After the corona pandemic that hit the world in 2020 and 2021, the  travel and tourism sector of Bangladesh has suffered heavily during recent political turmoil and is unlikely to regain shortly as most western and even some South Asian countries  are still imposing travel warnings against Bangladesh.

With 15-year plus rule of Sheikh Hasina, the brutal dictator and former Prime of Bangladesh, ended on August 5, 2024, the economy of the country has been left in total disarray.

With Indians constituting some 50 per cent of total inbound tourists and expats in the USA, UK, Canada and Australia are also major stakeholders of the tourists, Bangladesh is going to experience a setback in the sector, sources in the sector said.         

This correspondent talked to representatives of a number of posh hotels and motels and said that the businesses are going through very bad patch nowadays after the corona pandemic.      

In the last 20 years Bangladesh has witnessed opening of pose hotels including Five-Star hotels like Radisson Blu Water Hotel at Chittagong, Holiday Inn at Tejgaon, DuSai Resort & Spa in Maulvi Bazar, The Peninsula Chittagong, Amari Dhaka, Long Beach Suites Dhaka, Le Meridien Dhaka, Six Seasons Hotel in Dhaka, Four Points by Sheraton in Dhaka, Rose View Hotel, Hotel Valley Garden and Nazimgarh Garden Resort in Sylhet, Long Beach Hotel at Cox Bazar, Grand Sultan Tea Resort & Golfin at Maulvi Bazar showing that Bangladesh is becoming a success story in the hospitably industry. During this time, The Westin, Radisson Blu Water Garden, Amari, Six Season, Four Points Sheraton, Le Meridien, Sarina and Regency have been opened for the guests. Sources said that most of the posh hotels and resorts are going through a deep recession mood.

With the political change in Bangladesh, the number of Indian tourists is likely to drop this year as the Indian government, politicians, civil society and media are making a cautionary and conservative negative propaganda about Bangladesh       

Bangladesh attracted a record 6.5 lakh tourists in 2023 as expat Bangladeshis living in different parts of the world visited the country, sources said.

Out of 650,000 tourists, some 295,000 Indian tourists visited Bangladesh in 2023. However, mostly expats Bangladeshis living in different parts of the world contributed to the promotion of the tourism sector of Bangladesh.

However, some 110,000 expat Bangladeshis living in the USA, some 100,000 Bangladeshis living the UK, some 30,000 expat Bangladeshis living in Canada, 18,000 expat living in Italy, some 5,000 expat Bangladeshis living in Japan, some 5,000 expat living in Germany, some 4,000 expat Bangladeshi living in France and some 4,00 expat Bangladeshis living in Sweden contributed significantly to the tourism sector of Bangladesh in 2023, sources said.

However, the earnings of the inbound tourism sector stood at 439,231 US dollars in 2023, 382,732 US dollars in 2022, 227,962 US dollars in 2021, 178,240 US dollars in 2020, 322,058 US dollars in 2019 and 288,991 US dollar in 2018

 Bangladesh attracted some 529,000 tourists in 2022 and the Bangladesh Tourism Board (BTB) has set a tarter of wooing some seven lakh tourists this year.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh has set a target of attracting 10 million tourists and a revenue of 8.00 billion US dollars by 2041 as the government has set a vision of turning this country into a developed one.

Meanwhile, Bengamin Carey, a Scottish citizen and a former consultant of the Bangladesh Tourism Board (BTB), said Bangladesh should target tourists of Seven Sister States of India —Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland.

He, however, said less integration and distrust are also barriers to the promotion in the South Asia.

He has expressed the hope that contribution of the tourism sector to the gross Domestic product (GDP) will be around 10 per cent which is now only 3 per cent of GDP.

Given tourism’s position as a top export sector and creator of employment, UNWTO advocates the need for responsible growth. Tourism has, therefore, a place at the heart of global development policies, and the opportunity to gain further political recognition and make a real impact as the Decade of Action gets underway, leaving just ten years to fulfill the 2030 Agenda and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

Bengamin Carey said tourism sector will be one of the important revenue generating sectors in Bangladesh.

He said the number of international tourists in South Asia is still low compared with rest of the global tourists.

The tourism sector contributed 4% in the gross domestic product (GDP) and 1.78% in employment generation, said an economist.

The contribution of the travel and tourism sector of the country to its gross domestic product (GDP) has been estimated at 4.9%. It is set to increase in the coming years.

However, countries like the Maldives, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan and India have more contributions to the GDP of their respective countries, compared to Bangladesh.

For instance, in 2018, the contribution of the travel and tourism sector to the GDP (as a percentage of total GDP) was about 66.4% in the Maldives, 12.5% in Sri Lanka, 9.2% in India, 7.9% in Nepal, and 7.1% in Pakistan.

During the same period, Bangladesh’s contribution to its GDP was 4.4%.

Former Chief Executive Officer of Bangladesh Tourism Board (BTB) Javed Ahmed while talking to this correspondent   said “The National Tourism Council (NTC), the apex body for tourism, has devised a master plan on the tourism sector.  

Meanwhile, Bangladesh Tourism Board has prepared a master plan on the country’s tourism sector in cooperation with IPE Global Limited.

IPE Global Limited is an Indian international development consulting group known for providing technical assistance and solutions for development and sustainable growth in developing countries.

Following this, Bangladesh Tourism Board (BTB), the National Tourism Organization (NTO) under the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism, was given the responsibility to prepare a Tourism Master Plan in the 7th Five Year Plan period. Pursuant to this, BTB proceeded to select a reputed international Tourism Consulting Firm to prepare a short-term, mid-term and long-term Tourism Master Plan.”

With this background an internationally reputed consultancy firm, IPE Global Ltd. was selected through competitive technical bidding process and were mandated to develop the Tourism Master Plan for Bangladesh, the CEO of the Bangladesh Tourism Board said.

Former Chief Executive Officer of Bangladesh Tourism Board (BTB) Javed Ahmed said that in 2019, the global tourism industry generated 330 million new jobs with earnings of $8.9 trillion. The total contribution of the tourism sector to the world GDP was 10%.

Ahmed also informed about the government's initiatives to construct three tourism parks — Sabrang Tourism Park, Naf Tourism Park and Sonadia Eco-Tourism Park — in Cox’s Bazar.

As the Padma Bridge is expected to open next year, the travel time between Dhaka-Sundarbans and Dhaka-Kuakata beach will be reduced substantially, said the 11former  BTB CEO.

Prof Akbaruddin Ahmad, former Toab president, said that with the launching of Padma Bridge next year and the massive ongoing vaccination program in the South Asian countries, Bangladesh will see a boom in local and regional tourism in the coming days, according to experts involved in the travel and tourism sector.”

Bangladesh will see a boom in the arrival of tourists from other South Asian countries after the Padma Bridge is open for all, Ahmad said.

Connectivity with the southern part of the country with the capital will mark a significant improvement that will help boost local and international tourism, he added.