“Local entrepreneurship, pro-poor tourism & sustainable

development; a hypothetical analysis of southern region

of Bangladesh’’
 An Assignment
On

Local entrepreneurship, pro-poor tourism & sustainable

development; a hypothetical analysis of southern region
of Bangladesh

Course Title: Tourism Marketing

Submitted to:
Feroz Ahmed
Professor

Submitted by:
S M Mazharul Islam
ID- 070351

Business Administration Discipline

Khulna University

Date of Submission: September 27, 2010

 Executive summary
Tourism is “activities of persons travelling to and staying in places outside their usual
environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes”. It
has emerged from being a relatively small-scale activity into a global economic phenomenon
from the 1960s onward. The World Travel & Tourism Council Measures that by 2011, the
Travel &Tourism economy will constitute: 11.0 per cent of global GDP, support 260.5 million
jobs worldwide. This is 9 % of total employment or 1 in every 11.2 jobs. Bangladesh is relatively
a new player in this business field. Bangladesh, a flood plain delta, is a land of rivers and canals.
The country is sloping gently from the north to the south, meeting the Bay of Bengal at the
southern end. Southern region of Bangladesh is both suitable and attractive to tourists for its
unique characteristics. The Sundarbans is not only a unique national asset to Bangladesh, but is
also of international significance as one of the world’s outstanding wild places. Though tourism
has some huge positive impacts on economy it is also creating some problems which must be
tamed down urgently. For this region people are now familiar with some tourism related
concepts like green tourism, eco-tourism, geo-tourism, pro-poor tourism and above all
sustainable tourism. Pro-poor tourism is defined as tourism that generates net benefits for the
poor. Benefits may be economic, but they may also be social, environmental or cultural. The
definition says nothing about the relative distribution of the benefits of the tourism. Therefore, as
long as poor people reap net benefits, tourism can be classified as ‘pro-poor’. Tourism is often
praised for its potential to link with other sectors in the local economy. Yet in innumerable cases,
food and most other supplies and services are brought in from outside (from distant cities or from
overseas). Efforts to promote linkages have either not been made or have failed. Support work
with local suppliers to develop the quality, reliability and competitiveness of local products while
supporting actions that change incentives and attitudes in the business sector, this is very much
essential for local poor and also to grow entrepreneurial capability to them. Before going to
launch comprehensive program regarding sustainable tourism development and pro-poor
tourism, policy makers must analyze the factors regarding tourism competiveness and also the
value chain analysis so that one can understand what is needed for the underprivileged people.

Policy makers must implement a comprehensive tourism strategy so that local people, local
ngo’s and other stake holders can take part in decision making process. Strategy is also essential
for strategic decision making and decision implementation. More over pro-poor tourism is much
essential for natural conservation and wild life management. Southern region of Bangladesh is
facing huge environmental and economic crisis. Already its GDP is counted as less than country
average. Sustainable tourism can help to eradicate poverty in this area. One important aspect of
tourism development in this area is that it can attract not only foreign direct investments (FDI)
but also donor agencies. The biggest challenges would be to be free from beauracratic and
political hassle, formulate effective strategy and long term strategic plan and efficient utilization
of local resources and local participation.

I
 Table of contents

Serial no Topics Page no

Executive summary i
1.0 Introduction

2.0 Literature Review

3.0 Present situation of southern region regarding tourism

4.0 Twelve pillars of measuring tourism competiveness in

southern region & SWOT Analysis

5.0 Local Entrepreneurship

6.0 Strategies for Pro-Poor Tourism

7.0 Business partnership and Sustainable tourism development

8.0 Differences Between Pro-Poor Tourism, Sustainable

Tourism and Community-Based Tourism
9.0 Analysis of porter’s five factor model & future trends
tourists arrival
10.0 Promotional activities to southern sector

11.0 Tourism marketing for southern regions

12.0 Integrated strategy for developing pro-poor tourism in

southern sector

13.0 Accessing how tourism revenues reach the poor

14.0 Sustainable tourism and Poverty alleviation in southern

region
15.0 Differential impacts of tourism on southern poor

16.0 Economic impact analysis of tourism in southern region

17.0 Environmental conservation, Natural resource management
and Pro-poor tourism in southern region

18.0 Can southern region attract donor agencies for tourism

development?

19.0 Strategy formulation and Implementation

20.0 Strategies for supporting local entrepreneurs

21.0 How different tourism & Financial sectors can help Local
Entrepreneurs

22.0 Other major initiatives for Sustainable Tourism

Developments
23.0 Concluding remarks and Policy implications

24.0 References & Bibliography

1.0 Introduction

Tourism is “activities of persons travelling to and staying in places outside their usual
environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes”
(WTO 2002). It has emerged from being a relatively small-scale activity into a global economic
phenomenon from the 1960sonward. Today, it is described as one of the world’s largest and
fastest growing economic sectors (UN1999; WTO 2002). According to the WTO, the growth of
international tourist arrivals significantly outpaces the growth of economic output as measured
by GDP. From 1975 to 2000, annual international tourist arrivals increased an average of 4.7 per
cent, while GDP grew 3.5 per cent. In 2004, 760 million people travelled internationally, a 10
per cent increase over the 691 million in 2003 (WTO 2005).Receipts from international tourism
has also grown steadily. In 2003, international tourism receipts totaled US$523 billion, a 6.5 per
cent increase over 2002. The WTO remains confident that international tourism will continue to
grow, and projects that visitor arrivals will reach an estimated 1.0billion by 2010 and 1.6 billion
by 2020.

Bangladesh is a country of vast, largely unknown and unspoiled natural beauty and reserves,
which are simply unique and fascinating. These natural phenomena are composed of hills and
vales, forests, rivers, lakes, sea and beaches, and the evergreen landscape embracing the country.
The topography is mainly flat alluvial plain, criss-crossed by the world’s three mighty river
systems, the Padma (Ganges), the Jamuna and the Meghna and their innumerable tributaries. The
east and the northeast of the country join India, and the southeastern part, adjoining Myanmar, is
mainly hilly with dense forest. This area comprises Chittagong and the three Hilly Districts (as
they are known) of Rangamati, Bandarban and Khagrachari, with an average elevation of 610 m.
These folded ranges run parallel to each other in the north–south direction and the hill slopes are
generally enveloped by dense virgin forest. In the south and southwest, alongside the coast of the
Bay of Bengal, lies the Sundarbans, better known as a swampy tropical mangrove forest, the
home of the Royal Bengal Tiger. These areas are all ideal for the expansion of tourism in the
country. Bangladesh is endowed with various tourist attractions which include archaeological
sites, mosques, temples, monuments, modern resorts and arrange of tours, including river cruises
and boating. Visitors to Bangladesh are invariably brought close to nature. Various tourism
facilities have been developed in many of the potential tourism areas by the Bangladesh Parjatan
(Tourism) Corporation and other government, semi-government and non-government agencies.
The Government of Bangladesh formulated a National Tourism Policy in February1992. The
main objective of this policy is to attract investment in tourism from the domestic private sector
as well as by foreign investors. The government encourages foreign investment in the sector,
either in the form of joint ventures or on a full foreign ownership basis. In order to encourage
investments, the government has put in place a number of incentives such as tax exemptions,
remittances of up to 50% of the salary of foreign staff, facilities for repatriation of savings and
retirement benefits, repatriation of capital and profits, and guarantees against nationalization.
Bangladesh is engaged in a continuous endeavor to integrate her ecotourism resources through
planning, management and appropriate use, based on the following principles: (i) optimum
multiple use of the resources; (ii) maximum sustainable use; and (iii) conservation and
development of natural resources. When we promote and sell our tourist products (for example,
theSundarbans, the Hilly Districts, Cox’s Bazaar) we have to make sure that the resources, such
as the forests with their numerous varieties of trees, plants, herbs and their animals are not
destroyed or overexploited. Obviously, tourist products should be used in such a way that they
are not going to be destroyed. Large numbers of tourists can be the cause of destruction.
Tourists, who unmindfully or without caring throw away their left-over food scraps and drinks,
leave behind synthetic articles or tin containers cause damage to the local environment and
eventually the earth. One way to handle such problems is to control tourist visits to each
particular product or place. Restrictions can be imposed on the number of tourists, and on how
they undertake their visit, before a site becomes overcrowded. It is a good idea to present a
particular tourist location at which there are a number of attractions. By doing this one can
spread the load while presenting variety to tourists. The Sundarbans is the world’s largest
mangrove forest. No infrastructure has been developed to provide tourists with food, lodging and
transport to the area. This vast waterway of reverie Bangladesh, and its reflection of local ways
of life, could become a major attraction for foreigners. However, there are no arrangements for
regular water transport allowing for safe travel through the waterways, and because of this its
potential ecotourism attractions have remained largely unexplored. A multidimensional,
comprehensive development plan needs to be prepared for the area.

2.0 Literature Review

Tourism is treated as one of the world's fastest growing industries. While travel was once
an uncertain and hazardous event but it is now an easily planned and coordinated adventure that
has been revolutionized since middle of last century by vast improvements in transportation in
general and air transportation in particular, computer technology, and networks of international
communication. In many develop and developing countries, tourism have been designed as a
leading industry for the purpose of stimulating economic development The World Travel &
Tourism Council Measures that by 2011, the Travel &Tourism economy will constitute: 11.0 per
cent of global GDP, support 260.5 million jobs worldwide. This is 9 % of total employment or 1
in every 11.2 jobs (Siddiqi, 2003).Tourism offers immense potential on employment generation,
poverty alleviation and maintaining ecological balance. It is relatively modern phenomenon,
which plays an intensely important role in the economic development of any country (Kendall
1988, p.43). According to World Tourism Organization (WTO), it is one of the worlds biggest
industries is set to double within 15 years to reach a billion tourists by year 2010.Moreover, The
WTO said that the industry at present employs about 212 million people and the figure is
expected to rise to 385 million by 2006 (Chamber News, Nov. 1995p.4). The contribution of this
sector to the GDP of many countries is significant. In China it was 3.64 % in 1995 followed by
Singapore 5.2% (The Bangladesh Monitor, 1996).In the year 1998, the number of tourists in the
USA increased by 1.4% and income by2.1% , in Europe these percentages were 3% and 3.6%, in
the middle East 5.3% and 6.4%and in South Asia 5% and 2.8% respectively (Madrid AFT 1999
p. 12). The overall economic impact of travel and tourism in South Asia is expected to contribute
4.8% to gross domestic product (GDP) in 2003, rising to 5.3% in 2013. The industry is projected
to provide employment to about 29 million people (5.2% of the total) in 2003, and almost 36
million (5.4%) in 2013 (ADB, 2003).
. With growing international interest in traveling through Asia, tourism industry is taking roots in
Bangladesh. (The Daily Star, Feb 1, 2002). According to news of New York Times that Cox’s
Bazaar of Bangladesh will be an attractive destination to most of the Americans to enjoy their
holidays from the next years (BPC News, 2006). In fact, tourism in Bangladesh is becoming an
emerging issue both for the public and private sector to establish their eligibility for accomplishing a
successful business as well as marketing activities development (Akteruzzaman & Ishtiaque 2001p.107).
It is consequently an industry wide economic application, especially when one considers indirect
economic imports of such activities. It is one of the important means of foreign exchange earning and
also contributing to correct negative balance of payment. But the share of Bangladesh in the world
tourism is very poor. Bangladesh has substantially different of offer in its scenic beauty and cultural
heritage. Of course, some archaeological sites-representing Buddhist period-are there in the country.
Added to these sites are numerous historical monuments representing Hindu, Muslim and British
Periods, Scattered all over the country. However, most of these are still unexplored and unknown.
One of the major archaeological sites is Paharpur. It is a small village 5 km. west of Jamalganj in the
great Rajshahi district where the remains of the most important and the largest known monastery
south of the Himalayas has been excavated. This 7th century archaeological find covers
approximately an area of 27 acres of land (w.w.w.bangladeshtourism.org). So for Bangladesh, it should
be a matter of great opportunity to develop its tourism sector, which unfortunately has been at low
ebb and could not be any significant contributory factor for its national development. Japan has a
national objective of having 10 million departures a year and almost 80%Japanese travelers travel for
pleasure and holidays. But Bangladesh failed to attract this potential market even though Bangladesh
has excellent tourist products the Buddhist Stupas and Monasteries--the main tourist attraction for
Japanese tourists. A tourist’s destination to be developed requires development of accommodations
and catering facilities. It is found that quality of graded hotel through out all the tourists’ destinations
is not appropriate, and there is an acute shortage of required no. of good restaurants of acceptable
standards, providing accommodations and catering services to the tourist’s is the major task of
tourism industry. Unfortunately this sector has not been developed in a planned way (Sikder and
Hossain, 1998 p. 173).
3.0 Present situation of southern region regarding tourism
Bangladesh, a flood plain delta, is a land of rivers and canals. The country is sloping gently
from the north to the south, meeting the Bay of Bengal at the southern end. The whole coast
runs parallel to the Bay of Bengal, forming 710 km long coastline (CZPo, 2005). Khulna
region is situated in the south-western part of Bangladesh.khulna is in the south flanked by
Sundarbans. Besides it has a heritage of rich and diversified biological and genetic biodiversity
of plants, birds, fish, animals, reptiles, amphibian and also the safe habitants of majestic royal
Bengal tiger. the significant presence of the places of historical importance and architectural
interests in this region According to the coastal zone policy (CZPo, 2005) of the Government
of Bangladesh, 19 districts out of 64 are in the southern zone covering a total of 147 upazillas1
(Figure-1) of the country. Out of these 19 districts, only 12 districts meet the sea or lower
estuary directly. The southern part of Bangladesh falls under coastal zone that receives
discharge of numerous rivers, including Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna (GBM) river system,
creating one of the most productive ecosystems of the world.. However, the shape of the
southern zone is quite unstable and changing time to time due to erosion and accretion. The
Sundarbans mangrove forest, one of the largest such forests in the world, is formed at the delta
of the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers on the Bay of Bengal. The site is composed of
three sanctuaries (Sundarbans West, South, and East) with a total area of 140,000 hectares. It is
located adjacent to the border of India's Sundarbans. World Heritage site, was first inscribed in
1987. The three sanctuaries, intersected by a complex network of tidal waterways, mud flats
and small islands of salt tolerant mangrove forests,. The area is known for its wide range of
fauna including birds, reptiles, the Royal Bengal tiger and other threatened species, such as the
estuarine crocodile and the Indian python. The Sundarbans is not only the world’s largest
continuous mangrove forest but is also of great economics importance to Bangladesh, as a
prime source of valuable natural products ranging from building timber to prawns and honey to
palm leaves for thatching . There are other extensive areas of mangrove swamp elsewhere in
Southeast Asia that apparently differ in terms of both flora and fauna, but none can offer such
variety of scenery and wildlife as the Sundarbans. The Sundarbans is not only a unique
national asset to Bangladesh, but is also of international significance alone of the world’s
outstanding wild places.

Total population living in the southern is 35.1 million that represent 28 percent of total
population of the country. Population density in exposed coast is 482 persons per square
kilometer whereas the value is 1,012 for the interior coast. Average population density of the
zone is 743 per sq. km., and the same value for Bangladesh average is 839 Population densities
in interior coast is much higher than that of exterior coast and the country’s average. There are
about 6.8 million households in the zone of which 52 percent are absolute poor Fishing,
agriculture, shrimp farming, salt farming and tourism are the main economic activities in the
coastal area. The Sundarbans is a major source of subsistence for almost 10 million people. Main
activities in the Sundarbans area are fisheries, wood collection and honey collection. Almost ten
thousand households in the area have neither homestead land nor cultivable land. On the other
hand, more than a million households in the area have only homestead but no cultivable land
(Islam, 2004; p.136). Per capita gross domestic product (GDP) for the southern zone was
US$277, a little bit lower than that of national average (US$278), during the fiscal year 1999-
2000. Per capita GDP in Khulna is (US$352) GDP per capita in the coastal zone falls to US$235.
The lowest GDP per capita is in ghalkathi district, having a value of US$193. Per capita GDP is
higher in Khulna district because of industrialization in the area. Sixteen coastal districts’ GDP
per capita is below the national average because of environmental hazards and natural disasters.
Low GDP per capita and high population pressure reinforce each other, preventing people to get
out of the poverty. There is 35,712 km of roads in the coastal zone including the rural earthen
ways. But some of the remote areas of the zone are still inaccessible by road transport because of
the river network. For that reason water ways are the main transportation mode in eastern and
central coastal zone. Almost all small and big cities of the areas are connected with the capital
Dhaka by waterways. Salinity intrusion due to sea level rise will decrease agricultural production
by unavailability of fresh water and soil degradation.) investigated the loss of rice production in a
village of Satkhira district and found that rice production in 2003 was 1,151 metric tons less than
the year 1985, corresponding to a loss of 69 per cent. Out of the total decreased production, 77
per cent was due to conversion of rice field into shrimp pond and 23 per cent was because of
yield loss (A significant part of Bangladesh coast is sandy beaches that attract tourists. Kuakata
beach in Patuakhali district attracting the tourists of home and abroad. Out of 18 tourist areas
identified by Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation (BPC), namely Kuakata, Khulna and the
Sundarbans are located in the coastal zone). A study of Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation
suggests that 19 per cent of foreigners visiting Bangladesh are tourists, the rest visit Bangladesh
for business or other official purposes. At national level, tourism industry serves the nation with
economic development. At the local level, it helps to strength local economy, culture and
heritage. Sea level rise, by affecting this promising sector will affect the national economy and
heritage of Bangladesh. The Sundarbans will be completely lost with 1 metre sea level rise
(World Bank, 2000, p.63). Loss of the Sundarbans means great loss of heritage, loss of
biodiversity, loss of fisheries resources, loss of life and livelihood and after all loss of very high
productive ecosystem.

4.0 Twelve pillars of measuring tourism competiveness in southern

region
According to world tourism organization twelve essential elements can generate sustainable
tourism development in the long run for a particular region.

First pillar: Institutions The institutional environment forms the framework within which private
individuals, firms, and governments interact to generate income and wealth in the economy. The
institutional framework has a strong bearing on competitiveness and growth.

Second pillar: Infrastructure The existence of high-quality infrastructure is critical for ensuring
the efficient functioning of the economy, as it is an important factor determining the location of
economic activity and the kinds of activities or sectors that can develop in an economy. High-
quality infrastructure reduces the effect of distance between regions, with the result of truly
integrating the national market and connecting it to markets in other countries and regions.

Third pillar: Macro economy. The stability of the macroeconomic environment is important for
business and, therefore, is important for the overall competitiveness of a country.
Fourth pillar: Health and primary education healthy workforce is vital to a country’s
competitiveness and productivity. Workers who are ill cannot function to their potential, and will
be less productive. Poor health leads to significant costs to business, as sick workers are often
absent or operate at lower levels of efficiency.

Fifth pillar: Higher education and training Quality higher education and training is crucial for
economies that want to move up the value chain beyond simple production processes and
products

Sixth pillar: Goods market efficiency Countries with efficient goods markets are positioned to
Produce the right mix of products and services given supply-and-demand conditions, and such
markets also ensure that these goods can be most effectively traded in the economy.

Seventh pillar: Labor market efficiency, the efficiency and flexibility of the labor market are
critical for ensuring that workers are allocated to their most efficient use in the economy

Eighth pillar: Financial market sophistication .an efficient financial sector is needed to allocate
there sources saved by a nation’s citizens to its most productive uses. A proficient financial
sector channels resources to the best entrepreneurs or investment projects rather than to the
politically connected. A thorough assessment of risk is therefore a key ingredient

Ninth pillar: Technological readiness this pillar measures the agility with which an economy
adopts existing technologies to enhance the productivity of its industries.14 this is a critical
concept, as technological differences have been shown to explain much of the variation in
productivity between countries. In fact, the relative importance of technology adoption
formational competitiveness has been growing in recent years, as progress in the dissemination
of knowledge and the rising use of information and communication technologies (ICT) have
become increasingly widespread.

Tenth pillar: Market size the size of the market affects productivity because large markets allow
firms to exploit economies of scale. Traditionally, the markets available to firms have been
constrained by the borders of the nation. In the era of globalization, international markets have
become a substitute for domestic markets

Eleventh pillar: Business sophistication Business sophistication is conducive to higher efficiency

in the production of goods and services. This leads, in turn, to increased productivity, thus
enhancing a nation’s competitiveness. Business sophistication concerns the quality of a country’s
overall business networks, as well as the quality of individual firms’ operations and strategies.

Twelfth pillar: Innovation The last pillar of competitiveness is technological innovation.

Although substantial gains can be obtained by improving institutions, building infrastructure,
reducing macroeconomic instability, or improving the human capital of the population, all these
factors eventually seem to run into diminishing returns. The same is true for the efficiency of the
labor, financial, and goods markets
4.1 SWOT analysis

Strengths
i. Natural Sea Beach
ii. Beautiful Scenery with Sea and forests
iii. Fresh Air and Healthy Atmosphere
iv. Clean Sky in most of the year with moon lit night
v. Tribal life in Kuakata
vi. Traditional life style of the villagers
vii. Scope for Adventurous Tour in the Sea
viii. Scope for tour to the Islands
ix. Scope for Ecotourism
x. Abundance of Cheap Sea Food
xi. Relatively Cheaper Hotel and Food
xii. Border with India and scope of traveling there by land and sea
xiii. Scope of easy traveling to Chittagong Hill Tracts by bus
xiv. Availability of varieties of imported and domestic goods in the shops
xv. Sea fishing
xvi. Islamic Culture and Hindu Culture
xvii. Local Cultural Activities of both Bengalis and Tribal people
xviii. Local game & Sports

Weaknesses
i. No freedom of movement of girls
ii. No recreational facilities
iii. No night entertainment
iv. Uncleanliness and dirt in the town and in the hotels
v. Lack of adequate security
vi. Lack of Safety in the bathing in the sea
vii. No arrangement for sun bathing
viii. Disturbance to the tourists
ix. No privacy
x. No park or sitting arrangement
xi. No dressing room or bath room facilities in the sea
xii. Lack of information necessary for the tourists
xiii. Absence of advertisement of Tourist attractions
xiv. Lack of tour guide
xv. No arrangement for local tour
xvi. No cultural functions or facilities
xvii. Language problem to interact with the local people
xviii. No separate and special treatment to the foreigners
xix. Cultural conflict with the tourists in respect of ways of enjoyment of life
Opportunity

i. Liberal facilities for the tourists for movement,

ii. Good transport network by Bus, Railway and Air transport to accede to the area
and rickshaw service in the local area, t
iii. Free of cost tour guide by the Rickshaw puller
iv. Access to adventurous local people.
v. Sun bathing
vi. Natural sea beach
vii. Access to islands with less expense
viii. Scope for development of railway transport direct from Dhaka.
ix. Scope for development of national parks in the nearby forest
x. Scope for expansion of several sea beaches
xi. Scope for sea tour to Myanmar and Thailand
xii. Scope for seeing sea fishing by the fishermen
xiii. Scope for development of tourism in the islands like nighum deep
xiv. Scope for regional cooperation integration in tourism network with the
development of regional economy and regional trade and investment cooperation.

Threats
i. Competition in recreational facilities of competing tour spots in the region
ii. Competition in quality delivery of sea beach facilities, hotel facilities, food,
entertainment and tour services from the regional suppliers
iii. Bad image of the country for tourism (as a cyclone prone and flood prone
country, conservative Muslim country, poor country and less known tourist
attractions)
iv. Availability of exclusive zone for foreign tourists in the competing country with
similar socio-cultural background (e.g. Maldives)
v. Threat from fundamentalist forces against the expansion of recreational facilities
(specially drinks and dance which are specially important for the foreign tourists)
vi. Fear of Western Tourists to travel to this country because of cultural conflicts in
the ways of enjoying life. They feel the fear of being disturbed by the local
people. This is more so specially for the women tourists to this country where
freedom of movement of girls is said to be restricted in a Muslim society.
5.0 Local Entrepreneurship
Local entrepreneurship is the single most important thing to pursue a pro-poor tourism strategy.
Most destructive thing for local people’s livelihood is the leakage. Local people can effectively
remove this hindrance by making strategic partnership with tourism providers.

5.1 Linkages between the Tourism Industry and Local Suppliers

Tourism is often praised for its potential to link with other sectors in the local economy. Yet in
innumerable cases, food and most other supplies and services are brought in from outside (from
distant cities or from overseas. Support work with local suppliers to develop the quality,
reliability and competitiveness of local products while supporting actions that change incentives
and attitudes in the business sector is essential to grow local entrepreneur skills. The number of
tourism jobs available to the poor is limited by their lack of skills, with the result that many jobs
are taken by better-skilled outsiders. There are also number of problems associated with the
quality of employment in the industry, including low pay, poor working conditions, insecurity,
seasonality, a high percentage of children in the workforce (10-15 per cent according to ILO),
and exploitation of workers, particularly women, children. Government can Support training in
hospitality skills, targeted at poor people, so they can compete for jobs; promote the development
and implementation of labor standards (e.g. ILO standards) within tourism; and support
initiatives aiming to reverse the growth child-labor (although note there is a difficult balance
between reducing exploitation and maintaining economic opportunities that are needed and
wanted by the poor). Small-scale, locally-run tourism enterprises can give the poor a direct stake
in the industry. However there are many barriers to participation in the industry, particularly lack
of credit, skills and marketing links, red tape and marginalization by government. Numerous
projects that have tried to develop local tourism enterprises have failed due to, for example,
short-term approaches, insufficient attention to product viability and marketing, and internal
community divisions. Strategies to enhance linkages must be incorporated into projects right
from the start. Many projects have expected linkages to emerge, but failed to create them.’
Specific opportunities for SMMEs need to be identified as part of the process of designing
developments and of allocating concessions’.

 lanning gain can be used to create incentives for business The advantage of this approach is
P
that it avoids regulation, as business is free to decide their own strategy, while providing strong
incentives. The limitation is that it is only possible where there is competition between investors
for leases, and a lessor willing to priorities linkages as a selection criteria.
Setting up the linkages can help develop the local products.
Linkages require time consuming and detailed facilitation. Within the SDI initiative,
facilitating dialogue between formal sector tourism and local suppliers is regarded as critical.
Detail needs to be addressed – those facilitating linkages go through company accounts in detail
to spot opportunities for out-sourcing supplies.
Be commercially realistic. ,encouraging private sector change requires recognition as well as
incentives. Be careful and don’t put so much on them that they can no longer run the operation.
Change has to be gradual. Accept commitments to do more later.. It can well be argued that those
who lose most from tourism are those that are displaced from their land. Many others suffer
reduced access to natural resources and/or degradation of natural resources on which they
depend. Environmental mitigation measures do not necessarily identify the most important
tradeoffs with livelihoods, and how to minimize livelihood damage. Indeed some environmental
measures can conflict with livelihoods

6.0 Strategies for Pro-Poor Tourism

Pro-poor tourism is defined as tourism that generates net benefits for the poor. Benefits may be
economic, but they may also be social, environmental or cultural. The definition says nothing
about the relative distribution of the benefits of the tourism. Therefore, as long as poor people
reap net benefits, tourism can be classifieds ‘pro-poor’ (even if richer people benefit more than
poorer people). Rather than explore the intricacies of defining ‘net positive benefits’, we focus
on strategies that enhance benefits to the poor. The core aim of PPT strategies is to unlock
opportunities for the poor, rather than to expand the overall size of the sector. However, as
several of our case studies show, PPT cannot succeed without the successful development of the
entire tourism destination in question. Pro-poor tourism is not a specific product or sector of
tourism, but an approach to the industry. It involves arrange of stakeholders operating at different
levels, from micro to macro. Stakeholders include government, the private sector and civil
society, as well as the poor themselves who act as both producers and decision makers Pro-poor
tourism (PPT) interventions aim to increase the net benefits for the poor from tourism, and
ensure that tourism growth contributes to poverty reduction. PPT is not a specific product or
sector of tourism, but an approach. PPT strategies aim to unlock opportunities for the poor –
whether for economic gain, other livelihood benefits, or participation in decision-making. pro-
poor tourism (PPT) in very general terms as tourism that generates net benefits to the poor.
Economic benefits are only one (though a very important) component of this, as social,
environmental and cultural costs and benefits also need to be taken into account.Net benefits to
the poor are measured in absolute not relative terms: i.e. non-poor people may also benefit as
much or more from pro-poor tourism development. A stronger definition of pro- poor be growth
that disproportionately benefits the poor, but this would exclude many tourism initiatives that can
usefully contribute to poverty elimination. Proponents argue that tourism has a number of
advantages over other economic sectors in terms of its potential to generate pro-poor growth, in
particular its size, labor intensity, potential for cross-sectoral linkages, and potential in countries
with few other competitive exports. On the other hand, skeptics argue that tourism, driven by
foreign private sector interests is not an activity suited to poverty elimination, that economic
benefits are not maximized due to high level of foreign ownership, high leakages and few
linkages, and that it imposes substantial non-economic costs on the poor, in terms of
displacement, lost access to resources, and cultural and social disruption.

Many of the disadvantages associated with tourism are actually characteristics of growth and
globalization. Many of the negative impacts that arise as a result of tourism development would
also occur with development in other sectors. For example, it is not clear from the data whether
the leakage effect and the supposed high level of foreign ownership, are greater problems in
tourism than in other sectors. (As regards ownership there can be confusion between
management companies for hotels and the actual ownership of those properties, so that is it is not
necessarily appreciated that the hotel is locally owned. Similar confusion can occur for franchise
arrangements e.g. of airlines, car rental and restaurants, where an international brand name
issued but ownership is within the country concerned.)Similarly, while there is no doubt that
tourism is vulnerable to swings in demand at country level(due to insecurity, recession or
hurricanes), it is not clear that volatility is any greater than volatility in prices and demand in
other exports, particularly commodity exports. It would seem therefore that many of the
difference between tourism and other sectors might be perceived rather than real. Tourism can be
perceived as a frivolous or elitist industry and hence is treated less seriously than other primary
industries by governments and donors. The classic stereotype of tourism – the juxtaposition
between the rich tourist and the poor local person –reinforces this perception.
Nevertheless, there are some characteristics which do seem particularly strong, if not unique, in
tourism. Among the disadvantages, tourism requires highly sophisticated marketing, which is
particularly difficult for poor producers, often involves more haphazard development than other
sectors and intense competition for natural resources with local residents (particularly in coastal
zones). Among the advantages:
Tourism is consumed at the point of production. Because the customer comes to the
product, opportunities for entrepreneurs to capitalize on linkages (e.g. tea selling) can be greater.
Most export industries depend on financial, productive and human capital. Tourism
wide resource base. Diversity makes it difficult to deal with a government or donor, but increases
the scope for wide participation, and for the informal sector. The potential of tourism compared
to other sectors should be considered in the light of the alternative opportunities available in any
location. Tourism is a traded-good, and whether it inappropriate to develop it in a particular
country depends on its comparative advantage. The debate about whether tourism is or isn’t pro-
poor cannot be decided here. The answer clearly depends on circumstance, so needs to be
assessed on a case by case basis before tourism is promoted for poverty objectives. A more
useful question is: how can tourism become more pro-poor? Given that tourism is already a fact
of life for many of the world’s poor, the challenge is to enhance the many positive impacts and
reduce costs to the poor. in a nutshell if we want to establish a pro-poor strategy , we have to
focus on ;-

Expanding business opportunities

Expanding employment opportunities for the poor
Enhancing collective benefits
Capacity building, training and empowerment
Mitigating environmental impacts
Addressing social and cultural impacts
Building a supportive policy and planning framework
Promoting participation
Bringing the private sector into pro-poor partnerships
7 .0 Business partnerships and Sustainable tourism development

Five types of pro-poor interventions at the local or destination level can be identified to build
partnership with stakeholders and implementing a common goal.

7.1: Support to Small and Micro Enterprises

Several donors support community tourism initiatives through SME support (credit, training,
non-financial services). This is a strong element of several community conservation programmes
and hence occurs mainly in rural areas with biodiversity assets.

7.2: Rural Tourism

This can be done through technical assistance, funding local programmes, or infrastructure. In
many cases this support is driven by conservation objectives – a focus on protected areas and
biodiversity inevitably leads to a rural focus. In other cases, support for rural tourism
development has been driven by poverty objectives.

7.3: Joint Ventures between Communities and Private Operators

Several organization are supporting tourism partnerships between communities and private
investors in areas where communities have strong tourism assets (e.g. tenure rights over
wildlife).

7. 4: Community Participation, Pro-Poor Planning

Only possible with strong community participation. Several initiatives seek to enhance local
participation in decision-making in tourism, usually at local or park level.

7.5: Tourism Improvements with Clear Potential Benefits for the Poor
There are several donor interventions that aim to improve tourism which are not
specifically targeted at the poor, but which have strong potential for benefiting them
(inclusive actions). These include:
improvement of working conditions (if targeted at the unskilled) –
promoted by ILO;
protected area management and park-based tourism (because many are
in economically depressed regions)
training and human resource development (if targeted at unskilled and
semi-skilled trades)
greening the industry (if the poor benefit from improved environmental
standards)

7.6 Involving Business

Tourism is in some quarters viewed solely as a private sector activity. Yet experience suggests
that successful sustainable development requires close collaboration between government and
the private sector as well as between different arms of government. Governments need to work
with the private sector in establishing national and regional parameters for the industry (e.g.
policy objectives), supporting the industry (e.g. via tourist boards, service provision) and
controlling it (e.g. via land use planning). Efforts to promote pro-poor tourism need to involve
business so as to establish strong links between small enterprise and the rest of the industry, and
avoid failure due to lack of commercial realism.
.

7.7 accumulating NGO’s Experience in Business Partnerships


Marketing support to the private sector
Partnerships between communities and private sector operators. Donor
involvement has to date not been as a partner per se, but there is an opportunity to
provide technical assistance in assisting collaboration between the two sides;
Working with trade bodies. Such limited work as has been done has been by NGOs
rather than by donors.
General partnership schemes are being developed by the World Bank, the EU and
others but with limited application to tourism so far.
depends on these but also on natural capital (e.g. wildlife) and culture, which are
assets that some of the poor have, or are gaining increasing control over where
decentralization and devolution of tenure are occurring.
Tourism is often reported to be more labor intensive than other productive
sectors. Data from six countries with satellite tourism accounts does indicate that it is
more labor intensive than non-agricultural activities, particularly manufacturing,
although less labor intensive than agriculture
There is a greater uptake of jobs by women than in other sectors although it is not
known if more jobs are taken by the poor and unskilled.
Tourism is a much more diverse industry than many others

8.0 Differences between Pro-Poor Tourism, Sustainable Tourism

and Community-Based Tourism
Calls for sustainable tourism have tended to focus on environmental concerns. However the
concept is now broadening to include social, economic and cultural aspects. It is recognized that
host communities must benefit if tourism is to be viable in the long term. However, benefits to
local people are generally of secondary importance – a means to the end of sustainability – and
are usually expressed in a protectionist/defensive way: preserving local culture, minimizing
costs. In contrast, pro-poor tourism aims to expand opportunities, and places net benefits to the
poor as a goal in itself, to which environmental concerns should contribute. Community-based
tourism initiatives usually seek to expand tourism enterprises run by local communities or
individuals, and sometimes to enhance local involvement in planning. These are important, but
not the sole,
components of pro-poor tourism which also includes maximizing use of local labor, goods and
services within the formal sector – particularly in high-density (urban/coastal) environments;
expanding informal sector linkages; ensuring infrastructural development and environmental
strategies benefit the poor; and creating a supportive policy framework and planning context that
addresses needs of poor producers and residents within tourism. Three underlying issues
influence all the above, and also need to be addressed through
9.0 Analysis of porter’s five factor model and future trends of
tourism in Bangladesh

Porter’s (1979) five factor model for competitive analysis is done for southern reason of the
country based on tourism industry which is given below:

Factors Analysis
I. Competitive rivalry between Both government and private initiatives for
supplier developing entrepreneurial activities in tourism sector
should be utilized. Pricing on tour related activities
should be lower that that of neighboring countries &
other region of the country. The main competitor of
southern region would be west Bengal and eastern
sector of Bangladesh.
II. Threat of new entrants Low possibly for this threat. But the main threat is
that there is huge gap between tourism investment in
eastern region of the country (Chittagong, cox’s
bazaar) and southern region. Those eastern sectors
can invest in, innovate and provide new facilities
which can hindrance the tourism promotion effort in
this region.
III. Bargaining power of buyers To facilate the tourists and attract more in the initial
stage southern region will go for cost leadership.
Tourist will be well conversant about the facilities
and low price but high qualities.
IV. Bargaining power of suppliers Less risk because most suppliers will be local.
V. Substitutes products This can be overcome by extensive focus on tourist
experience sharing, providing them unique
opportunity to be a part of nature and moreover
Sundarbans is the best attracting place.

9.1 Tourist Arrivals in Bangladesh (in 000)

Year Tourist Year Arrivals Growth Rate (%)
1991 113242
1992 110475 (-) 2
1993 126785 (+) 15
1994 140122 (+) 11
1995 156231 (+) 12
1996 165887 (+) 6
1997 182420 (+) 10
1998 171961 (-) 6
1999 172781 (+) 0.5
2000 199211 (+) 15
2001 207199 (+) 4
2002 207246 (+) .02
2003 244509 (+) 18
2004 271270 (+) 11
2005 312575 (+)15
2006 343590 (+)10
2007 397410 (+)16
2008 468951 (+18)
Average Growth Rate +9%

In general, the statistics show a very good and positive trend. This rate can be considered very
high for those countries that have already matured in the market, but for a new market entry, like
Bangladesh, the above growth rate is not very impressive.

By using the above data the projected number of tourist arrivals for the year 2010 and
2020 can be calculated with the help of regression analysis where, the model:
y = mx + b
Here, x is independent variable (year) and y is dependent variable (total number of
tourist arrivals)

By interpreting and solving this we get the value m = 15268.69 and b = -30314883and
then the model stands as: y = 15268.69 (x) -30314883 and the projected tourist
arrivals are 375,186 and 527,873 for the year 2010 and 2020 respectively subject to
the present trend remaining unchanged. The BPC forecast that Bangladesh will
receive 0.9 million tourists in 2020 seems very unrealistic.

10.0 Promotional activities to southern sector

With all-available information about the Sundarbans, a web side could be lunch, where
tourists can get information about the wilderness nature of the forest and special wildlife
features contained therein and beauties of the forest. Moreover, this web site can provide
the information exclusively about the facilities for the tourists wish to visit the forest. A
separate monitoring cell can be lunch in Khulna or in the capital, Dhaka to manage all
sorts of matters. In addition to that, a wildlife research laboratory can be set up in one of
the islands in side or near the Sundarbans, where biologist from around the world can
conduct research and can protect the endanger species from extinction.

Soon after the independence of Bangladesh, the government of the newborn state realized the
importance of tourism in its economic and social life. Therefore, the government decided to
reorganize the tourism sector (Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism, 2004) by combining both
the tourism department and the private corporation into one organization, bringing it under
government responsibility for better coordination, promotion, development and marketing
Consequently, the government established the National Tourism Organization (NTO) in the
name of Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation under Presidential Order No. 143, declared in
November 27, 1972. the structure of the tourism sector in Bangladesh is predominantly managed
by the public sector. The public sector has played a pioneering role in the development and
promotion of tourism in the country. Government involvement in the tourism sector is channeled
through BPC which is under the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism. To develop a sound
promotional base regarding tourism attraction in southern region Market research is an important
part of developing a market promotional plan. Several important pieces of information are needed to
develop a market plan for promotional tool. These include:

1. An inventory of tourist attractions in the area, region, or destination

2. Tourist profiles, including expenditures
3. market trends analysis
4. tourist profiling including expenditure.

11.0 Tourism marketing for southern regions

Today’s tourists are more aware for economic conservation and sustainable development but still
it is not easy to properly formulate a marketing strategy. Southern region can do;-

Development/improvement of international voluntary codes such as

Certification/standards to encourage businesses to provide and consumers to choose
Socially-sound behavior;

supporting ethical consumerism through consumer education (e.g. in-flight videos);

strategies to assist the poor producers to meet the requirements of EU Package Travel
Regulations;

d evelopment and dissemination of ‘good practice’ guidelines in PPT – these currently only
exist for ‘ecotourism’ and greening tourism;

promoting PPT on the agenda of CSD and other international processes, especially
highlighting the difference between PPT and current concepts of ‘sustainable tourism’ and
providing ideas on what can be done.4 priority strategies are

support small-scale and informal sector tourism activities

expand linkages between tourism business and the local economy
minimizes negative impacts on livelihoods of the poor
promote pro-poor tourism issues in international thinking
12.0 Integrated strategy for developing pro-poor tourism in
southern sector
Developing countries currently have only a minority share of the international tourism market
(approximately 30 per cent) but their share is growing. International tourism arrivals in
developing countries have grown by an average of 9.5 per cent per year since 1990, in
aggregate across developing countries, compared to a growth of 4.6 per cent in arrivals
worldwide. The tourism industry makes important contributions to the economies of developing
countries,
particularly to foreign exchange earnings, employment, and Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
This is shown in Table 3.1 below and Appendix I. On average international tourism receipts
account for around 10 per cent of export revenues of developing countries. Tourism’s
contribution to GDP varies from 3–5 per cent in Nepal and Kenya to 25 per cent in Jamaica;
contribution to employment is estimated at 6–7 per cent in India and South Africa.
The economic significance of tourism varies greatly from country to country, with those
economies most highly dependent on tourism tending to be small island states. In Fiji, for
example, tourism is the largest source of foreign exchange and the most important commercial
source of employment, providing over 26 per cent of export revenue and some 16 per cent of
GDP.
Tourism data does not provide the full picture of its economic significance. Statistics cover the
contribution of international tourism to national GDP. They hide the significance of domestic
tourism (and may under-estimate regional tourists travelling by land), and the importance of
tourism to a local economy. For example, tourism accounts for approximately 0.8 per cent of
GDP in India, but it has been estimated that tourism (domestic and international) accounts for
approximately half of economic activity in the hill region of Uttar Pradesh, popular for pilgrim
trails. Suggested strategies for promoting pro-poor tourism are divided into those appropriate
within
bilateral country programmes and those at international level. The bilateral strategies include
measures at destination level and national/policy level.
Some issues of overall approach should be noted first:
Learn by doing. Effectiveness of these strategies is not yet proven.
Focus on expanding benefits for the poor and participation of the poor – not just on
minimising negative impacts.
Recognise that ‘the poor’ consists of many diverse groups and will not benefit uniformly
– some may suffer or not be reached while others gain. The poorest 10 per cent are
unlikely to gain directly from tourism. Implementation of PPT strategies should be
coupled with poverty analysis to see who can be reached and how.
Collaborate with other donors where possible, drawing on growing interest in poverty
and human development issues within tourism, but recognize that PPT is a different
approach to what has gone before.
Draw on lessons from other sectors of development, as most are equally relevant within
tourism (e.g. on SMEs, policy framework, good governance, poverty analysis,
participation).
13.0 Accessing how tourism revenues reach the poor
Tourism, like any other productive activity, has the potential to improve the livelihoods of poor
people. To realize this potential requires an understanding of the volume of tourism benefits that
reach the poor and ways to enhance the access of the poor to the tourism value chain. This
understanding has, however, been difficult to gain from much previous analysis:
• Conventional tourist data and policy analysis focused on macro-variables (tourist arrivals,
foreign exchange receipts and investments),with little on measuring benefits to the poor.
• As a reaction to this, much pro-poor tourism analysis adopted a micro-level approach– focusing
on the livelihood impacts on poor people of specific niche tourism enterprises. A limited
geographical scale, descriptive nature and niche focus meant these micro studies failed to
generate recommendations for boosting pro-poor tourism benefits in most mainstream tourist
destinations. By adapting existing diagnostic tools and applying them in new contexts to map
revenue streams and policy frameworks, a handful of development practitioners are starting to
close this information gap. Using value chain analysis, they aim to map the tourism economy, its
revenue streams, and beneficiaries. They can use this to address a range of questions for
developing country policy makers seeking to improve the pro-poor impact of tourism.

13.1 Tourism Value Chain Analysis (VCA)

VCA is established in its application to agricultural and industrial products. Its application to the
service sector is more recent and aims to add to existing diagnostic tools. It draws heavily on
existing tools, including conventional VCA and typical pro -poor tourism analysis at enterprise
level, which tracks different types of incomes of the poor. By providing information on the
disaggregation of the revenue streams to the poor and identifying bottlenecks, tourism VCA
offers policy makers more information to address issues in the sector than other methods of
analysis seeking to address similar questions.

13.2Which segments in the tourism value chain are

most pro-poor?
Unskilled and semi-skilled employment in hotels can account for a large share of earnings to
poor families, but often represents a small proportion of total accommodation turnover (normally
around 10%). This proportions higher where the labor market is tighter, or regulations – such as
minimum wage legislation– increase the cost of labor. By contrast, between a quarter and a half
of tourist spending can reach the poor from expenditure on: restaurants (if supplies
are purchased locally); shopping (particularly handicrafts);and local transport and excursions.
Because these segments usually include informal sector operators, they are also likely to be the
revenue by which poorer, less skilled, and female entrepreneurs can participate productively in
the economy.
13.3Which ‘poor’ people benefit from tourism?
Very different types of poor people are involved in tourism, and VCA can help in mapping out
what income flows to which poor.1 Hotel workers are the most obvious beneficiaries. But there
may be more income, and certainly many more poor people, involved in farming and selling
food for tourists. Compared with direct employment, these supply chains have a different
geographical impact on poverty, as they are often in more peripheral regions that may not
otherwise have benefited from tourist expenditure.

14.0 Sustainable tourism and Poverty alleviation in southern region

Pro-poor interests can also convince local people that their resources are as, if not more, valuable
when intact than when extracted from the ecosystem. When a user fee or visitor admission fee
structure is imposed, real economic incentives for protected areas can catalyze their formulation.
Ecotourism hopes to change the unequal relationships of conventional tourism. Thus it
encourages the use of indigenous guides and local products. It claims to combine environmental
education with minimal travel comforts, help protect local flora and fauna and provide local
people with economic incentives to safeguard their environment. While the Sundarbans is one of
Bangladesh’s major tourist attractions due to its natural resources and wildlife, poachers and
illegal hunters threaten this world heritage. It is reported that the naval and military personnel
and sometimes the foresters themselves hunt and trapped the animals in the forest. Extensive
hunting and trapping also takes place near the Bangladesh - India border area and from the
settled areas beyond the baleswar River to the east. It is also reported that since the beginning of
last century several species of mammals, such as Java rhinoceros (Rhinoceros sondaicus),wild
buffalo (Bubalus huybalis), swamp deer (Cervus duvauceli) and hog deer (Axis porcinus), have
become extinct . Laws alone cannot keep the poachers out as the area is open and unprotected.
proposes to introduce environmentally sound eco-tourism in the Sundarbans mangrove forest.
Local people, including poachers, may act as guides, thereby benefiting economically, and
consequently they will protect the wildlife as well as the forest . Moreover,
the government will earn a substantial amount of money, including much needed foreign
currency, which could be re-invested in wildlife welfare in the forest. Being a borderline
ecosystem (ecotone) three distinct types of organisms can be found in mangrove areas. The first
are the typical species such as the mangrove crab, telescope shell, fiddler crab or the estuarine
crocodiles, which are exclusive mangrove dwellers. However, both marine and fresh water
species also frequent the mangrove forests. Mangroves throughout the world attract a wide
variety of organisms making them a biologically rich habitat. Hidden beauties of Sundarbans are
enormous. The beauty of the deep green forests in the early morning and evening, the basking
crocodiles along the margins of the creeks and inlets, the quick, delicate movements of the deer
at the drinking pools, as well as the beautiful seashore, will quicken the hearts of even the most
world-weary traveler.
14.1 Tourism in Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs)
Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) describe a country's macroeconomic, structural and
social policies and programmes to promote growth and reduce poverty. Many developing
countries that have produced these strategies have included tourism amongst the economic
sectors expected to contribute to poverty reduction. Some countries that highlight tourism are not
those readily associated with the industry, including Bangladesh, the Central African Republic,
Sierra Leone and Guinea – but they had still identified tourism as an important sector. There are
however considerable differences between countries in the role that they see for tourism. While
these might seem laudable objectives, research has demonstrated – and it is generally accepted –
that poverty reduction requires more than these macro-level impacts. It is not just growth that is
needed, but growth that specifically benefits poor people – pro-poor growth. A significant
number of PRSPs do talk about tourism as contributing to pro-poor growth while others identify
issues that have been noted in PPT researches important strategies for Pro-Poor Tourism. These
include an emphasis on the development of, and support to, small enterprises, linkages with other
economic sectors – particularly agriculture and fisheries, the importance of minimizing or
mitigating negative environmental impacts and the enhancement of local culture. Within the
focus on employment, there is also an acknowledgement of the importance of local jobs

15.0 Differential impacts of tourism on southern poor

In addition to economic and environmental impacts, sustainable-tourism can have social effects.
There are no permanent residents inside the Sundarbans although some 300,000-600,000people
earn their livelihood collecting honey, palm leaves, cutting grass, cutting wood, and catching and
drying fish. Other than the fishermen who live in temporary huts on Dublar Char, most live in
boats and can be trained as forest guides. Moreover, unemployed in the neighbourhood can be
employed in the service industries, operating or accompanying jungle boat trips and wilderness
trails and assisting in transport operation. In addition, small handicrafts industries, including
basket work, weaving, leather goods, brass ware, jute products and clay pots can be established
in nearby villages. One such industrial area already exists in the old town of Khulna, which could
be the centre of such industry. When these neighborhood’s people and the workers can benefit
economically from eco-tourism, they may support habitat-protection in the Sundarbans.
Tourism’s strong contribution to economic growth is evident. But development thinking
increasingly recognizes that growth is necessary but not sufficient to ensure poverty elimination.
Tourism affects the livelihoods of the poor in multiple ways – economically, environmentally,
socially and culturally (see Appendix III). Impacts on livelihoods and not just income need to be
assessed along with the variety of positive and negative affects.

Differential impacts between poor groups, particularly the fairly poor and the poorest, can be
expected. The poor are more vulnerable to the main negative impacts, such as conflicts with
other livelihood strategies through loss of natural resources, and vulnerability due to local
inflation. They face the greatest barriers to seizing economic opportunities created by tourism.
Therefore net direct gains are more likely to be experienced by ‘the masses’ than the poorest.
However, in several countries and tourism areas, the masses fall below a dollar a day. Where
they don’t, poverty elimination according to international definitions will depend on economic
links between the ‘masses’ and the ‘poor.’ Few analyses assess the poverty status of those
affected by tourism, the impacts of tourism on poverty, or the distribution of impacts between
poor and less-poor local residents. Different segments and types of tourism can have
substantially different impacts. Limited evidence suggests that domestic/regional tourism and
independent travel can create proportionately more local economic opportunities than
international packaged tourism. The impacts of tourism are complex and may be positive and
negative, direct and indirect, economic and on-economic. The livelihoods framework helps to
illustrate how tourism can affect many components of poor people’s lives – their opportunities,
other livelihood strategies, and assets. Such impacts are not inevitable, will not all occur in each
place, and will affect different poor people within an area.

15.1Multiple Ways in which Tourism can Affect Livelihood Security

Tourism Possible Positive Impacts
affects: Tourism can
Livelihood Support livelihood goals such as
goals economic
security, cultural life, health
E.g. by increasing cash income of
workers/entrepreneurs, contributing
to
cultural restoration, catalyzing
Improvements in hygiene.
Livelihood Expand economic options
activities E.g. by creating employment & small
business options for the unskilled &
semiskilled. Complement other
activities, earnings in agricultural
lean season; development of
transferable skills
Capital assets Build up assets (natural, physical,
financial, human, and social)
E.g. enhanced physical assets, if
earnings
are invested in productive capital;
enhanced
natural capital, if sustainability of
natural
resource management is improved.
Policy and Improve the context or residents’
institutional ability to influence it by expanding
environment local markets, focusing policy-
Possible Negative Effects
Tourism can:
Undermine economic security,
self determination and health
by creating dependency on a
volatile
industry among workers,
creating local inflation, dis-
empowering residents from
decision-making,
exacerbating spread of
disease.
Conflict with other activities
E.g. constrain fishing,
gathering, or agriculture if
land and natural resources are
taken away. Clash with busy
agricultural seasons. Increase
wildlife damage to crops and
livestock
Erode assets
E.g. lost access to natural
assets if local people are
excluded from tourism areas;
erode social capital if conflict
over tourism undermines
social and reciprocal relations;
over-burdening of physical
infrastructure (sewage, water
supply).
Exacerbate policy constraints
E.g. diverting policy-makers’
attention,
 makers attention on marginal areas. resources and infrastructure
Participation in tourism planning and investment to priorities
enterprise can give residents new tourism over other local
status, information and skills to deal activities. Improved transport
with outsiders. access and markets can
undermine local production.
Long-term ‘Fit’ with people’s underlying long- Create or exacerbate threats to
livelihood term long-term security physical
priorities priorities threats from more aggressive
E.g. to diversify risk, or build buffers wild animals due to
against disturbance by tourists.
drought, by developing an additional Economic vulnerability due to
source dependence on
of income which continues in volatile tourism.
drought years

16.0 Economic impact analysis of tourism in southern region

A variety of economic analyses are carried out to support tourism decisions. As these different
kinds of economic analysis are frequently confused, let’s begin by positioning economic impact
studies within the broader set of economic problems and techniques relevant to tourism. These
same techniques may be applied to any policy or action, but we will define them here in the
context of tourism. Each type of analysis is identified by the basic question(s) it answers and the
types of methods and models that are appropriate.

Economic impact What is the contribution of tourism activity to the economy of the
analysis region? traces the flows of spending associated with tourism activity
in a region to identify changes in sales, tax revenues, income, and
jobs due to tourism activity. The principal methods here are visitor
spending surveys, analysis of secondary data from government
economic statistics, economic base models, input-output models and
multipliers
Fiscal impact analysis Will government revenues from tourism activity from taxes, direct
fees, and other sources cover the added costs for infrastructure and
government services? Fiscal impact analysis identifies changes in
demands for government utilities and services resulting from some
action and estimates the revenues and costs to local government to
provide these services
Financial analysis Can we make a profit from this activity? A financial analysis
determines whether a business will generate sufficient revenues to
cover its costs and make a reasonable profit. It generally includes a
short-term analysis of the availability and costs of start-up capital as
well as a longer-range analysis of debt service, operating costs and
revenues. A financial analysis for a private business is analogous to
 a fiscal impact analysis for a local government unit.
Demand analysis How will the number or types of tourists to the area change due to
changes in prices, promotion, competition, quality and quantity of
facilities, or other demand shifters? A demand analysis estimates or
predicts the number and/or types of visitors to an area via a use
estimation, forecasting or demand model. The number of visitors or
sales is generally predicted based on judgment (Delphi method),
historic trends (time series methods), or using a model that captures
how visits or spending varies with key demand determinants
(structural models) such as population size, distance to markets,
income levels, and measures of quality & competition
Benefit Cost analysis Which alternative policy will generate the highest net benefit to
(B/C) society overtime? A B/C analysis estimates the relative economic
efficiency of alternative policies by comparing benefits and costs
over time. B/C analysis identifies the most efficient policies from the
perspective of societal welfare, generally including both monetary
and non-monetary values. B/C analysis makes use of wide range of
methods for estimating values of non-market goods and services,
such as the travel cost method and contingent valuation method
Feasibility study Can/should this project or policy be undertaken? A feasibility study
determines the feasibility of undertaking a given action to include
political, physical, social, and economic feasibility. The economic
aspects of a feasibility study typically involve a financial analysis to
determine financial feasibility and a market demand analysis to
determine market feasibility. A feasibility study is the private sector
analogue of benefit cost analysis. The feasibility study focuses
largely on the benefits and costs to the individual business or
organization, while B/C analysis looks at benefits and costs to
society more generally
Environmental Impact What are the impacts of an action on the surrounding environment?
assessment An environmental assessment determines the impacts of a proposed
action on the environment, generally including changes in social,
cultural, economic, biological, physical, and ecological systems.
Economic impact assessment methods are often used along with
corresponding measures and models for assessing social, cultural
and environmental impacts. Methods range from simple checklists to
elaborate simulation models
17.0Environmental conservation, Natural resource management and
Pro-poor tourism in southern region
Tourism development commonly has been advocated as an alternative to traditional natural
resource-based economic development, such as timber production, agriculture, and mining.
Recently, many advocates of tourism have promoted seemingly new tourism concepts, such as
nature-based tourism, ecotourism, and sustainable tourism, among others. These new forms of
tourism are promoted as an environmentally safe way for rural communities to generate income
from natural resources. They are advocated particularly in developing countries because many
developing countries possess comparative advantage over developed countries in their ability to
provide relatively pristine natural settings. Affluence, education, and to increasing visitation to
wild lands and generate income for local communities through the expenditures of tourists such
as lodging, transportation, food, guides, and souvenirs . Demand for these new forms of tourism,
it is argued, arises from increased concern or interest in unique and fragile ecosystems and a
growing desire to travel to new and exotic places, and an increasing number of people who have
the financial means to do so .Birding and wilderness exploring is a popular form of eco-tourism,
an activity that may ultimately help governments improve their management of natural
resources. Ideally, co-tourists visit sites to observe wildlife and as a result spend money in the
area. Governments and local people have economic incentives to maintain these areas in a
natural condition to ensure continued visits by eco-tourists. Ecotourism is therefore being
promoted as a tool for bio-diversity conservation and rural development. To achieve these goals,
however, careful management and planning is required. Before promoting eco-tourism activities,
authorities should assess and mitigate the potential impacts from eco-tourism. The primary goal
of creating sanctuaries is to conserve the mangrove forest and its flora and fauna in a natural
state, while providing opportunities for education and recreation. Compared with other types of
tourism, eco-tourism has the most potential to meet these goals and it will be able to tackle most
of the problems when GIS technology would be used as a tool to the impact. It is clear that eco-
tourists are distinct from conventional tourists and have different and often more beneficial
environmental, social, and economic impacts on protected areas.

Tourism has the potential to increase public appreciation of the environment and to spread
awareness of environmental problems when it brings people into closer contact with nature and
the environment. This confrontation may heighten awareness of the value of nature and lead to
environmentally conscious behavior and activities to preserve the environment. For instance,
Honduran schoolchildren from the capital city of Tegucigalpa are routinely taken to visit La
Tigra cloud forest visitor center, funded in part by eco-tourist dollars, to learn about the
intricacies of the rainforest. If it is to be sustainable in the long run, tourism must incorporate the
principles and practices of sustainable consumption. Sustainable consumption includes building
consumer demand for products that have been made using cleaner production techniques, and for
services - including tourism services - that are provided in a way that minimizes environmental
impacts. The tourism industry can play a key role in providing environmental information and
raising awareness among tourists of the environmental consequences of their actions. Tourists
and tourism-related businesses consume an enormous quantity of goods and services; moving
them toward using those that are produced and provided in an environmentally sustainable way,
from cradle to grave, could have an enormous positive impact on the planet's environment.
Tourism can significantly contribute to environmental protection, conservation and restoration of
biological diversity and sustainable use of natural resources. Because of their attractiveness,
pristine sites and natural areas are identified as valuable and the need to keep the attraction alive
can lead to creation of national parks and wildlife parks. Tourism has had a positive effect on
wildlife preservation and protection efforts, notably in Africa but also in South America, Asia,
Australia, and the South Pacific. Numerous animal and plant species have already become
extinct or may become extinct soon. Many countries have therefore established wildlife reserves
and enacted strict laws protecting the animals that draw nature-loving tourists. As a result of
these measures, several endangered species have begun to the Regulatory measures help offset
negative impacts; for instance, controls on the number of tourist activities and movement of
visitors within protected areas can limit impacts on the ecosystem and help maintain the integrity
and vitality of the site. Such limits can also reduce the negative impacts on resources. Limits
should be established after an in-depth analysis of the maximum sustainable visitor capacity.
This strategy is being used in the Galapagos Islands, where the number of ships allowed to cruise
this remote archipelago is limited, and only designated islands can be visited, ensuring visitors
have little impact on the sensitive environment and animal habitats.

18.0 Can southern region attract donor agencies for tourism

development?
To analyze donor activity in tourism we identified each donor’s overall approach to tourism and
specifically the types of intervention relevant to poverty reduction (whether driven primarily by
poverty objectives or not). In assessing what counts as ‘pro-poor’ we focus mainly on
interventions that appear to ‘tilt the tourism cake.’ Such strategies could be at the grassroots,
national policy or international levels. Donors have influenced the way in which the industry has
developed in the last 20 years, with support traditionally focused on macro-economic objectives
– particularly maximizing foreign exchange earnings through international tourism. Recently,
environmental and social issues have received increasing attention and three trends have
emerged:

1. Since the 1992 Earth Summit there has been an enormous amount of activity focused on
‘greening’ the tourism industry (e.g. through waste management, energy efficiency) and
promoting more environmentally-sustainable tourism (e.g. Beyond the Green Horizon
and Agenda 21 for the Travel and Tourism Industry).
2. At the same time, the failure of top-down, preservationist attitudes to wildlife, the need
for wildlife to ‘pay its way’ and for local communities to be involved in conservation, has
led to an increase in nature-based tourism in and around protected areas as a
mechanism for biodiversity conservation. This in turn spawned a broader interest in
community-based tourism, often as a component of community-based natural
resource management (CBNRM) strategies. Obligations of donors and governments
under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) with its emphasis on sustainable use
and benefit sharing have served to reinforce this trend.
3. Cultural heritage initiatives such as those initiated by the World Bank, have increased,
both in response to concerns about the threat which globalization poses to communities
who place a high value on their local and cultural identity and as part of programmes for
broadly-defined environmental and social sustainability. Often these have tended to focus
on the restoration of the physical fabric rather than living culture. The concept of ‘sustainable
tourism’ now combines elements of all three of the above. However, none of these are the same
as pro-poor tourism (see box).To date donor interventions in tourism have not been driven by a
poverty agenda. The main interest and progress in pro-poor tourism has come from
conservationists involved in community tourism and ecotourism, but inevitably, conservation
remains their priority goal. While many donors are involved in tourism activities, few see it as a
key development sector. The EU is the largest donor in tourism, Lomé IV recognizing the
importance of tourism to backcountries. Few other donors have clear policies or strategies,
although some are in the process of developing or revising strategies (EU, CIDA, World Bank).

Although several donors now have poverty elimination as their overall goal, tourism
interventions are mainly driven by other sub-objectives (private sector growth, conservation, etc)
rather than seen as a poverty-focused activity. Although some current interventions do have
poverty reduction elements (e.g. community-based tourism), no one is actively pursuing the
poverty agenda through tourism, nor has there been significant analysis by donors of how
tourism could contribute to poverty elimination1.While potential for linkages is seen as a key
advantage of tourism, there is little evidence of efforts to maximize potential economic linkages,
other than through small enterprise support. Exceptions are probably the Annapurna
Conservation Area Project (supported by a number of donors over the years) and DBSA’s work
to encourage linkages through working with the private sector and using planning gain. Donor
interventions have tended to be either at a local level, or at a policy level, with little attention
paid to the need for linkages between the local, micro and macro level. Donors seem to be doing
little at international level – especially in terms of working with business and consumers. This
role has been very much taken up by NGOs and particularly in the UK by Tourism Concern
(work on Fair Trade in Tourism with the University of North London) and by Voluntary Service
Overseas (VSO).

19.0 Strategy formulation and Implementation

Strategic Issues
Barriers to participation in the industry for
small and micro enterprises.
Apparent potential for linkages with other
sectors rarely realized.
The number of tourism jobs available to the
poor is limited by their lack of skills, and the
Strategies formulation
credit and training
policy reform and planning mechanisms
partnerships with the private sector
Improved quality, reliability and
competitiveness of
local products
change incentives and attitudes in the
business
sector towards local products
facilitate Linkage process, reduce transaction
costs
training in hospitality skills, targeted at poor
people
quality of employment in the industry can be
low.
Tourism can result in lost or reduced
access to land and natural resources, or
their degradation. Environmental mitigation
measures can sometimes conflict with,
rather than enhance, livelihoods.
Tourism can undermine basic services of
poor communities by over-burdening water
and sewage systems; can result in cultural
intrusion and loss of privacy; and has led to
a growth of the sex industry.
Institutions and decision-making processes
are often structured in such a way that
interests of the poor are not taken into
account.
The reasons for business to promote the
pro-poor agenda are not clear.
Many governments see tourism as a means
to generate foreign exchange rather than
address poverty. Where commitment does
exist, it can be difficult to identify and
implement the wide range of policy reforms
needed.
Pro-poor tourism is not currently on the
international agenda, yet many international
activities have the potential to influence
PPT.
d evelopment and implementation of labor
standards
initiatives aiming to reverse the growth of
sex
tourism and child-labor
Development/reform of planning frameworks
devolve tenure rights over land or wildlife to
local
people
employ appropriate mitigation measures
Combine investment in basic services for
tourism
with provision for local needs
local codes of conduct and local tourism
initiatives
raise awareness of cultural issues amongst
tourists
Participatory planning processes
local institutional capacity-building
cross-sectoral coordination
incentives and capacity for pro-poor tourism
Business partnerships
promote pro-poor tourism on the business
agenda
assess and build government commitment to
pr -poor
tourism
build capacity to implement pro-poor
commitments.
International voluntary codes
Consumer education
Assessment of the impact of EU tourism
regulations on poor producers;
‘good practice’ guidelines in PPT
promote PPT on the international agenda
20.0 Strategies for supporting local entrepreneurs
most pro-poor interventions will focus on increasing the share of opportunities and
benefits of the poor.
Interventions that focus only at the grassroots or policy level are less effective
than those that link the two (a mixture of focused, inclusive and enabling actions is
needed). Pro-poor perspectives need to be integrated into mainstream tourism policies
and activities.
Impacts on livelihoods of the poor are of many types (economic, social, cultural and
environmental) and interventions should not focus only on one aspect.
Interventions to expand local economic linkages are particularly important as this
potential is often ignored. Economic benefits to the poor are not just through jobs but
through enterprise opportunities, particularly in the informal sector.
Interventions to enhance participation of the poor in tourism decision-making
will enhance strategies on all the economic, social, and environmental issues.
Pro-poor interventions may be appropriate in any tourism sector. It is important to
distinguish between sectors that are currently most pro-poor and best to promote, and
those that currently have large negative impacts or unrealized potential for benefits, so
are priorities to influence.
To be effective, pro-poor interventions need to be balanced by measures that
develop a country’s overall tourism industry.

Economic benefits generated by pro-poor tourism may not reach the poorest - workers and
entrepreneurs are unlikely to be from the poorest quintile. Nevertheless, those with sufficient
assets to make crafts, sell tea/food, service the accommodation sector, or work on infrastructure
may still be poor by either the international definition or by national poverty lines (particularly
where tourism occurs in places where the majority are ‘poor’),or may be kept out of poverty
thanks to tourism. Those above the poverty line who gain tourism jobs may be in a position to
pass on benefits to the poorest, as relatives sending remittances, and as customers or occasional
employers of poor vendors/casual workers. Minimizing negative environmental effects can
significantly benefit the poor, as they are likely to bear the costs of damage. In particular women
and poor households are more dependent on natural resources that may be lost to, or damaged
by, tourism. In some cases it is clear that those displaced by tourism are not those who benefit
from tourism, so simply focusing on economic benefits to compensate for livelihood losses is
inadequate. Some commentators suggest that minimizing negative cultural impacts is not such a
priority for the poor, but this will be highly context specific.
21.0 How different tourism & financial sectors can help Local
Entrepreneurs
21.1. Supporting small and micro-tourism enterprises

Small-scale tourism enterprises, such as campsites, bed and breakfast, craft sales, and guiding
can give the poor a direct stake in the tourism industry. However, the poor face many constraints
in setting up successful businesses:
they lack capital, skills, marketing links, and understanding of what tourists are and want;
they are not integrated into marketing systems within the industry. e.g. package tour clients are
usually taken to specific enterprises that pay guide commissions; inclusive and tour operators
provide services themselves or use well-established enterprises;
they have difficulties meeting health and safety regulations and other standards for
international tourists;
they are generally overlooked by government (e.g. left out of information lists for tourists) or
oppressed with red tape(e.g.: requirements for multiple permits), or squeezed in favor of large
companies (from whom tax collection is easier).
Support credit and non-financial services for SMEs, drawing on the many lessons already
learnt in other sectors.
Support marketing networks or ‘branding’ of local enterprises within a destination (Hilton
hotels are owned by a variety of people but tourist can expect similar standards and approach
from any Hilton anywhere in the world. All the Hilton’s benefit from shared marketing. There is
no reason why this principle can’t be applied to local enterprises).
Encourage businesses, national parks, and tourism information bureau to disseminate
marketing information on SMEs
Link tour operators and package companies with local enterprises (not only appealing to
altruism, but using incentives, commissions etc).
Build the marketable assets of the poor (e.g. tenure over wildlife), develop products based on
them, and help them maintain them as the value and competition increases.
Reform policy: adapt training, licensing or marketing rules so as to support not constrain the
smallest enterprises. Encourage governments to assess benefits of local enterprise, not just large
enterprise.
Use planning and sitting decisions to enhance market access of local enterprises (allow
enterprises sites on the road or inside a national park, site hotels/lodges outside or on the border
of the park, not in the inaccessible parts).
Identify which tourism segments most use local enterprise (e.g. domestic tourists, back-
packers) and promote them.
Enhance participation of the poor in tourism decision-making, so they can shape economic
opportunities to their livelihood interests. 1. Developing the quality, reliability and
competitiveness of local products: Working with local suppliers draws on principles
outlined in the SME section above. Developing quality supply is a pre-requisite.
21.2 Changing incentives and attitudes in the business sector:

Incentives for businesses can be created by government, particularly by using ‘planning gain’,
and by encouraging consumers to expect local food and materials.

21.3Facilitating the process of making linkages:

Outsiders can facilitate communication and negotiation between businesses and Communities or
local enterprises. This reduces the time and risk involved for each party, and helps to bridge the
gulf in understanding. Donors can also subsidies transaction costs, such as the cost of training
and new equipment for local suppliers. Governments can address physical constraints to linkages
(e.g. lodges sited in the heart of a national park or exclusive tourism area to which local suppliers
have no access). Integrating tourism with general development planning will help identify
potential linkage

22.0 Other major initiatives for Sustainable Tourism Developments

It is now recognized that economic growth does not necessarily result in swift poverty
reduction, and a specific pro-poor growth strategy is required.
Most donors see growth as critical to poverty reduction, though in combination with other
actions, such as expansion of services to the poor. Most now aim for ‘broad-based growth’.
‘Pro-poor growth’ can be defined as growth which decreases inequality: i.e.
disproportionately benefits the poor (a stronger definition than broad-based growth). Much
growth in recent decades has occurred with an increasing gap between rich and poor – i.e. not
pro-poor growth.
strong emphasis on jobs;
link between growth and poverty depends on the initial level of poverty;
economic growth that follows land reform and primary education is more likely to
be broad-based;
agricultural-led growth is more likely to be poverty reducing than urban-led
growth;
foreign direct investment is not clearly correlated with broad or narrow growth –
the issue is more between import-substitution (regressive) and export-led growth (more
broad-based).
Key components of promoting broad-based growth:
commitment of host government;
expansion of employment options for poor (labour-intensive growth);
improved productivity of the poor;
improved access of poor to credit, knowledge and infrastructure;
investment in human capital of the poor (education, health);
responsiveness of the political system to the needs of the poor (good governance).
23. 0 Concluding remarks and Policy implications

Traditionally tourism has been viewed as largely beneficial to, and compatible with, the process
of economic development. As the demand from tourists to visit natural scenic areas increases,
developers have resorted to exploit this segment of the tourism market by developing tourist
attractions in and around scenic sites, such as mountains, forests, beaches and cultural and
historical areas. However overdevelopment, inappropriate development and poor management
can cause environmental degradation. There is a need to balance the requirements of tourism
development with the environmental constraints to ensure both economic and ecological
sustainability. To create form of tourism that utilizes unique local, natural, historical and cultural
resources, and to promote the conservation and preservation of forests through proper
management, and to combine successfully the resources and the promotion of tourism, it is
necessary to implement ecotourism and a green productivity program in a planned way. The
philosophies and practices of ecotourism and green productivity can be, and should be, a part of
the tourism development strategy for Bangladesh. Tourists visiting virtually unknown,
developing countries like Bangladesh are concerned about food, disease, infection,
inconvenience, language barriers, safety and security and so on. Therefore this negative image
has to be addressed by the Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation by participating in international
fairs, seminars and workshops and also through advertising and publicity campaigns.
Government, NGOs and private organizers involved in the general tourism sector should work
hand in hand to develop ecotourism and green productivity initiatives. Ultimately, with the right
policies and understanding of the relationship between tourism and the environment, all tourism
(including mainstream) will move towards being sustainable. A number of donors have
highlighted key ingredients for successful tourism interventions. These include:

a coherent policy framework in the recipient country;

proper planning;
accurate sector analysis;
private sector involvement;
local community involvement;
involvement of a range of government stakeholders;
ongoing dialogue between all stakeholders – government, private and civil society;
clear donor strategy.

Specific ways in which donors can work to improve tourism certification make it work for the
poor include:
Supporting the development of existing schemes to ensure that social criteria are incorporated;
Promoting group schemes (and hence economies of scale) and/or destination certification so
that small scale enterprises are not prejudiced against (as has been the experience in forestry);
Supporting the development of certification standards and procedures that are sensitive to local
systems and values;
Supporting measures that build flexibility and adaptability into certification schemes
participation in developing standards; simplified schemes that do not entail all of the demands of
certification that small enterprises struggle to meet).
 The majority of countries mentioning tourism in their PRSPs also have a sectoral tourism policy
- although there is little cross-referencing between the two. However, a number of countries
which stress tourism as a form of pro-poor growth in their PRSPs do not back this up in their
sectoral policies and plans. Meanwhile, other countries which do not elaborate on tourism for
pro-poor growth in their PRSP do emphasize this in sectoral plans. The Gambia, for example,
pays only limited attention to tourism in its PRSP, identifying agriculture as the key sector that
affects the majority of the country’s poor. The Tourism Development Policy, however,
emphasizes the need for growth that contributes to socio-economic development. Tanzania and
Uganda go even further, scarcely mentioning tourism in their PRSPs but developing national
tourism policies whose primary focus is poverty reduction. Governments have a critical role to
play in setting the framework under which tourism develops and in shaping its impacts on
poverty reduction (see Info Sheet No 8). However, experience to date with PRSPs demonstrates
that the pro-poor potential of tourism is largely unrecognized and often poorly articulated.
Maximizing the potential of tourism to contribute to poverty reduction requires:

Greater clarity on national priorities;

Greater coherence - both between tourism policy and poverty reduction policy and within
tourism between different policies, plans, regulations and so on;
Better promotion and implementation of national policy to ensure that good policy is translated
into good practice

23.1 strategies for tourism development in Sundarbans

i. Thrust on tourism along with fishing, forestry, agriculture and local industries
(giving eye on expanding employment and increasing income of the local
population) as components of the former
ii. Declare the entire district as tourist district and create infrastructural facilities and
provide measures to that end on priority basis (transport, hotel, parks, restaurants,
gymnasium, recreational and cultural facilities)
iii. Give primary thrust on security (in free movement) and safety (in bathing) to the
tourists
iv. Develop competitive beach facilities with fair and free access to the tourists
twenty four hours with provision of regular information on the situation of the sea
and total environment and helping to maintain privacy of the tourists with proper
lighting and dress room facilities
v. Stress on development of recreational facilities including night entertainment
including dance floor, sports & games, theatres, music, songs and other cultural
functions
vi. Develop cultural tourism & cultural diversity and arrange divergent cultural
shows whether local, national or foreign
vii. Promotion of national product package for the tourists
viii. Development of package tour in the local areas with proper information flow of
time schedule and charges
ix. Stress on adventurous tourism in the sea, to the islands and hills
x. Special package of local tour for the family and women tourists and foreign
tourists with proper guide
xi. Development of exclusive zone for the tourists both national and foreign tourists.
Some special areas of the sea beach, sites and islands need to be earmarked and developed for
foreigners only.
xii. Involvement of the local people in the decision making of tourism development
and provision of training facilities to the local people in tourism business
xiii. Stress on development of border tour package (to and from) with Myanmar and
Indian state of west Bengal
xiv. Expand facilities for island tourism
xv. Leasing out of BPC hotel and motel to the employees of the corporation or the
private entrepreneurs to manage them autonomously to maximise benefits
xvi. Emphasis on development of information and communication facilities with
national and international linking network for facilitating trade and tourism development
xvii. Stress on aggressive marketing for tourism services and advertisement for tourist
attractions of Bangladesh in general and Sundarbans in particular with emphasis
on the largest natural sea beach, greenly environment in between the hills and the
wavy sea and number of rivers flowing through it, fresh weather, scenic beauty, flora and fauna,
tribal culture and different life styles specially of the village population
xviii. Development of Khulna as a Tourist Town in a planned and comprehensive
way with an eye to health, comfort, culture and beauty.
xix. Development of home made service for the tourists specially food,
accommodation, clothing and handicrafts
xx. Emphasis on quality of the services provided in terms of cleanliness, quickness,
adequacy, courtesy, physical structure, use of standard materials in the hotel and
restaurants, reliability and healthfulness.
xxi. Adoption of measures of protection and development of local community and
their culture and foster diversity of men's cultural lives
xxii. Promote diversity of Food (e.g. Tribal food, vegetarian food, Chinese food, Bengali bharta-
dalbhat-bhaji-fish curry food, kebab, dairy products and sweet meats.)
xxii. Planned development of flora and fauna & biodiversity, environmental protection
and promotion of ecotourism
xxiii. Promotion of measures for local economic and human development .
xxiv. Check leakages in tourism development by promoting sale of local and country made
goods and services through improving their price and non-price competitiveness by means of
enhancement of local skill, technology and management,
xxv. Development of Sanatorium & Health Resort, and
xxvi. Development of Industries and shops to Tourists' needs
xxvii. Development of railway link from Chittagong to Cox's Bazar to make the journey to the
tour spot an
entertainment one
xxviii. Government initiative to project different areas (of natural, historical and religious) tourist
attraction through multi media service provision in different hotels and restaurants
23.2 country wise strategy for tourism development in southern region

In general Bangladesh will focus on following topics to help tourism related activities in
southern region
 Try to give emphasis on cleanliness, sanitation, safe water, fresh food, health,
comfortable stay and movement, pleasant behavior and cultural demonstration in the
physical and institutional structures,
 . Strengthen the link with the sources of tourists with proper information and motivation
Special and exclusive treatment of the foreign tourists and women tourists
 Facilitate and give support to free movement of girls generally throughout the country
and particularly in the tourist bases with due regard to their person hood
 . Try to create a new image for Bangladesh through tourism facilities and information
network
 highlighting the blessings of Himalayas contributing to the flows of hundreds of rivers
through the country down to Bay of Bengal and a ever juvenile deltaic plain fertile land
with green village life of friendly people, blessings of turbulent Bay of Bengal
contributing to largest sea beach of the world, mangrove forest of flora and fauna, and
richness of history talking about the glorious past of quality production activities and
multi religious and multidimensional secular culture of songs, dances, practices, thoughts
and activities in the once village community
 Try to give emphasis on regional links in developing tourism network with an eye to link
with Myanmar, India (emphasis on bordering states), Nepal and Bhutan and East Asian
Countries
 . Give emphasis on environment friendly tourism
 Take care of leakages of tourism by maximum use of local materials, local manpower,
local capital ,
 local initiative and non-resident Bangladeshis abroad (in having the market link and
information diffusion and marketing management)
 Develop quality , comfortable safe and timely transport linking the key tour spots and
encourage rickshaw as entertainment vehicle in the tour spot and train up the rickshaw
puller as tour guide
 Develop website as comprehensively as possible with hyperlinks with different tour spots
and tour operator companies.
 Declare whole country as a tourist spot with some key sub tour spots well linked with
each other through a sound network of transport, information and communication
 Give emphasis on;-
i. sea-beaches of Cox's Bazar and Kuakata,
ii. river tourism in Barishal, Faridpur, Dhaka, Khulna,
iii. island tourism in Maheshkhali, Saint Martin, Sandwip, Kutubdia, Sonadia, Hatia,
iv. tribal life tourism in Chittagong Hill Tracts, Sylhet, Mymensingh, Rajshahi, Bogra,
v. historical sites tourism in Dhaka, Rajshahi, Mymensingh, Chittagong, Cox's Bazar, Dinajpur,
vi. religious Tourism in Bagerhat, Cox's Bazar, Chittagong, Dhaka
vii. cultural tourism in Dhaka, Chittagong Hill Tracts, Chittagong, Mymensingh, Cox's Bazar,
viii. wild life and forest tourism in Sundarban, Sylhet, Chittagong Hill Tracts,
ix. village tourism throughout the whole Bangladesh including islands and hilly areas,
x. life style tourism in Chittagong Hill Tracts, Mymensingh and rest of the country,
xi. sea adventure tourism by ship or trawler for sight seeing or fishing,
 Give emphasis on varieties of food items made of indigenous materials (disseminating
kebab, dairy products, sweetmeats, country cakes, sea food, national and local food,
country drinks e.g. of green coconut, lemon etc., )
 Give emphasis on Recreational facilities and creative tourism
 Give emphasis on cultural shows both local, national, tribal, regional and international
encouraging creative culture of different groups of people
 Give emphasis on flora and fauna, develop national park in key tour spots of the country
Chittagong Hill Tracts, Sundarbans, Cox's Bazar, Sylhet
 Give emphasis on tribal culture and traditional life styles of different types Mix
recreation and pleasure activities with sports, works of creation, health measures,
socialization, adventure, knowledge gathering , conscious raising and diffusion of
knowledge
 Increase local participation through training and supports
 Give emphasis on highlighting local secular culture along with multi-religious culture in
one stream
 Use local leadership in attracting the tourists and making the tourist attractions at
different points of the country
 Make effective government intervention where there is a vacuum
 Strengthen tourism information and its diffusion with extensive and effective network
nationally and internationally
 Go for appropriate technology tourism serving price and non-price needs of the tourists in
accommodation, food, transportation and recreation
24.0 References & Bibliography
Asian Development Bank, Technical Assistance for the South Asian Sub regional
Economic Cooperation, Tourism Development Plan November, 2003

Akhter, Shelina (2001): “Tourism in Bangladesh: An Evaluation”, Journal of

Bangladesh Asiatic Society Bangladesh, December, 2001.
.
Bangladesh Economic Review 2004 and other Previous Issues.
.
“China sees Gold in Tourism”, The Bangladesh Monitor, August 1-15, Vol. V. Issue
24, 1996, quoted in Sikder Zahed Husain and Hussain Md. Moazzam (1998).

Global Tourism Industry is Set to Double by the Year 2010, Chamber News, Nov.
1995 p.4.

Khan, M. Ameeruzzaman, “Innovative Approaches to Tourism Management in

SARRC Countries and Its impact on The Formulation and Growth of Regional Trade-
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