourists was 3.45 million.
"Cox's Bazar and the Sundarbans' ranking on the New7Wonders is a window of opportunity for us. The country can become a major tourism hub in the region. But what we desperately need is good infrastructure," said Kazi Wahidul Alam, a travel and aviation analyst.
"First of all, the government should improve Cox's Bazar airport. Cleanliness and security at the beach must be ensured," added Mr Alam, who edits a travel journal Bangladesh Monitor.
Travel operators have launched "strategic campaign" to promote Bangladesh's tourism by tying up with Thailand, which is a magnet for foreign tourists, industry leaders said Friday.
The Association of Travel Agents of Bangladesh (ATAB), the trade group, is building relations with the tourism authority and tour operators of the Southeast Asian nation to facilitate sharing of cross-border expertise and step up cooperation to help boost the country's potential sector.
"Our aim is to develop our capacity and how we can draw lessons from Thailand, whose economy is largely reliant on revenues from the tourism sector," MA Bari, ATAB's general secretary, said.
"We promised to vote for Fiji Patong beach and requested our Thai counterparts to do the same for Cox's Bazar sea beach. The idea is simple: Promoting sites of both countries. Since each participant can vote for five sites, Bangladeshi and Thai citizens can take the opportunity to promote each other's sites," he added.
Still, Cox's Bazar seabeach ranks top among seven natural sites, selected for New 7 Wonders of Nature campaign, launched by New7Wonders Foundation.
The 125- kilometer-long sandy seabeach with a gentle slope is the longest one in the world, edging the Bay of Bengal.
Last month, Mr Bari, who also owns top travel agency MV Travels, said that a large delegation comprising more than 50 members of the association visited Thailand as part of the diplomatic campaign.
"For us, the visit was particularly rewarding. It was really an eye-opener," he told the FE.
"We stayed there for five days and saw firsthand how Thailand developed tourism into a multi-billion-dollar industry. Much of that country's GDP comes from this sector," he added.
Thailand drew as many as 25 million foreign tourists last year, more than seven times Bangladesh did during the period.
He said tourism can be the only "effective" sector that can help Bangladesh tide over the worst global economic crisis in many decades and help drive growth. "Tourism sector can prove more effective than apparel industry to fight the global crisis."
Tourists' arrival in Bangladesh has been on the rise, even though the figure is much below the potential, experts say.
Last year, a record 3.5 million tourists arrived in Bangladesh, helped by relative political stability and improved security during the caretaker regime. In 2007, the number of inbound tourists was 3.45 million.
"Cox's Bazar and the Sundarbans' ranking on the New7Wonders is a window of opportunity for us. The country can become a major tourism hub in the region. But what we desperately need is good infrastructure," said Kazi Wahidul Alam, a travel and aviation analyst.
"First of all, the government should improve Cox's Bazar airport. Cleanliness and security at the beach must be ensured," added Mr Alam, who edits a travel journal Bangladesh Monitor.