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tourism sector by forming a high-powered national body, headed by
the prime minister. The government issued a gazette on the formation
of the council on August 31. A similar body was formed in 1992 but
was not functional. The new 11- member council will approve all
national and regional plans for tourism development and
infrastructure development decisions and deal with tourism laws. For
the first time, the government is going to offer financial support to
private sector tourism entrepreneurs via the 'National Tourism
Council- 2009 '. The ministries of finance, home, local government,
land, civil aviation and tourism, foreign, environment and forest,
cultural affairs and CHT affairs have been included in the council.
According to the gazette, the related ministries will be compelled to
execute the decisions taken by the council. In addition to the
council, another high-profile committee headed by the finance
minister and the national advisory council for tourism have been
formed to coordinate development efforts in the sector. "These three
bodies will work simultaneously to coordinate and monitor development
that will be assigned by the different ministries," GM Quader, civil
aviation and tourism minister. These bodies will take prompt decisions
to gear the tourism sector, which has been ignored despite having
the potential to contribute greatly to the national economy, he said.
To facilitate private stakeholders, the minister said, "Duty
exemptions on the import of tourism equipment and lower bank rates for
tourism developers will be offered." The minister said private
stakeholders will be included in the national advisory council, to
receive feedback. Bangladesh's tourism sector is hanging by the
thread, despite having some of the most exclusive sites in the world.
Tourism in neighbouring India, Nepal and Bhutan is flourishing by the
day due to combined inactivates taken by both the private and public
sectors, and contributing significantly to their economies. According
to the 'Tourism 2020 Vision' forecast by the World Tourism
Organisation (WTO), international arrivals are expected to reach
over 1.56 billion by the year 2020 , of which, 1.2 billion will be
intra-regional and 0.4 billion will be long-haul travellers. The
total tourist arrivals by region shows that by 2020 , the top three
receiving regions will be Europe (717 million tourists), East Asia
and the Pacific (397 million) and the Americas (282 million),
followed by Africa, the Middle East and South Asia. East Asia and the
Pacific, South Asia, the Middle East and Africa are forecasted to
record growth at rates of over 5 percent a year, compared to the
world average of 4.1 percent. According to civil aviation and tourism
ministry statistics, a total of 4.67 lakh foreign tourists visited
Bangladesh by 2008- end, which was a sharp rise from 2.65 lakh in
2007 , two lakh in 2006 and 2.07 lakh in 2005. The government
earned Tk 612 crore from the tourism sector in 2008. However, the
sector has performed below its potential. Political uncertainty and
a lack of security at the tourist spots mainly hinder growth of the
sector. Experts have also expressed doubts over the effectiveness of
the changes that will follow formation of the new council. "I don't
see any new hope with forming the council," said Hasan Mansur,
tourism expert and managing director of The Guide Tours. He said such
a body was formed previously in 1992 , but they sat for a meeting
only once in 17 years, which naturally frustrated the initiative.
However, the new government has voiced plans to develop the tourism
sector as one of the major earners.
