Tourism : Changing mindsets

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GOVERNMENT high-ups and policy makers have hazy as well as negative ideas about tourism. They firmly believe that to attract foreign tourists, a country needs to have nightlife facilities, bars, massage parlours etc., as if these are the essence of tourism.
One of our ex-state ministers for tourism said at a seminar that tourists would come to Bangladesh if the price of alcoholic beverages was brought down. He asked, "Tourist-ra kee Bangladeshe milad porte aibo?" (Will tourists come to Bangladesh to attend milads?). He was pointing to the absence of western nightlife in Bangladesh.
It is with such ideas and mindsets that our government policy-makers are keen on setting-up an exclusive tourist zone near Cox's Bazaar, with nightlife, where no domestic tourist will be allowed. To change this mindset, our government policy-makers need to know that the world's over 100 million international eco-tourists are not interested in the nightlife of a country, they visit. These eco-tourists visit a country only to interact with its nature, culture, and heritage.
The number of eco-tourists in the world has been increasing by more than ten per cent a year. Initially, Bangladesh may set a target to attract one million eco-tourists a year. To achieve the target, it will have to adopt a down-to-earth tourism marketing strategy and go for aggressive marketing in the countries, which produce the outbound eco-tourists. Bangladesh has great prospects for marketing its historical, archaeological and cultural sites, which speak of the rich cultural heritage of this land. For example, many Buddhist-era sites in Bangladesh can attract streams of wealthy Japanese and other foreign tourists. Other foreign tourists in far greater numbers can be attracted on a sustainable basis by catering aesthetic recreational tourism.
For the purpose, the existing prime tourism resorts such as Cox's Bazaar will have to be developed under well-conceived plans.
Captn (retd) Mansur Ali
Banani,
Dhaka.