Despite its poor-country status, increasing numbers of tourists have visited

Bangladesh, a new but minor source of foreign exchange earning. Tourism in the
early 1980s amounted to some 49,000 visitors per year, but by 1986 more than
129,000 tourists--mostly from India, the United States, Britain, and Japan--visited
Bangladesh. According to the Bangladesh Parjaton Corporation (Bangladesh
Tourism Corporation), some Tk44.6 million in foreign exchange was earned in
1986 from the tourism industry.

The Bangladesh government and the Bangladesh Aid Group have taken
seriously the idea that Bangladesh is the test case for development. In the late
1980s, it was possible to say, in the somewhat patronizing tone sometimes
adopted by representatives of donor The picture of day-to-day and even year-to-
year performance of the economy of Bangladesh is a mixture of accomplishment
and failure, not significantly different from that of the majority of poor Third World
countries. The government and people of Bangladesh are entitled to take some
pride in the degree of success they have achieved since independence,
especially when one contrasts their success with the gloomy forecasts of
economists and international experts. The international donor community, led by
the World Bank, similarly can be proud of the role it has played in assisting this
"largest poorest" nation to become a respected member of the family of nations.

* * *

Works that are useful for gaining a basic understanding of the Bangladesh
economy include Bangladesh: Emergence of a Nation by A.M.A. Muhith and The
Political Economy of Development by Just Faaland and J.R. Parkinson. Rehman
Sobhan's The Crisis of External Dependence provides an insightful critique of the
foreign aid sector. Kirsten Westergaard's State and Rural Society in Bangladesh
provides information on agricultural development in the context of the relationship
between the state and rural society. Articles by Abu Muhammad Shajaat Ali and
Akhter Hameed Khan provide agricultural case studies on the village of
Shyampur and the Comilla Model, respectively. The Far Eastern Economic
Review and Economist both carry timely reports on the state of the economy.
Among the most important sources of information on the economy, however, is
the documentation provided by various agencies of the governments of
Bangladesh and the United States and the World Bank. Important among these
is the annual Statistical Yearbook of Bangladesh published by the Ministry of
Planning. The Bibliography of Asian Studies each year carries numerous reports
on the macroeconomy of Bangladesh and should be consulted for details. (For
further information and complete citations, see Bibliography.)

Data as of September 1988

A study on tourism industry of Bangladesh.

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Location: Dhaka, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Abstract: The objectives of the study have emerged from the research problems
identified earlier. The main thrust of this study has concentrated on the issues relevant to
the development of tourism industry in Bangladesh. However, the details of the
objectives of this study are summarizing the nature and categories of tourist attractions in
Bangladesh, presenting the tourist facilities available in the country, evaluating the role of
some tourism organizations operating in the country, measuring the performance of world
tourism sector as well as the performance of Bangladesh tourism industry, measuring the
satisfaction of visiting tourists on of different tourism services available in Bangladesh,
identifying the constraints to the development of tourism and prescribe necessary
suggestions for reforms and improvements of the tourism industry in Bangladesh and
forecasting and highlight the potentials of tourism development in the country.
1.1. Preamble
Tourism is one of the initiators of people's movement, a facilitator for exchange
of knowledge, a provider of pleasure, a way to enjoy leisure, and a means to
enrich culture. There was a time when only the elite classes had the time and
money to enjoy travelling. Especially before fifties of the twentieth century,
travel was the privilege of a few rich, affluent, and perhaps adventurous people.
Things have since changed much. "Today, the rise in the standard of living of
people in several developed and developing countries along with the fast
technological revolution in transport industry has brought overseas holiday
within the reach of middle and even working class. Besides, the emergence of
cheap holiday through non-scheduled carriers has brought about a major
revolution in the concept of holiday package. (Naik, 1977)". Thus, the concept
of tourism has now acquired a wider significance among the mass people.

People are prone to fun and enjoyment. Being curious, they always want to get
the flavour of unseen and unknown for pleasure. Their inherent attraction for
the enjoyment of natural beauty and diverse civilization motivate them to
discoveries and inventions through extensive travelling. They also intend to
gather new experience from new things and new places, get lasting pleasure,
and know different unknown cultures through visiting destinations. Besides,
tourism is a leisure activity to relief oneself from the stress of daily routine-life.
People get depressed of their monotonous workloads and want to escape from
the pressures of work-deadlines, avoid crowd city life, break traditional daily
life, and thus enjoy some time in a new place having natural and cultural
significance. A new place can relieve the monotony of one's existence and -fijl
one mind with joy (Haq 2001). For this a large number of people is now
moving from one place to another, from one country to other countries, from
one end of the world to another, and may be in future, from one planet to other
ones (Hossain, 1999). Thus tourism and the resultant movement of people are
booming globally.

Today, the tourism industry is recognized as the single largest industry in the
world. As such tourism has become the largest trade sector in the world and
this sector has been recognized as a major thrust area of economic and business
activities in most of the destination countries. It has shown a tremendous
growth during the past four decades. For most of the destination countries,
tourism has become an emerging sector. They are now earning larger portion of
their national income from tourism. For this, many destination countries have
developed necessary tourism-infrastructure and arranged necessary facilities to
fed the tourists and thus reap the potential benefit from tourism activities. Their
utmost efforts are yet on to attract increased number of tourists.

The impact of modern technology and the resultant introduction of speedy and
comparatively cheap air transport have made it possible for the tourism
industry to
1.2. The Research Problem
By today, tourism has become the largest industry and trade sector in the world
generating enough employment opportunities and earning huge amount of
foreign exchange for the destination countries. It has created multifaceted
impact on people's pleasure, knowledge, overall standard of living, and culture
of both the destination and tourist generating countries. Many of the destination
countries have marched forward to reap the full potentials of this industry. But
Bangladesh is lagging far behind in the growth and development of its tourism
industry. Through the country has got many rare attractions substantially
different from those of other destination countries, its tourism industry is yet at
the primitive stage and has not taken the shape of an industry.

The government of Bangladesh, however, has already taken some measures for
the development of this industry. But many of those are of very primary nature
and have created little impact on the growth and development of this industry.
Therefore, it is necessary to uncover the reasons of the backwardness of this
industry and identify the loopholes of the present policy measures and thus
suggest effective courses of actions to be undertaken by the government and
other concerned agencies.

1.3. Objectives of the Study

The objectives of the study have emerged from the research problems identified
earlier. The main thrust of this study has concentrated on the issues relevant to
the development of tourism industry in Bangladesh. However, the details of the
objectives of this study are as under:
i) To summarize the nature and categories of tourist attractions in Bangladesh;
ii) To present the tourist facilities available in the country;
iii) To evaluate the role of some tourism organizations operating in the country;
iv) To measure the performance of world tourism sector as well as the
performance of
Bangladesh tourism industry;
v) To measure the satisfaction of visiting tourists on of different tourism
services available in
Bangladesh;
vi) To identify the constraints to the development of tourism and prescribe
necessary
Suggestions for reforms and improvements of the tourism industry in
Bangladesh; and
vii) To forecast and highlight the potentials of tourism development in the
country

1.4. Literature Review

A substantial number of works on tourism as a subject has been done
throughout the world. But a relatively few works and literatures on the
development of tourism worldwide have been found as yet. Similarly, enough
literatures on the same area of tourism industry in Bangladesh are not available.
However, a few articles and research reports addressing the marketing issues
and dealing with the problems of the tourism industry in a skin-deep manner
have been available to the researcher. As a consequence, literatures reviewed
for this study include only a handful of papers and the few research reports.
These are summarized as under:

1.5. The Research Gap

The literatures reviewed earlier section clearly indicates that there has been a
considerable expansion of tourism activities worldwide. It is understood that a
relatively little attention has been given by the professionals and researchers to
the issues of tourism development. Therefore, the study on the development of
tourism industry has been largely unexplored. As such, literatures on tourism
development throughout the world are not enough.

Bangladesh tourism industry, being at its infant stage, is of no exception from

this. No comprehensive literature covering the same area has yet been available
to the present researchers. Researchers in Bangladesh also do not seem to have
much attention to the studies on the development of tourism industry.
Therefore, no comprehensive and worthy paper, research monograph, or
research report on this issue of tourism industry in Bangladesh has yet come
out. The very few literatures available in Bangladesh have tired to suggest the
ways and means in the present context of the country for the development of
the industry. These existing literatures on Bangladesh tourism are also with
inadequate justification and skin-deep analysis. Therefore, these offer little help
in developing a framework for further studies by the researchers. As a result,
Bangladesh tourism industry has failed to attract a sizeable number of foreign
tourists, motivate them to stay longer, obtain better performance of the
industry, and thus ensure sustained growth and development of the industry.

1.6. Justification of the Study

Through the country has bright prospects to develop a strong tourism industry
based on natural, cultural, ecological and historical attractions it is yet
aoristically undiscovered and unexplored. Therefore, the concerned authority
should identify the reasons for the backwardness of such a potential sector and
take appropriate measures to overcome the problems faced by the industry. For
this a comprehensive study like the present one seems to be the right attempt in
the present context.
According to Gilbert (Undated: 164), research is an important aid to feedback
and decision making. Its importance lies on the knowing of the relevant facts,
formulating strategies on the basis of those facts, and bringing about success in
the operation of the industry concerned. In the case of the tourism industry in
Bangladesh, these decisions include the identification of the problems faced by
the industry and taking necessary corrective measures to direct the industry
towards its growth and development.

As Bangladesh tourism lags behind in its growth and development and in

attracting a significant number of tourists to visit its destinations, the situation
therefore calls for the identification of the causes and formulation of policy and
strategy measures. The findings. of the present study may be of immense help
in these contexts. As there has been no major study covering this area, it is
expected that this study will provide sufficient information on the tourism in
Bangladesh, Besides, policy makers, service providers, and academicians will
also be benefited from a study like this. Furthermore, having tourism sector of
Bangladesh much potential this area lends itself to a systematic and structured
study. Finally as an emerging research area, this study will provide additional
knowledge and literature to the existing ones, and generate interest or thinking
for further research on other issues of the tourism industry in Bangladesh.

Research Methods
This chapter describes the research methods followed in this study. The
research methods to follow depend on the problems identified, objectives set
and propositions/ hypothesis drawn for the study. However, the details of
research methods followed in solving the research problem, achieving the
objectives, and assessing the research propositions have been described below.
With these ends in view, this chapter has covered the contents such as nature of
the study, scope of the study, theoretical propositions, population, sample size,
sample selection procedure, and questionnaire preparation. This chapter has
also presented sections on pilot survey for questionnaire pre-test, field survey
and investigation for primary data collection, sources of secondary data,
verification of filled in questionnaires, tabulation, data analysis and
interpretation techniques, organizational framework of the report, and
limitations of the study.

2.1. Nature of the Study

(In the present study it has not been able to accumulate enough secondary
information as there is very little by way of literatures. As such, it has not been
possible to draw any precise hypothesis regarding the problem under study.
Since existing research on the development of the tourism industry in
Bangladesh is not adequate, the nature of this study has to be exploratory rather
than testing any hypothesis. An exploratory study aims to gain familiarity with
a phenomenon or to achieve new insights into it, often conducted to formulate a
more research problem or to develop hypothesis/(Seltiz and Cook, 1962) By
definition, an exploratory research involves investigation of problems on which
little formal knowledge is available (Rahman, 1997). Being the nature of this
study an exploratory one and using descriptive statistical tools rather than
inferential statistical ones, the present study is both a theoretical as well as an
empirical one.

2.2. Scope of the Study

The scope of the study extends to the following aspects:
A. Coverage of the Study: (The study has attempted to cover eight main areas.
These include the study of (i) nature. and categories of tourist attractions in
Bangladesh; (ii) tourism facilities in Bangladesh; (iii) tourism organizations in
Bangladesh; (iv) tourism performance; (v) tourists' satisfaction on Bangladesh
tourism arrangements; (vi) constraints to the development of tourism industry
in Bangladesh; (vii) suggestions for reforms and improvements; and (viii)
potentials of tourism development in Bangladesh. The study has attempted both
micro and macro level analyses. At the micro level, activities of different
tourism firms operating in the country have been analyzed. In the macro level
analyses, the overall performance of the industry has been measured.

B. Survey Area Coverage: The overall tourism attractions and facilities

available in the country have been considered and the whole of Bangladesh is
the survey area of this study. In the case of measurement of tourists'
satisfaction, tourists visiting any part of the country have been considered to
include in the sample.

C. Study Period:
The field survey has been conducted and the field level data have been
collected during the months from November to February, which are the peak
tourism seasons in Bangladesh. Data collected for this study have been
tabulated during the month of March 2005. The preparation of the report,
editing, and finalizing touch have been done during the period from August' 05
March' 06. Finally, the report has been typed during the month of April 2006.

D. Samples Included:
The research problem along with its objectives and propositions indicate that
data should be collected from those firms and parties who are directly or
indirectly involved in the business activities of Bangladesh tourism industry,
development process of tourism infrastructure or facilities in the country, and
interaction process of rendering or receiving tourism services. As such, the
scope of different categories of samples taken for this study is limited to the
following:

i. Tourism Firms:
Six types of tourism firms have been examined in this study. These include
BPC, Private Tour operators, Airlines, Travel Agencies, Hotels, and
Restaurants. These firms are the major role players in the development and
business activities of the tourism industry! Hotels and restaurants have been
studied as they play important roles to serve tourist guests and in adopting tour
operators' services, and thus accelerating the development of tourism activities
in Bangladesh.

ii. Tourists: The study has included the domestic tourists. It has also chosen
the foreign tourists visiting Bangladesh and foreign residents who have visited
different destinations of the country. It has basically confined itself to the study
of tourists' perceptions on different service arrangements of the tourism
industry;..irt Bangladesh.
iii. Experts: Academicians, professional guides, travel and tourism writers,
retired executives of different tourism firms have also been considered and
included in the sample. They have been interviewed for opinion and judgment
based information.

3. Theoretical Propositions or Research Questions of the Study

It has already been mentioned that enough research-based literatures on the
present area of the tourism industry in Bangladesh are not available.
Therefore/it has not been possible to draw any precise hypothesis regarding the
problem under study. Nevertheless, on the basis of the survey of available
literatures and expert opinion, the researchers have attempted to draw some
theoretical propositions and have verified/ evaluated those in light of the
analysis of findings. These broad propositions are related to the key issues of
the research problem and have been developed to achieve the objectives of the
study. These propositions along with the scope of the study have defined the
extent and coverage of the study and guided the researchers in choosing
necessary data to be collected. Finally, the researchers have put forwarded
those propositions for policy and managerial implications. However, the
propositions drawn for this study include the following:

A. Bangladesh tourism industry has not been able to provide necessary tourism
infrastructure and facilities for tourists.
B. Adequate number of tourism is not available in the country and the existing
firms are not yet fully equipped with necessary manpower, technology and
facilities.
C. The overall performance of the tourism industry in Bangladesh is poor.
D. The measures undertaken by the government are modest in nature and much
need to be done for the development of the industry. E. Bangladesh can expect
to become an important visiting destination by adopting effective and practical
strategies in the context of the findings of this study.

2.4. Population
Eight categories of population have been set based on the objectives and scope
of the study. These are (i) executives of the BPC, (ii) owners of private tour
operators (TOAB members), (Hi) tourists visiting the country, (iv) executives
of the airlines, (v) owners of travel agencies, (vi) hotel receptionists, (vii)
restaurants managers, and (viii) experts! J The first category consists of
currently employed executives of the BPC. An up to date TOAB (Tour
Operators Association of Bangladesh) members' list consisting of names and
addresses of 32 firms has been used as the base of population for the second
category. Foreign tourists visiting Bangladesh during the months from
November to February constitute the population for the tourist group. The size
and composition of population for the tourist category is not precisely known
and their proper categorization could not be made. The above mentioned three
categories of population have been considered for questionnaire survey. The
last five categories of population have been used for informal conversations.
Since no up to date list of travel agencies, hotels, and restaurants operating in
Bangladesh has been found, the sizes of population for these three sectors
remain unknown. The expert category of population includes academicians,
travel writers, professional guides, and ex-executives of tourism firms.

2.5. Sample Size

The foremost and important step of primary data collection is the selection of
sample from which data to collect. One of the important criteria of this
selection is to include those tour operators who have at least five years'
professional experience of dealing tours and tourists. It is mentioned earlier that
the study has considered eight categories of samples. Four top executives (three
directors and one general manager) of four separate divisions and 'the chairman
of the BPC has constituted the sample for the first category of respondents. A
total number of ten private tour operators have been taken in the sample of the
second category of respondents. In an attempt to gauge the
perceptions/attitudes of tourists, a total number of 250 (125 domestic and 125
foreign)'tourists have been selected in the sample of this category. Necessary
information has been collected from them to obtaining feedback on some
selected issues of the tourism arrangements in Bangladesh. Besides, eight sales
executives of Biman Bangladesh Airlines and two sales executive of GMG
airline have constituted the sample for this category. For the retailers' category
of respondents, a total number of twenty-five travel agencies have constituted
the sample for this category. In addition, receptionists of twenty five different
hotels and managers of another twenty five restaurants have been included in
the samples of these two categories. Finally, ten tourism experts (2
academicians, 3 travel and tourism writers, 2 professional guides, and 3 ex-
executives of tourism firms) have also been considered to collect their opinion
through informal conversations. The following table shows different categories
of samples and their respective sizes:

It should be mentioned that out of 125 respondent foreign tourists, 12 are from
India, 10 are from each of the USA, the UK, Japan and South Korea, 9 are from
China, 6 are from each of Netherlands, Pakistan and Malaysia, and the rest 46
are from other source countries. Out of the 250 respondent-tourists, about 73%
are male and 27% are female. Their ages range from 20 to 70 years. As found
in the study, the larger segments of the respondent tourist fall in the age
intervals 20-29, 30-39, 40-49,........, and 50-59.

2.6. Sample Selection Procedure

To assess the potentials of tourism development in Bangladesh, top executives
of different tourism firms have been included in the samples. Because these
people are relatively more experienced and directly or indirectly involved in
providing tourism services and other tourism related activities in Bangladesh.
More specifically, chairman, three directors from three separate divisions and
one general manager from administration division have been selected from the
BPC for the purpose of interviews. Since the sample of this category has
included the chairman, the head of the organization, and other four top
executives of four divisions of the BPC they have been thought to be suitable
and competent to provide necessary and available information relevant to the
purpose of the study.

For the tour operators' category of sample, attempt has been made to draw ten
firms from the TOAB members' list through an unbiased lottery. For selecting
the sample respondents from thirty two tour operators, each has been given a
number like 1, 2, 3,.....,31, and 32,, serially. These numbers have been written
on 32 separate small pieces of white papers of the same size. Ten pieces of such
papers have then been drawn through an unbiased lottery. The sample thus
drawn has included seven tour operators from Dhaka, two from Chittagong,
and the rest one from Sylhet.

Questionnaire Preparation
Three different sets of questionnaires have been prepared to conduct the field
survey. All these questionnaires have sought information concerning the
following issues:

(a). Nature and categories of tourist attractions in Bangladesh.

(b). Tourism facilities in Bangladesh.
(c). Role of different tourism firms in the development of tourism in
Bangladesh.
(d). Performance of tourism sectors both worldwide and in Bangladesh and
evaluation of present market size of Bangladesh tourism industry in the context
of world-tourism market.
(e). Tourists' satisfaction on Bangladesh tourism arrangements.
(f). Constraints to the development of tourism industry in Bangladesh.
(g). Suggestions concerning policy and managerial implications for the
development of tourism industry in Bangladesh,
(h). Potentials of tourism development in general in Bangladesh

The questionnaire developed for the foreign tourists consists of 16 tourism-

service related issues on which the respondent tourists have been asked to
document their response on different dimensions of seven-point rating scale.
These objective questions have attempted to collect objective data like the
extent of foreign tourists' positive and negative attitudes on different tourism
arrangements/services in Bangladesh. The questionnaire for the respondent
tourists used-a-seven-point Likert type Scale ranging from 1 to7 to obtaining
and rating their opinion on different tourism arrangements in Bangladesh. The
main reason to use this Likert Scale is that it is relatively easier to understand.
Besides, the criteria used include attempts to assess the extents or degrees
associated with the issues of the questions. For example, if the respondents are
asked: "Do You Think the Prices set by the Tour Operators in Bangladesh are
Reasonable? The respondents will either say either ‘Yes’ or ‘No’. Initially, the
possible answers to be given by an individual respondent are one-dimensional
and must be mutually exclusive. If the answer is 'Yes' or 'No', then the next
question attempts to seek answer on the seven-point rating scale having seven
break-ups of dimensions. For a total number of seven dimensions three for
positive, three for negative and the remaining one for neutral has been set to
measure the extent of attitudes of the tourists. The above mentioned tourism-
service related issues along with their dimensions and their given values are as
follows:

For the very nature of the information and also of the study, some "what, why
and/or how-type" questions have been developed and posed in many cases to
collect attitudinal, behavioural, value-judgement and opinion related
information. As such, insight understanding of the researcher has to be used
very carefully to explore the extent of information required for the concerned
issue(s) of each question.

Expert opinions have been taken to improve all three sets of questionnaires
designed initially. Their opinions have also been utilized to identify the key
problems and solve those problems of the industry efficiently and effectively,
and to measure the potentials of the sector under study. No formal
questionnaire or interview schedule has been used to collect information from
the respondents of airlines, travel agencies, hotel receptionists and managers of
restaurants.

All three sets of questionnaires have emphasized the underlying issues to

identify the constraints to the tourism development in Bangladesh and prescribe
the policy and managerial implications for improvement. These questionnaires
especially attempted to highlight the potentials of tourism sector in general.
Besides, careful attempt has been made to cover all the relevant issues and thus
make the questionnaire comprehensive.

Survey for Questionnaire Pre-test

Questionnaires have been developed independently by the researchers. Before
launching the field survey, three-fold pilot surveys have been conducted to pre-
test the questionnaires, modify the questions set, and thus finalize them. The
main purposes of these pilot surveys have been to test the availability of data,
examine the practicability of the questions, and understand about the topics to
cover for such comprehensive and exhaustive interviews. Another purpose of
the pilot survey is to be acquainted with the relevant technical aspects on the
subject matter of the study. Thus these pilot surveys and pre-tests have served
the purposes of improving the questionnaires.

In the pilot survey academicians, research experts and some selected

respondents have been requested to express their opinion and give necessary
suggestions in connection with finalizing the questionnaires. In the first phase,
the questionnaires developed earlier by the researchers have been passed on to
a few senior colleagues of the faculty of Business, Studies, and University of
Dhaka. They provided some valuable suggestions to make those questionnaires
simple and unambiguous so that respondents can easily understand the
questions set there. In the second phase of pilot survey, the researchers took the
opportunity to" discuss with some research experts and make the remaining
corrections. Thereafter, the pilot survey has been conducted among some
respondents. This phase of pilot survey included preliminary discussions and
interviews with BPC executives, tour operators, and some tourists. In light of
the experience gained by the pilot survey, all three sets of questionnaires have
been suitably amended.

2.9. Survey and Investigation for Primary Data Collection

Data pertaining to the potentials of tourism development in Bangladesh have
been collected from the five key persons engaged with BPC and ten randomly
selected tour

operators through in-depth personal interview with pre-designed

questionnaires. In order to understand the impressions of the tourists, an in-
depth face-to-face interview with 125 domestic tourists has been conducted.
Another exit interview with another 125 foreign tourists has also been
conducted at different hotel lounges and at the exit point of the departure
lounge of Zia International Airport (ZIA). In the interview, respondents have
answered some unstructured questions on their own and rated some other
structured questions focused by the seven points on the Likert Scale discussed
earlier.

Five MBA students of Dhaka University have been recruited as field-workers

to visit the respondents' firms, offices, airport departure lounge or residential
hotels, and to make all kinds of investigations for primary data collection. A
one-day orientation program has been conducted for the field-workers to brief
them adequately about the topics of the study and issues of the questionnaires,
and thus to teach them about the techniques to adopt in the interview process.
Special attention has been given to introduce the field workers with different
issues of the subject matter of the study.

Some respondent executives/owners of tourism firms have taken time to

provide answers and return the field in questionnaires. Besides, the process of
identifying tourist respondents from different countries, occupations, ages,
sexes has taken time and thus a total of three months have been spent to
complete the field survey.

2.10. Sources of Secondary Data

The research agenda made it necessary to review the available literatures and
documents. It should again be mentioned again that enough secondary data
have not been found due to unavailability of such data. Whatever limited
secondary data could be made available those have been incorporated
effectively, logically and carefully in this study. For this, some relevant
literatures on tourism in general have been collected from different newspapers,
magazines, journals, periodicals, internets, and research reports. Souvenirs,
brochures, travel handbooks, leaflet, and folders of different tour operators
have also been found useful. Other published and unpublished materials of both
the government and non-government agencies have also provided some
required information. Thereafter, necessary desk research on the available
literatures has been conducted and proper adjustments made in light of the
purposes of this study. Through the desk research, the collected information
have been reviewed extensively to assimilate ideas for the research work,
synthesize necessary concepts for the theoretical framework and justify logic of
the researcher's comments. A thorough review of literature has enabled the
researchers to obtaining a coherent picture of the problem considered in this
study. Thus, theoretical propositions have been drawn and documented
carefully to comply with the requirements of the study. An attempt has been
made to provide enough logical interpretations throughout the report. Relevant
descriptive exerts have also been used to provide the literature base, justify the
arguments and prepare the theoretical framework of the report.

Thus, attempt has been made to collect sufficient primary and secondary data
from all the above mentioned sources to define the research problem, develop a
theoretical base, raise necessary arguments, justify logic, identify the
constraints to the development of the tourism industry in Bangladesh, draw
effective policy and managerial implications for it, and highlight potentials of
tourism development in Bangladesh.

2.11. Verification of Filled in Questionnaires and Tabulation of Data

The researchers themselves have monitored, overseen and supervised the data
collection activities of the field-workers. The field-workers submitted everyday
the filled in questionnaires and reported about the progress and problems of
data collection. Thereafter, the researchers have verified the questionnaires
field in by the respondents and submitted by the field-workers to make sure
about the consistency of data and completeness of the questionnaires. In the
case of any problem, inconsistency of data, and/or any other anomaly, attempt
has been made to contact with the respondents again to review those data or
solve the problem or remove anomaly and thus make necessary corrections
immediately. In some problem cases, the researchers themselves visited the
sample firm to handle the situation and review the information.

After careful verification of the filled in questionnaires and necessary

corrections over there, ^a trained personnel has tabulated the collected
information under the direct supervision of the researchers. The tabulation has
been done manually but with utmost care and sincerity. Thus, the chances of
errors or mistakes are expected to be minimal. Thereafter, the tabulated data
were summarized and arranged under suitable classification and analyzed
according to the objectives set earlier.

2.12. Data Analysis and Interpretation

There is no standard technique of data analysis for qualitative researchers,
though the quantitative researchers have different standard statistical tools like
standard deviation, correlation/regression analysis, factor analysis, multi-
variant analysis, etc (Islam and Hossain, 2000). Therefore, Islam and Hossain
blamed this qualitative research as problematic. Besides, the nature of the
problem, the type of the research, and the purposes of the study adhered to this
specific case have made it impractical to use any advanced statistical tool. Of
course, Miles and Huberman (1984) have suggested three stages of data
analysis for qualitative research such as data reduction, data display, and
drawing and verifying conclusions (In Islam and Hossain, 2000). As such, the
researchers in their present research have applied this approach to a greater
extent.

It has been mentioned earlier that the study has attempted both subjective and
objective measurements. A combined approach of both quantitative and
qualitative techniques has been appropriate to analyze and interpret the findings
and draw conclusion in light of the research problem and objectives. Thus,
some descriptive statistical tools have been used according to the requirements
and suitability of the analyses of collected data. These mainly include
percentage, simple growth rate, mean, and standard deviation. Graphical
analyses of some time series data could be done for necessary interpretation but
have been avoided as these do not add anything meaningful. The analyses also
include judgements and thoughtful comments of the researchers.

Potentials of tourism development in Bangladesh have been presented

theoretically on the basis of responses given by the respondents and also on the
basis of comments and arguments available in different secondary literatures.
Performance of tourism industry in Bangladesh has been measured in light of
foreign currency earned from, employment generated by, and growth achieved
in this sector. Presentation of simple mean-scores, ' calculated on the basis of
responses made by the respondent tourists on a seven-point Likert Scale, also
reflects the performances as well as tourists' satisfaction on different tourism
service-arrangements in Bangladesh. Here, the nature of questions has been
structured and the responses on the scale associated with the questions have
been valued as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 in order to convert the qualitative responses
into quantitative forms. Thus the questionnaire designed for the respondent
tourists incorporated objective questions each consisting of seven dimensions,.
The perception scores obtained on these objective issues have been totalled
first. The total value/score thus derived from each of such questions has then
been averaged to find the mean value/score of the issue under consideration and
indicate the extent of tourists' satisfaction on an average on each issue
separately. Thus, these mean scores have been presented to indicate the extent
of tourists' satisfaction on that particular tourism-service in Bangladesh. Side
by side, the overall mean perception-score has also been calculated to indicate
the overall satisfaction of the tourists on the totality of tourism arrangements in
Bangladesh. In some of the cases, data have been analyzed and interpreted
through the use of conventional statistical tools like percentage, simple growth
rate, and standard deviation. The standard deviation of the mean scores on
different tourism issues in Bangladesh has been calculated to show the range of
differences among them and thus indicate whether they are meaningful in a
sense that they are within the acceptable limit or narrow range.

2.13. Organizational Framework of the Research Report

The write-up of this research report has been organized in ten different
chapters. Logical sequence has been maintained in framing and organizing the
report. The first chapter starts with presentation of the introductory discussion.
With this end, the chapter broadly includes preamble, the research problem, and
objectives of the study, literature review, the research gap, and justification of
the study.
The purpose of the second chapter is to describe the research methods of the
study. To this end, the content of this chapter includes the nature of the study,
scope of the study, theoretical propositions of the study, population, sample
size, sample selection procedure, questionnaire preparation, pilot survey, field
survey and investigation for primary data collection, sources of secondary data,
verification of filled in questionnaire and tabulation of data, data analysis and
interpretation, organizational framework of the research report, and limitations
of the study.

Chapter three discusses the nature and categories of tourist attractions in

Bangladesh. Chapter four presents tourism facilities in Bangladesh and chapter
five evaluates the role of different tourism organizations operating in
Bangladesh. Chapter six attempts to measure the performance of world tourism
industry as well as tourism industry in Bangladesh. This has been done in terms
of tourist arrivals, earnings from tourism, and employment generation. Chapter
seven measures tourists' satisfaction on different tourism service-arrangements
in Bangladesh. Chapter eight points out some constraints to the development of
tourism industry and chapter nine prescribes necessary suggestions for policy
and managerial implications. Chapter ten forecasts and highlights the potentials
of tourism development in Bangladesh. Finally, chapter eleven evaluates the
propositions, presents implications, concludes with remarks, and depicts the
scope for further research.

2.14 Limitations of the Study

In every research project, research outcome may face some limitations. The
present project is of no exception from this. As such, the researchers feel that
this study has also few limitations. Of course, the researchers have always been
sincere to keep the limitations at minimal. In spite of all sincere efforts, the
researchers could not control some limitations which the study may contain
finally.

The first and foremost among the limitations of this study could be the related
with the samples selected for the study. The researchers feel that it would be
better and representative if the size of samples, especially in the case of foreign
tourists, could be relatively larger. The present study has investigated only a
total number of 250 tourists mainly due to resource constraints. Only 250
respondent tourists out of the total inflow of about two lacs foreign tourists
every year and another five lacs domestic tourists may or may not represent the
total impressions of the tourists visiting different destinations in Bangladesh.
Besides, perceptions or opinions of some purposely-selected tourists have been
considered in this study. The findings based on these selected tourists only
may, therefore, limit to the generalization. However, the careful and cautious
considerations of secondary information and descriptive statements available in
literatures have given some insights to generalize the findings. Nevertheless,
since the study has considered a small number of tourists, the conclusion with
regard to the visiting behaviours, preferences of tourists, and satisfaction on
Bangladesh tourism arrangements could not be thought concrete. Besides, the
researcher could not include some tourism firms locating outside Dhaka city in
the samples and collect information from them, though tourism firms are also
(travel agencies, hotels and restaurants) operating throughout the country. Thus,
the study is also subject to location biases and market-biases with regard to
samples selected.

The second limitation is that some sample respondents have been found so
conservative to respond and provide some necessary information Respondent
tourists have not agreed with some issues incorporated in the questionnaire and
not answered those issues under the questions. As such, it has not been possible
to fully evaluate all the issues relevant to tourism development in Bangladesh
and thus measure the entire potentials of this industry. In the case of
suggestions relating to government policy measures, some of them avoided
answering those questions on silly grounds. Of course, the validity and the
reliability of information collected for this study may not pose any confusion
and the authenticity of the findings may not be subject to any question.

The third limitation is the non-availability of literature on Bangladesh tourism.

This has limited the researchers to develop any comprehensive insights into the
problem under consideration and thus draw any precise hypothesis and test it
accordingly.

The fourth limitation is related with the assessment of contribution made by the
tourism sector in the economy of Bangladesh. The foreign currency income
alone does not reflect the real income of the country from tourism sector, No
concrete calculation procedure is there to assess the actual income from tourism
sector in Bangladesh. Besides, there are some hidden expenditure of tourists
and some income of different tourism firms that are not properly documented
and could not be taken into account. Moreover, the income of hotels,
restaurants, travel agencies, private airline, and private tour operators could not
be collected and shown due to their unwillingness to provide such data. Further,
all these incomes have multiplier effect on the overall economy of the country.
Thus the no documentation and no availability of data have led the researcher
to reflect or present a part of the total contribution of the tourism sector on the
economy in Bangladesh.

The fifth is with regard to the amount of fund available for conducting such an
industry-based detail study. The personal source has allocated the required
amount both for conducting the study and publication of the report. The fund
provided from personal source could not be enough for the required amount.
Still, the researchers should acknowledge that time constraint has been another
loop in completing such a vigorous research work. Therefore, on this ground of
time cons the findings of this study could be discounted at least to some extent.

Tourism is sum of the phenomena and relationships arising from the travel and
stay of non residents, in so far as they do not lead to permanent residence and
are not connected with any earning activity1.

Union of official Travel Organizations (IUOTO) in 1937 and is still widely

accepted by the nations^. According to IUOTO, "The term 'tourist' shall in
principle be interpreted to mean any person travelling for a period of 24 hours
or more in a country other than in which he usually resides".

1.6. Objectives of this study:

The present study on tourism problems and prospects in Bangladesh is mainly a

descriptive research. The main objectives of this study were to conjoin the
theoretical aspects of tourism to the prevailing tourism environment of
Bangladesh, analysis of tourism inventory of Bangladesh, market and
marketing strategies analyses and putting forward some pragmatic suggestions
and policy recommendations.

For this purpose we have analysed first the factors that determine the demand
for tourism and then we have described what we have in our tourist product
.inventory that may attract the tourists to visit our country.

1. 7. Methodology of the study:

For collecting information on various aspects of Bangladesh tourism we had to
depend on the secondary sources of data and information. For this purpose we
went through the publications of the following organizations:
(1) Bangladesh Purgation Corporation (BPC).
(2) Association of travel Agents of Bangladesh (ATAB).
(3) Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics.
(4) UNDP
(5) UNESCO
(6) WTO

Besides, we interviewed the key personnel’s of the BPC, ATAB, Hotel

Sonargaon, Hotel Sheraton.

In addition, we interviewed 50 foreign tourists, 10 Chinese restaurants and 10

travel agency owners, few tourism experts and other people who somehow
were related to tourism. The respondents had been selected purposively.

Tourism in Bangladesh:
A General Overview

2.1: In the course of history, this part of Indian subcontinent had always
attracted the foreigners; some times as invaders and sometimes as tourists.

Bengal had always been a good destination for the international tourists. But
with passage of time Bengal has lost its attraction as a major tourist destination
and at present we could be placed no where in the list of major tourist
importing countries of the world.
2.2.The National Tourist Organization of Bangladesh:

Before liberation of Bangladesh i. e. during the then Pakistan time, there was a
Department of Tourism at the centre (West Pakistan) which was responsible for
promotional and regulatory works for the development of tourism. But the task
of creation of tourist facilities was left with the private sector except for some
areas where private investment was inadequate or nil.

Accordingly, Bangladesh Parjaton Corporation (BPC) was set up under the

Presidential order No 143 November 27, 1972 for the "purpose of promotion,
better operation and development of tourism in Bangladesh.

6. Development Plans of BPC:

Development of tourism potential of Bangladesh requires a long term plan and

an investment of high magnitude. As a part of its activities for promotion and
development of tourism in Bangladesh, BPC has undertaken a few
developmental plans within the framework of country's national plans.
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Comment posted by Majbritt Thomsen on Monday, January 12, 2009 4:24 PM
I am new on this web-site, but this article caught my eye and I want to read the
conclusions.
But where can I read the entire report? Is the article part of a book, web-site or what?
What is the title and who is the author?
People interesting in tourism in Bangladesh can also download my DANIDA report on
the subject at http://www.ambdhaka.um.dk/nr/exeres/0c2133d4-7f96-4d60-989a-
914c230a5218.htm

Majbritt Thomsen
Comment posted by noman on Tuesday, January 13, 2009 12:18 AM
Thank you, for reading articles from BD Experts. This site is open for all. That means
anyone can upload and publish his/her articles in BD Experts. As you reported, we also
found the article incomplete. Lucky you have another option. You can download the soft
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Comment posted by Prof. Dr. Md. Ashraful Islam Chowdhury on Thursday,
March 19, 2009 8:49 AM
I am the founder chairman of the Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management,
Dhaka University willing to have a look at the article/research work. Pls make it available
for me.

14 Jan 2010 ... laws, bangladesh tourism, bangladesh places, bangladesh vacations. ...
faiths but some still claim social discrimination in national politics. ... An interesting
component to the religious politics of Bangladesh is ...
www.bnpbd.com/bangladesh-politics.html - Cached

discrimination”

A REGIONAL human rights watchdog, the Asian Centre for Human Rights in its report
“2009 India Human Rights Report,” released in New Delhi on Friday, accused Mizoram
of practising “systematic discrimination” against minorities. The ACHR stated that
minorities were denied employment, basic healthcare, education and right to
development. The state government has failed to “address systematic discrimination
against minorities – ethnic, linguistic and religious,” the report added.

The ACHR alleged that Chakma minorities who live outside the Chakma Autonomous
District Council have to face “more discrimination and neglect.” Majority Chakmas live
on the border with Bangladesh and the Central funds for the development of the border
areas under the Border Area Development Programme have been misused. The report
claimed the Ministry of Home Affairs released Rs 1,556 lakh during 2004-05, Rs 903.48
lakh during 2005-06, Rs 2262 lakh during 2006-07 and Rs 2086 lakh during 2007-08, to
Mizoram under BADP. But the ACHR team during its visit to the border areas “found
very limited evidence of development activities.”
The state government failed to provide Chakmas access to basic healthcare facilities.
Most villages had no health care facilities at all and the poor villagers lived at the mercy
of “ojhas” (traditional herbal doctors). Deaths of children were often not recorded.

According to the report, Chakma minorities faced discrimination in state employment.

Various recruitment rules have been legislated requiring linguistic minority candidates to
pass Mizo subject up to Middle School level to be eligible for government jobs. There is
no provision for teaching Mizo subject in schools in Chakma villages and hence they
faced “regular discrimination” in government employment. Due to such institutionalised
discrimination, the Chakmas’ representation in government services in Mizoram
remained negligible.

We hope this can be improved. Even within Mara Autonomous District Council (MADC)
and Lai Autonmous District Council (LADC), it often becomes a problem.

When the overwhelming majority speaks Mizo (Duhlian), if minorities do not learn the
language, of course how will they be employed to serve the people whose language they
do not know!

i think on this point, we need a social science institute interventions from out of the state,
so that the reality comes out infront of people of the nation especially to those who does
not believes that chakmas are facing very unique problems which impacts might be very
disturbing in the future. and i hope soon this (research) thing will be done. so friends just
have patience. sometimes it is hard to digest when we consider it as an allegation but
infact whatever poritosh chakma presented about the problems is less than what should
be presented.
i hope when the research will be done, then we will know how much it is true or it is
more than what he said?

6 January 2010

To

Honourable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina

Government of the Peoples’ Republic of Bangladesh
Prime Minister’s Office
Tejgaon, Dhaka

Subject: Decision to develop tourism in CHT not in conformity with 1997 Peace Accord
Honourable Prime Minister,

The CHT Commission (“CHTC”) congratulates the Awami League-led government on

completing a year in office. At our last meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on
August 17, 2009, members of the Commission were heartened when she reasserted her
personal commitment to overseeing the implementation of the CHT Accord in the span of
her government’s current five-year tenure of office.

We have learned, however, that the Parliamentary Standing Committee (PSC) of the
Planning Ministry decided, on 23 December 2009, to develop tourism in the CHT region,
contrary to the CHT Accord since the Hill District Council (HDC) was not present and
had not been consulted. The PSC met, irregularly, under the CHT Development Board in
Rangamati with Committee Chairman Col (retd) Oli Ahmed in the chair. To facilitate
tourism, the PSC also resolved to build a road along the bank of the Kaptai Lake and to
set up various recreational facilities as part of this project. The road would be connected
with Bandarban, Khagrachari and Chittagong district.

There have also been reports in the media that the upazila administration in Bandarban is
illegally grabbing land belonging to Marma and Bawm communities in the name of
tourism development centres (“Allegations of tourism development on Adibashi land in
Bandarban” — Daily Prothom Alo, 24 December 2009; “Adibashis aggrieved at the
building of ‘Shorgochura’ tourism centre in Bandarban municipal area” — Daily
Purbokon, 3 January 2010). 40 acres of land have allegedly been marked off with red
flags by surveyors to build the tourist spots.

Section 34 in B (kha) of the CHT Accord (CHITTAGONG HILL TRACTS LOCAL

GOVERNMENT COUNCIL/ HILL DISTRICT COUNCIL) provides that ‘Local
Tourism’ will ‘be added in the functions and responsibilities of the Hill District Council’.
These current acts are therefore in direct violation of the Peace Accord as the HDCs have
not been involved in either the planning or the implementation of these projects.

The CHTC is also not aware of any studies that have been carried out to assess the
environmental impact of the proposed growth of tourism industry in the CHT. We
respectfully suggest that expert consultants be invited to assess the sustainability and
potential impact of large-scale tourism on land and water resources. The potential for
tourism needs to be linked to other developments in the region in a single comprehensive
plan, in the formulation of which democratically elected HDCs should be fully involved.

Madam Prime Minister, the Government of Bangladesh, under your leadership, took a
key role at the Copenhagen Climate Change talks. As was discussed at those talks, the
world has seen untold environmental damage due to unplanned industrialization and
development. Bangladesh is particularly vulnerable to climate change and related
environmental damage. Preserving the extremely fragile and precious environment of the
Chittagong Hill Tracts is therefore a priority.
The Commission thus urges Honourable Prime Minister to take the necessary steps to
rescind the decision by the Planning Ministry to develop tourism centres in Chittagong
Hill Tracts without —

a) consulting the Hill District Council

b) independently assessing the environmental impact

c) taking steps to make sure any new developments are not harmful to the environment

d) preventing further illegal land grabbing from indigenous communities in the name of
development.

The CHT Commission strongly believes that implementation of the CHT Accord is a
must for strengthening democratic good governance, ensuring a people-oriented and
environmentally-friendly development and rule of law in CHT. The government should
immediately declare a roadmap to fully implement the CHT Accord within its present
tenure.

On behalf of the CHT Commission

Eric Avebury (Co-chair of the CHT Commission)

Sultana Kamal (Co-chair of the CHT Commission)

Ida Nicolaisen (Co-chair of the CHT Commission)

cc to:

1. Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury, Honorable Deputy Leader of the House & Chairperson of
the National Committee for Implementation of the CHT Peace Accord.

2. Dr. Dipu Moni, Honourable Minister, Foreign Ministry, Government of the People’s
Republic of Bangladesh, Dhaka.

3. Barrister Shafique Ahmed, Honourable Minister, Law, Justice and Parliamentary

Ministry, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, Bangladesh Secretariat,
Dhaka.
Work on development of special tourist zones begins
BSS, Dhaka

The government has started work on developing ‘special tourist zones’ for promotion of
the country’s tourism sector.

To this end, the authorities concerned identified 700 spots from which sites would be
selected to develop as tourism zones.

The objective of the programme, to be implemented by the civil aviation and tourism
ministry, is to generate employment and earn foreign currency by attracting the foreign
tourists.

The government is going to enact ‘Bangladesh Reserved Areas for Tourism and Special
Tourism Zones Act 2010.’

The draft of the law has already been approved by the cabinet. This law will prohibit
construction of unplanned and illegal structures in the places of tourist attraction.

Civil Aviation and Tourism Secretary Shafiq Alam Mehdi said the special tourist zones
would be developed in public-private joint ventures or at individual initiatives.

The formulation of the new tourism law in a short time proved the Prime Minister’s
keenness for development of tourism sector, he said.

Development of the sector would create employment opportunities for huge population
and earn foreign currencies, he added.

The tourism secretary said the necessary structures would be built and arrangements
made in the selected tourist spots for the local and foreign tourists.

The special tourist zones would be set up in a very planned way. The tourism project
would be implemented by 2013. Work is also on for adoption of a long-term plan to be
implemented by 2021.

Sources said local and foreign entrepreneurs are coming forward with investment
proposals because of the tourism-friendly plans of the present government.

The following hints may be helpful to protect tourist rights in Bangladesh:

• Agreeable definitions of foreign tourist and domestic tourist by the authority

concerned
• The authority concerned of tourism may inculcate exact behaviour for tourists
• To ensure tourist satisfaction, extra services have to be available at tourist
locations
• Enactment of tourist rights protection laws through a national council
• The district head should be assigned to monitor the local behaviour to tourists
• Inspection teams approved by the proper authority may often meet the tourists to
ensure their satisfaction. If they find any anomaly, they will go for action against
the shop or person or transport etc.
• Tourist rights protection would start from airport
• Websites for tourist facilities and shopping with approximate prices, rents and
bargaining techniques should be updated
• Tourist markets would be monitored by the local law enforcement and
administration agencies
• Public awareness should be kicked off through newspaper, television, brochures
and posters
• Training, workshop and seminar on tourism and tourist rights for stakeholders