বাংলা | Epaper

বাংলা E-Paper 📍 Dhaka 📅 Tuesday | 29 September 2026, 14 Ashswin 1433 PID registration number 06

HEADLINE

● Dengue claims eight more lives, 2,036 hospitalised ● Chinese Ambassador bids farewell to PM ● 'Proposed Cyber Security Law won’t be used to harass journos' ● 27 JSD leaders sent to jail as court rejects bail pleas ● Ex-minister Kamal Majumder, Nikhil charged at ICT ● Top criminal 'Picchi Raja' escapes police custody, 5 cops suspended ● 817 pry teacher candidates to receive appointment letters by Oct 1

BD tourism ‘underperforming’ despite huge potential

Bangladesh’s tourism industry can play a major role in creating jobs, earning foreign currency and generating investment opportunities

Published : Tuesday, 29 September, 2026 at 12:00 AM

Jabed Ahmed

Tourism is one of the world's largest and most important service sectors, closely tied to transport, accommodation, food, entertainment, culture and many other economic activities.

According to the latest annual research report of the WTTC, tourism contributed 9.8 percent of global GDP in 2025. In that period, the sector created job opportunities for more than 360 million people. Broadly speaking, at least 1 in every 9 jobs is created by the tourism industry.

The WTTC has identified the economies of India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bhutan as strongly tourism-dependent economies in the region. For Bangladesh's tourism sector, the organization's assessment is "Underperforming," meaning the country is not doing well in tourism despite having the potential.

Private investment has created modern and, in some cases, luxurious accommodation at several of the country's major tourist destinations. Public and private investment has also made transport links (air, rail and road) to those destinations easier and security arrangements have visibly improved. As a result, the number of domestic tourists is steadily rising. Foreign tourists still come to our country every year, though not in large numbers. Tourism analysts believe that along with improving security, further investment in communication systems and in modernizing and expanding tourism facilities could attract both domestic and foreign tourists.

We believe Bangladesh's tourism industry, through planned development, can play a major role in creating jobs and earning foreign currency. It is true that every element a country needs to develop its tourism industry already exists here. Many describe Bangladesh as a "Hidden Gem" when it comes to tourism potential. The country has the longest unbroken natural sandy sea beach, the Sundarbans Reserve Forest (recognized as a Ramsar site), Tanguar Haor in Sunamganj, Moulvibazar (the tea capital) and the hill and forest regions with their ethnic communities.

It also has Mahasthangarh, Paharpur and Kantajew Temple in the north, along with countless other historical architectural sites and Bagerhat, the mosque city, whose UNESCO World Heritage-listed mosques include the ancient Sixty Dome Mosque. All of these are regarded as priceless tourism assets and their role in attracting domestic and foreign tourists is immense.

Under the draft Tourism Master Plan, 1498 tourist spots have been identified across Bangladesh. In nearly 55 years of independence, we have been able to turn only a handful, countable on our fingers, into tourism products. The rest remain merely tourism resources and even the products we are proud of have not been brought up to world standards. According to tourism experts, the country's tourism industry has not found a place on the priority list of governments since independence. Because the sector has not received the public investment it needs, private investment has fallen short of expectations as well.

Although the overall amount of investment in the tourism industry is not known, the table below gives a statistic on the loans disbursed by the country's banking system over the last 3 years:

The table shows that loan flow to entertainment, theme parks, eco parks and similar areas has been steadily declining. A negative trend in loan flow is also visible in the accommodation sector, while loan flow to the aviation sector has increased.

To develop our tourism industry, we need adequate, quality infrastructure, including road communication, public transport, waste and drainage systems and above all, wide improvements in electricity and digital connectivity. We also need to build skilled human resources for this sector, carry out continuous research and ensure an uninterrupted flow of adequate data. The investment needed in all these areas must come from the public sector and public investment will in turn encourage private and foreign investment. To attract domestic and foreign investment into tourism, the government must move forward with duty waivers, tax waivers and similar incentives. It must also ensure that investors can get every kind of service under one roof.

We believe public, private and foreign investment together can build a tourism ecosystem that provides adequate employment and involves local communities in the industry, improving their living standards through higher earnings. At the same time, by resolving the country's image problem, running targeted marketing and expanding security arrangements, we can bring foreign tourists to Bangladesh. This will smooth the path to earning foreign currency, which will help achieve sustainable economic growth.

To get the fullest benefit from this industry, the following must be done now:
1. Tourism must be placed on the government's priority list.

2. The necessary infrastructure, communication systems and utility services must be expanded.

3. Skilled manpower must be developed for the tourism sector, alongside continuous research.

4. A Tourism Satellite Account must be prepared regularly to ensure an unhindered flow of data.

The writer is former Chief Executive Officer, Bangladesh Tourism Board