Md Mizanur Rahman Himadri-
The tourism sector of Bangladesh, battered by the corona pandemic and global economic slowdown, bounced back the last calendar year 2022, recording a rise in export receipts of services relating to travel, according to the data of Bangladesh Bank.
The contribution of inbound visitors to the national exchequer recorded around 66.2 per cent growth in 2021-22 compared to the previous fiscal year 2020-21, thanks better economic growth in South Asia and Southeast Asian countries, and the roll-out of massive vaccination across the South Asian region that also successfully contained the pandemic.
The tourism sector of Bangladesh will also grow positive growth in 2023 as the global economy is getting on the track despite some challenges.
Shiblul Azam Koreashi, President of Tour Operators Association of Bangladesh (TOAB), expressed this view while talking to this correspondent
He said the corona pandemic has hit the Bangladesh economy as well as the tourism sector.
According to the Bangladesh Bank (BB) statistics, export receipts of services relating to travel recorded at 3079 crore taka in 2021-22 fiscal year as against 1853 core taka, clocking 66.20 per cent growth………
However, the special branch of the Bangladesh Police has been working on upgrading data on the just concluding year 2022 that is likely to be published later this year, sources said
The countries in South Asia including India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and the Maldives have developed the method of upgrading the latest data on tourist arrivals. Bangladesh should improve its capacity in this regard, said an economist of the country.
He said the opening of the Padma Bridge will give a boost to the growing tourism sector as the communication system between south and southwestern part of the country marked remarkable improvement.
Indian and Nepalese tourists will be interested in visiting Bangladesh through road and railway networks, said Shiblul Azam Koreashi. The Padma bridge is projected to raise the country’s GDP by 1.23 percent, and the southwestern region’s GDP by 2.5 percent
Meanwhile, inbound tourist arrivals during the calendar year 2021 dropped 25 per cent as against previous year 2020, according to sources.
A total of 135,186 international tourists visited Bangladesh in 2021 as against a total of 181,518 in 2020, 621,131tourists in 2029 , 552,730 tourists in 2018, 500,665 tourists in 2017, 400,659 tourists in 2016 , 261,416 tourists in 2015, 316,481 tourists in 2014, 230,171 tourists in 2013, 290,711 tourists in 2012,
280,520 tourists in 2011 and 250,272 tourists in 2010. However, the number of international tourists was the highest in a single month of December in 2021 recording at 43,986…..
Meanwhile, Md. Ali Kadar, Chairman of Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation Parjaton Bhaban, said the corporation has proposed to the National Board of Revenue (NBR) to reduce tax on liquor to help boost the tourism sector citing different reasons, NBR is going slow on the tax cut proposals on liquor. He expressed the view that sales of liquor will go up provided tax on the product is rationalized.
The Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation (BPC) has proposed to the National Board of Revenue (NBR) to reduce high taxes on alcoholic beverages to help develop the tourism sector and meet requirements of international tourists, he said.
Foreign tourists often complain about the high tariff on liquor, which is much cheaper in other tourist destinations in South Asia.
NBR imposes over 600% tax on liquor that, in turn, encourages smuggling of the commodity, tourism sector experts said.
Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation (BPC) as per recommendation of the Parliamentary Committee on the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism has proposed to reduce tax on alcoholic beverage from 350 per cent to 250 per cent and on bear from 250 per cent to 150 percent as per recommendation of Parliament Standing Committee on Civil Aviation and Tourism (MoCAT)
AFP adds from Dubai: Dubai has dropped a 30 percent tax on alcohol sales in an apparent bid to lure tourists as competition rises between major cities in the wealthy Gulf.
The cut, announced by distributors but not confirmed by authorities, looks set to slash prices that are among the world’s highest, with beer routinely costing more than $15 a pint, or half-litre.
The personal liquor licence, available to non-Muslims aged over 21 and required to buy alcohol at Dubai’s small number of licensed shops, is now free, according to distributors MMI and African and Eastern.
“Buying your favourite drinks just got easier and cheaper!” MMI said in a Facebook post detailing the cuts. There was no immediate comment from Dubai authorities.
Dubai is the financial, trade and tourism hub of the United Arab Emirates, a Muslim country and major oil exporter which has gradually loosened the shackles on drinking.
Unlike neighbouring Saudi Arabia, most of the UAE is far from being a dry country, with alcohol sold in licensed venues including hotels, restaurants, bars and designated shops. It cannot be consumed in public, however.
Of the UAE’s seven Emirates, only Sharjah, neighbouring Dubai, forbids alcohol completely.
The move to make drinking cheaper comes as the Saudi capital Riyadh pursues a sustained drive to attract foreign visitors and companies, and weeks after gas-rich Qatar raised its profile by hosting the football World Cup.
Dubai attracted more than 12 million international overnight visitors in the first 11 months of 2022 — more than double the 6.02 million who visited during the same period in 2021, according to Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism.
Meanwhile, Civil Aviation and Tourism Secretary Md Mokammel Hossian said that the tourism sector of Bangladesh will also get a boost after completion of new Master Plan on the tourism sector and the process of the executing the plan begins as stakeholders concerned will get a new guideline to work in the sector.
“The country’s tourism will enter a new era with the implementation of the new Tourism Master Plan. The first ever tourism master plan is expected to be completed by December this year to build a sustainable tourism industry attracting more inbound and domestic tourists.
“The much-awaited master plan will play an important role in flourishing country’s tourism as we need a proper coordinated guideline for basic development in our leisure industry,” he said.
He said the master plan is being formulated considering achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) on tourism as well as aligning the government’s Vision 2041 and Delta Plan.
Bangladesh Tourism Board (BTB) under the Civil Aviation and Tourism Ministry has engaged a reputed international consultancy firm, named IPE Global, to prepare the new Master Plan on the tourism sector.
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.
Bangladesh has set a target of attracting 10 million tourists and revenue of 8 billion US dollar by 2041.
He said the country’s tourism would enter into a new era when the first ever “Tourism Master Plan” is finalized this December with the target of increasing the sector’s contribution to the gross domestic product (GDP) to 10 per cent.
Zia Haque, Manager at Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation, while talking to this correspondent said “Tourist Police may coordinate with BPC for their training as it has 50-years of long experiences and institutional memory. Tourist Police may work in coordination with BPC, as it has tourism infrastructures across the country” .
Meanwhile, Sarder Nurul Amin, Police Super, planning and operation of Tourist Police, in Dhaka, said “ Proper and higher training of the tourist police personnel is important in the context of boosting tourism in Bangladesh. The success of the country in the tourism is still below potentials compared to the
countries of Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Sri Lankan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bhutan”
As the country’s travel and tourism sector is overcoming the impact of corona pandemic gradually, the government of Bangladesh should mull over necessary amendment to the tourism related rules and regulations, regular exchanging views with stakeholders of the countries successful in tourism sector, grooming trained and skilled manpower, ensuring proper coordination among stakeholders concerned, inclusion of the tourist police in the governing body of the Bangladesh Tourism Board and participation of locals in ensuring security to the local and international tourists.
Sarder Nurul Amin, Police Super, planning and operation of Tourist Police, in Dhaka said this at a seminar titled ‘Security threat at the tourist spots: responsibilities of Bangladesh Tourist Police,” organized by the Bangladesh Tourism Board marking the World Tourism Day recently.
Sarder Nurul Amin said safety and security of the tourists are important in the context of making a country successful in the travel and tourism sector.
He also a tourist select his or her destination based on the level of crime, health risk, and terror threat, natural disaster and man-made disasters
The World Tourism Day was celebrated in the country on September 27 like elsewhere in the world highlighting the potentials of tourism.
The government and different organisations held various programmes to celebrate the day with the global theme ‘Rethinking Tourism’. “Rethinking Tourism” is the theme for World Tourism Day 2022.
Sarder Nurul Amin said safety and security of the tourists are important in the context of making a country successful in the travel and tourism sector.
He also a tourist select his or her destination based on the level of crime, health risk, and terror threat, natural disaster and man-made disasters
The tourism sector of Bangladesh will get a boost after completion of the ‘Master Plan’ by this year as stakeholders concerned will have a new guideline to work in the sector.
The country’s first ever tourism master plan would be completed by this year to build a sustainable tourism industry attracting more inbound and domestic tourists.
In view of that, countries like South Africa, Mexico and Brazil are not considered as safe and secured like Switzerland, Denmark, Norway, Japan and New Zealand, he said.
According to The Pacific Asia Travel Association, the Bangladesh’s travel and tourism sector incurred a loss of taka 97 billion during the period of 2020. The tourism sector is one of the most affected sectors in Bangladesh. The travel and tourism sector created some 18.6 lakh jobs, 2.9 per cent of total jobs generated. The number of employment dropped to 14.5 lakh in 2020, 2.3 per cent of total jobs, said Sarder Nurul Amin.
According to the UK based-World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), Bangladesh will be among top 15-20 countries in the world in the tourism sector.
Quoting the US Travel Association, 9/11 caused a loss to the US economy to the tune of 606 billion US dollars and 78 million international tourists, Amin said. The security issue came up prominently in the post 9/11 era. The incident of Holey Artisan on July 1, 2026 also issued a blow to the tourism sector of Bangladesh. According to data of the Tourist Police, 2.36 crore local tourists and 35,000 international tourists in 2017, 3.57 crore local and 1.36 lakh international tourists in 2018, 5 crore and 1.6 lakh tourists visited different tourist spots. Though the number of tourists was enough during the January-March period, the pandemic caused heavy damage to the tourist sector, said Sarder Nurul Amin.
The police super laid emphasis on proper and higher training of the tourist police personnel at home and abroad that will help flourish the tourism sector in Bangladesh
Under the initiative of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, a specialized unit of Bangladesh Police named ‘Tourist Police’ was launched in Bangladesh on November 6, 2013 in a bid to ensure the safety of tourists and development of the tourism industry.
The tourism industry has been among the fastest growing industries in recent years and it is now the third largest industry in the world (United Nations World Tourism Organization.
According to the World Travel and Tourism Council, tourism continues to be one of the world’s largest sectors, too. In addition to this, Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report (2013) considers safety and security to be a pillar of tourism competitiveness with ‘reliability of police services’ a central anchor.
Tourism Oriented Policing was first defined by the Miami Metro-Dade Police Department as “a philosophy of policing based on the concept that specially trained police officers, working closely with business leaders, airport authorities, businesses that cater to the traveling public, and private citizens can help prevent or tremendously reduce the tourism problems related to crime, fear of crime, and the decay of the neighborhoods that tourist frequently travel”
