Different Tourism Organizations in Bangladesh

7. ROLE OF DIFFERENT TOURISM ORGANIZATIONS IN BANGLADESH

For building image of Bangladesh different Organizations and tourism services are generally provided.

7.1. Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation (BPC):

During half a century there was a tourism department in this region, which is under the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism. As a semi-autonomous organization it enjoys wide power and authority including the right to acquire and dispose property; construct and run hotels, restaurants and other tourist facilities; operate duty free shop, transportation and car rental: establish and run training institutes: and invest its funds as it deems proper. The broad objectives of the formation of the BPC are as follows:

a. Creation of favorable impression in the minds of foreigners about tourist attractions in Bangladesh through disseminating information by various media and thereby undertaking promotional activities through various publicity media:
b. Creation of physical facilities for both domestic and foreign tourists by providing accommodation, catering, transportation and recreational facilities and thereby operation of the above facilities;
c. Providing with training for the development of skilled manpower for employment in the travel trade sector both at home and abroad; and
d. Regulation of tourism activities in the country.

7.2. Others notable native tour operators:

7.2.1. The Guide Tours Ltd:

It is the largest tour operator in Bangladesh. Its domestic tours cover most of the tourist spots in Bangladesh and outbound tours include Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet, Mynmar, India, Thailand, Combodia, Vietnam and Laos.

The Bengal Tours Ltd.,Unique Tours and Travels, Kushiara Tourism Ltd., Sunfine Travels International, Tour planners, Intraco (Bangladesh) Ltd., Green Channel, Tour Bangla, Journey Plus etc. are the private tour operator in Bangladesh.

7.2.2 Airlines:

Biman Bangladesh Airlines, GMG Airlines are playing the vital role in Bangladesh for tourism sector.

7.2.3 Travel Agencies:

Travel agencies of both the destination and the tourist generating countries also play important roles in the promotion and development of tourism of a country. Bangladeshi Travel agencies acting the same as well as the neighbor countries.

7.2.4 Building better skill for building better image

7.2.4.1. National Hotel and Tourism Training Institute (NHTTI):

Skilled human resource is sine-quo-non for the development of any sector of the economy. “In order to develop human resource in tourism sector professional training is a must. With this end in view, BPC has taken the venture of human resource development for the industry. As such, the corporation (BPC) established the NHTTI in 1974. This institute gives technical assistance to upgrade the training courses.

7.2.4.1.2. The Satellite Training Center:

The NHTTI has established a Satellite Training Center in Chittagong in the july of 1993 to train the local students there. As the most attractive tourist zones of Bangladesh are in and Chittagong, Cox’s Bazar and Chittagong Hill Tract areas, The main motive of establishing this STC was to train the local people of the destination area.

Tourism Performance in Bangladesh

8. TOURISM PERFORMANCE

Tourism has become the largest industry in the world . Nearly a billion people traveled in 2007 alone, generating 35 per cent of the world’s export of services and over 70 per cent for least Developed Countries. Tourism produced annual revenue of $733 billion, or two billion a day, in 2006. By 2020 1.6 billion people are expected to trot the globe.

These are staggering numbers. Are we prepared to tap into this burgeoning industry? We are not. We have to think global. just gauge Cox’s Bazar’s tourism barometer against those of Agra, Goa or Phuket- its hardly flattering. So we have to thing that the longest beach –in-the-world tag is just not enough to bring global tourists to Cox’s Bazar.

Tourists Satisfaction

9. TOURISTS SATISFACTION:

It is already mentioned that tourists’ satisfaction has been measured on the basis of impressions of the respondent tourists on the sixteen important components of tourism arrangements in Bangladesh- Quality of Attractions, Facilities Available, Accessibility to Destinations, Smoothness of Transport, Accommodation Conditions, Hygienic Food and Drinks, People & Their Way of Life, Security of Movement, Cooperation of Channel Members in Source Countries, Responsiveness of Tourism Firms in Bangladesh, Efficiency of ht Guides (Language, Knowledge and Presentation), Prices of Tourism Services, Availability of Information on Bangladesh Tourism, Attractiveness of Promotional Materials, Cultural components, Image of Bangladesh as a Tourist Destination.

Constraints to the development of tourism industry in Bangladesh

10. SOME CONSTRAINTS TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF TOURISM INDUSTRY IN BANGLADESH:

Though tourism industry and its market have grown phenomenally worldwide, there is no significant growth and development of tourism in Bangladesh. In reality, tourism in Bangladesh is essentially at its infant stage. As a third world nation, Bangladesh has no doubt many obstacles to the development of its tourism sector. These mainly include underdeveloped infrastructure, lack of facilities, insecurity of tourists’ movements, bad image of the country, lack of sufficient investment, transportation and communication problems, introduce the country among the prospective tourists, etc. However, some constraints/obstacles faced by the tourism industry in Bangladesh to its development are given below:

Absence of Enough and Exclusive Tourist products, Absence of Peripheral Products, Underdeveloped Infrastructure, Poor Access to Destinations, Small Number of Tour Operators, inefficient National Airlines, insignificant Role of Travel Agencies, Shortage of Professional Guides, Inefficient Channel of Collection Network, Insignificant Role of Travel Agencies, Shortage of Professional Guides, Inefficient Channel of Collection Network, Higher/Unreasonable Prices of Some Components, Bad Image of an Misconception about the Country, Lack of Enough and Effective Marketing Promotion, Lack of Security, Lack of Professionally Skilled people, Absence of Appropriate Management, Absence of Marketing Principles, Resource constraints, Inadequate attention and Priority of the Government, Inadequate Role of the BPC, Frequent Changes in the Top Position of the BPC, Least Travel Minded People, Absence of Private Sector Participation.

Suggestion for reforms and Improvements in the tourism Industry of Bangladesh

11. SUGGESTION FOR REFORMS AND IMPROVEMENTS:

Every sector of a developing country like Bangladesh needs to be taken care of. Tourism sector is of no exception from it. It is necessary that the concerned authority should direct their efforts to identify the problems and isolate the shortcomings first and chalk out necessary measures to eradicate those. Here above are some of the problems of the industry. It is urgently needed to pay attention to the above-mentioned core problems faced by the tourism industry in Bangladesh.

The following pragmatic measures could be taken by the concerned authorities in order to pave the way for reforms and improvements and put this sector in Bangladesh on the right track:

11.1. Development of Tourism Infrastructure and Facilities:

An improved infrastructure is the key to the expansion and of tourism activities in a destination country. The over all infrastructures existing in Bangladesh should be developed in order to facilitate tourism development in the country. For this, the Government should initiate some ambitious projects in connection with developing the overall tourism infrastructure of the country.

11.2. Adequate Finance:

The private commercial banks, specialized banks, national commercial banks, investment and leasing and investment companies offer various kinds of loans and credit skims. Specially, SME loans are now at the pick of the demand. All the financial institutions, the private and public commercial banks, leasing firms should come forward and offer easy credit or micro credit facilities for the entrepreneurs who are willing to be a part of tourism industry.

11.3. Private Sector:

Private sector should be encouraged in a massive scale to conduct their business in tourism sector. Many of the micro sectors of tourism can not be attended by the Government. So, private sector must be adequate financial support.

11.4. Political Stability and Supreme Leadership:

Now the people of Bangladesh have become conscious about their image. They know what they want form their representatives. To depict an enhanced, clear, contented and transparent image of Bangladesh political stability is must. Supreme leadership can make all impossible possible. Malaysia is now a giant as a tourist destination. Their supreme and fine leadership helped a lot to create Malaysia as a must visit destination.

11.5. Pollution Control:

As many of the sources of pollutions are unnecessary and could be reduced fairly easily and at little cost, there is no excuse for further delaying on action. Given the magnitude of the problem, and of the human suffering that results, the citizen of Bangladesh can no longer afford to neglect the issues of the pollutions. For the health, sanity, and well-being of the population, and for creating Bangladesh as a better destination for tourists, it is time that all should take this problem seriously, and begin implementing solutions. Whether as individuals, NGO staff, or members of the media, mass people can and must take specific steps to reduce the problems of pollutions.

11.6. Others:

Offer Enough and Exclusive Tourist Products, Develop Peripheral Products and Facilities to Complement Core Products, Improving and Controlling the Quality of Products and Services, Arrangements of Cultural Programs, conservation of the Tourism Components for the Future, Development of Infrastructure and Facilities, Facilitate Easy Access to Different Destinations, Establishment of More Economy Hotels in the Destination Areas, Needs as Efficient Channel of Collection Network, Building and Maintaining Relationships among the Service Providers, Set and Charge Reasonable Prices, Removing Misconceptions and Enhancing Image of the Country, Undertake Enough and Effective Marketing Promotional Activities, Designing Promotional Plans Aiming at Benefits Sought by the Tourists, Emphasis on Push communication Strategy, Opening Branches and Information counters in the Source Countries, Implementing Motivational Programs, Allowing More Discounts and offering Other Incentives, Arrange Enough Security Measures for the Tourists, Develop comprehensive Plan, Priority of the Tourism Sector in the National Development Plans, Encouraging More Private and Foreign Investments in the Tourism Sector, Ensure Proper Role of the BPC, Employ Experienced Person and Avoid Frequent Changes at the Top of the BPC, Replacing the BPC by a National Tourism Board, Improving the Image and Performance of Biman Bangladesh Airlines, Development of Professional Efficiency, Better Understanding of Marketing Principles and Techniques, Development of Domestic Tourism.

Status of Bangladesh in global tourism

12. STATUS OF BANGLADESH IN GLOBAL TOURISM

The current travel and tourism industry is a multi-billion dollar and growing business sector. UNWTO (United Nations World Tourism Organization) predicts that global tourism industry will benefit from more than one billion tourists by 2010, growing to 1.6 billion by 2020. This will give tourism the status of the number one industry globally.
In 2005, global travel and tourism generated an estimated $680 billion in expenditures (up from $463 billion in 2001). The number of arrivals was 842 million in 2006 (up from 806 million in 2005 and 688 million in 2001). Despite world recession, threats of terrorism, and social and political unrest, the tourism industry is booming.
Although France ranks number one among the world's 10 top destinations with about 76 million arrivals, US earns most: about $82 billion. Americans also spend more on travel and tourism. They are interested even in space tourism.
Immediately after independence, the government set up Bangladesh Parjatan Sangstha (Bangladesh Tourism Organization), with a view to develop this industry. The organization was renamed as Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation in 1973.
The 2007 economic review of the corporation states: "The foremost objectives of the corporation are to promote tourism in Bangladesh, build up positive image of the country abroad, elevate infrastructure at tourism sites, provide services to the tourists and develop tourist resources that exist in Bangladesh, creating employment opportunity in different sectors of this industry which is helpful to alleviate poverty."
I am not sure how the corporation will achieve its cherished objectives, as its profit margin decreases every year. Its 2007 economic review shows that it made a profit of Taka 115 million during 1996-2001. The figure came down to Taka 55 million during 2001-2006, although Table 1 shows that the tourist arrivals increased during this period. In 2005, Bangladesh received 208,000 tourists, which is about 5% of what India received; it is 52%, 55%, 26% and 31% of what Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka received respectively that year.
In 2004, Bangladesh earned about $67 million (Table 2) as foreign exchange earnings from tourists (those who came with tourist visa, not necessarily that they spent their money on tourism alone), which is 1.4% of what India earned; it is 14%, 26%, 9%, and 8% of what Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka earned respectively in that year.
This clearly shows that Bangladesh remains far behind neighboring countries, although it formulated a National Tourism Policy in 1992 where tourism was identified as an industry of due priority. The country's 1999 industrial policy identified tourism as a thrust sector!
Today, there are about 150 private tour operators in the country, and 78 of them formed an association called TOAB (Tour Operators Association of Bangladesh) in 1992. No Bangladesh tour operator works abroad, and no foreign tour operators work in Bangladesh.
TOAB claims that they cater to 95% of the tourists who arrive in the country. They also host most of the domestic tourists. However, they do not have any statistics on how many tourists they host every year, how big their private industry is, or what their contribution to the government treasury is.
TOAB feels that the National Tourism Policy 1992 has never been made effective. Although Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation and TOAB do not have effective cooperation at the moment, there is a feeling in both the organizations that there is much more they can do together. TOAB feels that Bangladesh's proximity to fast growing countries like India and China may allow it to share the benefits of their growth.

Potentiality of tourism development in Bangladesh

13. POTENTIALITY OF TOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN BANGLADESH

Bangladesh may not have any mono-symbolic tourist attraction like the Tajmahal of Agra, nor the Hanging Garden of Babylon. It also does not have the Great Wall of China, the Mount Everest of Nepal, or the Waterfall of Niagara. Then, why should tourists come and visit Bangladesh? Rather, the United stats and Europe continue to be the most visited destinations in the world. But , they are also now changing their outlooks and shifting their choices for new attractions. Most of the tourists are avoiding the popular tourism circuits and mass visited or over crowded beaten track of traditional tourist interest and are now handing towards new areas. Many of the potential international tourists are moving to visit more natural form of attractions- exploring exotic land or wildlife. They also prefer to enjoy undiscovered cultural form of attractions. Many countries improve their economies through exploiting this changing trend. Although there is huge potential for Bangladesh to reap this benefit, the country is yet touristic ally undiscovered and unexplored. The country is still unknown to the potential tourists and the industry lacks in appropriate approaches to marketing it tourism products.

21st century will see a higher percentage of the total population traveling, specially in developing countries, and people will be going on holidays more often sometimes two, three or four times a year. Bangladesh therefore, should immediately take necessary measures to develop infrastructure, improve the existing products, develop peripheral products, and undertake marketing promotional activities on priority basis with a view to attracting larger share from these potential visitors and keeping pace with this trend. Actually Bangladesh is a highly prospective country with fantastic tourism potentials. Necessary help in marketing its tourism products and building image of the country. This has also generated long awaited hope to develop tourism in the country.

So we should take a lot of initiatives either from Government or public sector to develop this great industry. This industry not only chance a country’s economic condition but also make infrastructure development, Physical attitude, develop social norms & values, and change the core concept of tradition came from ancestors. That’s why to develop these great industry future, researches would be able to improve the existing piece of work and explore new findings to recommend more effective policy and impacts on the development of tourism in Bangladesh. They can also evaluate the successes and failures as well as identifying the implementation constrains of these policies. Thus they can suggest for country based practical and straightforward policy package for the government. Researchers may also explore the possibility of private sector investment, both of domestic and foreign and thus evaluate the possibility of success of such investment.