Tourism Day festival begins tomorrow

A four-day 'Bangladesh Festival' will be held in the capital on September 27-30 to showcase the country's tourism products and services, reports BSS.

"This festival will be a platform to showcase all untapped tourist attractions of Bangladesh to boost the ongoing post-Covid recovery efforts of the country's tourism industry," said Civil Aviation and Tourism Secretary Md Mokammel Hossain at a press conference at a city hotel on Monday.

Bangladesh Tourism Board (BTB) will organise the event under its 'Mujib's Bangladesh' campaign to mark the World Tourism Day-2023 at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre (BICC).

Jatiya Sangsad Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury is expected to inaugurate the festival on September 27.

More than 160 organisations, including 20 hotel-resorts, 70 regional food stalls, 29 districts under district branding, 26 craft souvenirs, two airlines, amusement parks, travel agents, tour operators, tour guides and foreign missions will participate in the tourism fair.

Mokammel Hossain said the ministry has a plan to organise such an event every year to celebrate World Tourism Day.

"Bangladesh Festival will help visitors make their interesting tour plans. Besides, it will generate enthusiasm among tourism stakeholders, speed up the post-Covid tourism recovery and play a vital role in the tourism industry," he added.

BTB CEO Abu Tahir Muhammad Zaber said the festival will help attract more foreign tourists along side domestic tourists in Bangladesh as different foreign missions stationed in Dhaka will also participate in the event.

More than 70 traditional food stalls from 64 districts of the country will serve heritage food items like Naksi Pitha, Haji Briyani, Bakorkhani, Chui Jhal and Kebabs.

In this festival, the process of making jamdani saree will be demonstrated along with Muslin cloth making process.

The events will also feature traditional programmes.

Besides, there will be a special event on the tourism beauty pageant on September 30, the last day of the festival.

The implementing partner of the festival is Spellbound while Association of Travel Agents of Bangladesh (ATAB), Tour Operators Association of Bangladesh (TOAB), Aviation and Tourism Journalists' Forum of Bangladesh (ATJFB), Bangladesh International Hotel Association (BIHA) and Bangladesh Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (BAAPA) are the strategic partners.