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Tourism: the next big earner of foreign exchange

Kowsher Jahan Khaled
TOURISM can be the third largest sector to earn foreign exchanges after garments and manpower, said the chief of a leading tour operator.
Tourism is a multi-lateral sector. When a tourist flies in, people of diverse sectors are benefited -- hotels, transports, shops and restaurants, said Begum Aziza Selim, chief executive of Green Channel, a tour operator that runs river cruises and arranges tours to one of the natural wonders of the world, the Sundarbans.
The number of inbound tourists is increasing gradually, said Aziza, who is a director of Bangladesh-Malaysia Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
“The number will increase further once we are able to serve the tourists better," she said.
For the development of the sector, she said they do not need financial assistance from the government; they only need policy support.
“We cannot develop roads or other infrastructures or free the roads from traffic jam. It's the government who will ultimately have to do this."
"So the sooner the government comes forward, the better," said Aziza, also chairman of White Castle Properties Ltd and director of East Wood Ltd, and Fish and Company.
“Tourism can bring in as much foreign exchange as the garment sector or manpower does."
On top of that, all the things that are needed to develop the tourism sector are homegrown, she said.
Giving an example, Aziza said: “More than 50 percent of the earnings
from a $100 export of garments go back to foreign countries. Garment exporters have to import fabrics, threads, buttons and other raw materials to make garments. But in the tourism sector, if we earn $100, the entire amount stays in our country."
The garment exporters also get incentive from the government. "But we don't want incentive; we want recognition and policy support from the government."
She also urged the government to do proper advertisement and marketing for their products and services abroad so that the foreigners know about Bangladesh and visit the country.
"If we can serve a single tourist from a foreign country, it will be an immense job because we will be able to spread our message to that country through that particular tourist."
"So the government should create that scope for us.”
"Foreigners often complain they did not know that Dhaka has good hotels and other amenities. They have a negative feeling about Bangladesh. They do not know Bangladesh is a beautiful country," she said.
The government will have to advertise Bangladesh abroad, Aziza said. "An entrepreneur does not afford advertising his or her product or the features of Bangladesh in the New York Times or Channel 4."
Another important task is engaging the local population with the tourism sector for the development of a particular tourist spot.
In this case, the government should follow the examples of the countries that have developed much in the
sector. Sri Lanka and the Maldives could be the best examples from this region.
Green Channel recently launched the country's first fully air-conditioned luxury tourism vessel — MV Mahirah — to run river cruises around the Dhaka city and to carry tourists to the Sundarbans.
Aziza said: “The number of tourists visiting the Sundarbans has increased
over the years."
A total of 40 tourists can travel on MV Mahirah at a time. There are 17 twin share cabins, three single cabins and two 'ambassador suites' with attached baths.
FMC Dockyard in Bangladesh constructed the vessel at a cost of Tk 4.5 crore.
In 2011, the travel and tourism sector in Bangladesh accounted for Tk
18,250 crore or 2.2 percent of the country's gross domestic product, according to a report by the World Travel and Tourism Council.
The amount is forecast to rise by 7.3 percent toTk 19,590 crore in 2012 and by 6.1 percent to Tk 35,370 crore by 2022, according to the Londonbased institute.
khaleddstar@gmail.com