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Tourism hopes for better days

Sayeda Akter
Twenty tourism projects worth Tk 180 crore under public private partnerships are likely to be considered for the next fiscal year. The projects are designed mostly for infrastructure development and capacity building of the sector.
Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation is likely to get Tk 6 crore in the upcoming budget to help maintain its activities and improve performance of the corporation's present units to attract more local and foreign tourists, said senior government officials, seeking anonymity.
The government may go for bank financing to develop infrastructure, including building new hotels, motels, and amusement parks in different districts.
The budget is also expected to allow undisclosed money to be invested in the tourism sector and VAT exemptions for some services.
The tourism industry has so far received around Tk 55 crore since 1972, when Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation was first established. Currently, the corporation s fixed assets stand at around Tk 79 crore.
The sector had received an insufficient allocation from the annual development programme (ADP), which was solely meant for developing a few new hotels and motels by the corporation.
Industry people said the rate of investment in the sector is slow, which is presently growing at 4 -5 percent in recent years.
Industry people have been demanding budgetary allocations for years to develop the sector. They said the tourism industry has always been overlooked in the national budgets and has not received any budgetary allocation in the pre or post independence period.
Hasan Mansur, tourism expert and managing director of The Guide Tours Ltd, said the government has not allocated funds for the sector and neither has it been able to encourage enough investment from local or foreign investors.
"The main problem of the sector is a lack of proper infrastructure, including better roads and transport, accommodation and food. The government has failed to deliver proper initiatives to boost infrastructure or attract local or foreign investment," he said.
Although the government has identified tourism as a thrust sector, Mansur said the country's private entrepreneurs have mostly developed the sector.
He said the government should allocate funds to increase spending on promotional activities to attract more local and foreign tourists to the country’s attractions.
Mizanur Rahman, chairman of Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation, said: "Generally we manage our expenses by running our units across the country, which have been incurring losses for years."
He said the corporation had received a meagre amount from the ADP to develop infrastructure at different projects sites in the past.
‘But this year we demanded the government to allocate funds to help maintain the corporation and develop the communication system further,” he said.
"If we get adequate financial support from the government and be are able to establish public private partnerships to develop the industry, it will help increase the government's revenues eventually," Rahman added.
sayeda@thedailystar net