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Make long-term plan for tourism

An analyst suggests at international conference on tourism and hospitality

Star Business Report
Bangladesh should follow the examples of Singapore and take up long-term plans to develop its largely untapped tourism sector, said an analyst yesterday.
"Singapore doesn't have mountains or forests. Still it has been turned into a tourist hub because of the services it gives to tourists," said Francis de Silva, an adviser to International Labour Organisation (ILO), Dhaka.
"Besides, the policymakers of Singapore set vision for the country for 50 to 60 years, not for 10 to 20 years. Bangladesh has more potential than Singapore. It needs a long-term plan," he said.
He spoke at a seminar at the international conference on tourism and hospitality in Bangladesh on “Planning for the Future: Sustainable Developments in Tourism & Hospitality" at The Westin Dhaka.
Bangladesh receives the lowest number of foreign visitors among its South Asian peers, according to the 2011 report of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation.
"We have got many suggestions about developing the tourism sector, but no action has been taken in the region. We need action," said de Silva.
He said they could not do much for tourism in the country as the sector was not a thrust sector even four years ago. "The BBS (Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics) conducted a study four years ago, but they didn't mention the sector as a thrust sector."
"As a result, we did not feel that the sector needs intervention from us," said de Silva, who has been working in Bangladesh for four years.
He said they have decided to include the tourism and hospitality sector in the new Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Reform Project of the ILO.
He said all would have to do a lot of homework to develop the untapped sector.
He said although the government has allocated funds under its public private partnership model, no company has got money from it
de Silva said the ILO is launching a tourism toolkit this year, where Bangladesh will be a centre for the region. "We have to find out how tourism can contribute to the national economic growth."
He said Bangladesh has a number of attractive tourist destinations. "How we are going to market them is important. Bangladesh needs to do a right marketing plan.”
He said Bangladesh has the world’s longest unbroken seabeach in the world. "I have visited more than 30 beaches in the world. I can definitely say Bangladesh also has one of the widest beaches in the world."
"How can we make most of it?" asked de Silva, who worked for the tourism sector for two decades in Australia and two decades in Sri Lanka.
He said Bangladesh can utilise donors' money to develop the sector.
He also said Bangladesh is one of the safest countries in the world to visit "Still you must not let this position to slip by. You need to tighten the security further."
"Tourism is everybody's business. It's not just the business of the government or the private sector. It is also the business for the rickshaw-pullers and the small shop owners."
"So, we need to teach them about the importance of tourism so that they behave in a way that upholds the image of the country," he said.
Regional tourism stressed
Speakers at another seminar on "Meeting the Challenges of Globalisation in Promoting Tourism & Hospitality in the Sarrc Region" called for undertaking initiatives to promote tourism in the region.
"South Asia has great diversity and boundless variety," said DAC Suranga Silva, director general of
Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management.
"To achieve the target, we have to believe in unity. We have to hunt for alliances and collaborations in the region," he said while presenting his paper.
Silva, a senior lecturer and coordinator of tourism studies at the Department of Economics at the University of Colombo, said South Asia has the lowest percentage of global outbound tourism, which stood at 1.1 percent in 2010.
"At 23.8 percent, we have also the lowest intra-regional tourist arrivals," he said.
Silva said the countries should not sacrifice national tourism to promote the regional one.
"We have to incorporate regional tourism in the national tourism action plan. Both will go hand in hand."
"If all the countries work together, the costs for developing tourism in the region will go down. We will be able to develop good products and invest, and
thus there will be business for all."
He said the countries must establish air link to foster regional tourism.
Hasan Monsur, president of Tour Operators' Association of Bangladesh, said, if the governments of the region decide to give on-arrival visa, the business of each country will grow by 10 to 15 percent automatically.
Some participants at the seminar pointed to the countries' reservations to allow on-arrival visa for security grounds.
But Monsur said: "The declining number of on-arrival visa will only stop business."
Silva said, if any country opposes the idea, the other countries can opt for issuing on-arrival visa bilaterally.
Later a panel discussion was held on “human resources development and jobs”, which was moderated by Rubina H Farouq, director and head of Institute of Hotel Management and Hospitality.