Bangladesh can attract global tourists -- mainly from China - visiting India and Myanmar by offering its attractive locations as an extended destination, say industry insiders.

China is giving much importance to cross-border tourism under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) as proposed by Chinese PresidentXi Jinping.

India is also promoting its Buddhist Circuit to attract tourists from China as the latter provides the biggest outbound visitors in the world (144 million a year), officials said.

On the other hand, Chinese people have been the second biggest tourist group in Myanmar.

"We have huge potential to attract the tourists who are visiting India and Myanmar, making Bangladesh an extended destination for them," Taufiq Rahman, director of Tour Operators

Association of Bangladesh (TOAB) said.

He said both the government and private sector have roles to play to make it happen so that Bangladesh's tourism sector grows further.

Talking about the government's role, he said easing visa on arrival, immigration, customs issues and visa on arrival through sea and land ports can help encourage foreign tourists to consider Bangladesh as an extended destination.

Rahman said the private sector players need to have broader engagements with tour operators in India and Myanmar in this regard, adding that a new opportunity has emerged in the tourism sector through ocean cruise to which Bangladesh needs to give serious attention.

INTRA-BIMSTEC TOURISM

Meanwhile, according to an official at the foreign ministry, the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical

and Economic Cooperation (Bimstec) member states at the recently held 4th Summit in Kathmandu, Nepal agreed to take concrete steps to promote intra-Bimstec tourism.

Officials said the member states will task the relevant authorities to devise strategies considering the emerging opportunities and building on the past initiatives, including the “Plan of Action for Tourism Development and Promotion for the Bimstec Region" adopted and reinforced earlier.

The member states agreed to take tangible measures to facilitate tourism by ensuring safety and security of tourists, and smooth transport connectivity.

They reaffirmed their commitment to developing and promoting Buddhist tourist circuit, temple tourist circuit, ancient cities trail, eco-tourism and medical tourism and welcome the offer of Nepal to host a Bimstec tourism conclave in Nepal in 2020 (coinciding with the Visit Nepal Year 2020), according to the joint declaration of Bimstec Summit.

It is estimated that there are nearly 500 million Buddhists all over the world and majority of them live in east and south-east

Asia as well as Far East countries, according to the Indian tourism ministry.

Officials at the Civil Aviation and Tourism Ministry said the government is focusing on sustainable development of tourism in the country and stressed the importance of regional cooperation in the development of strategic tourism resources such as Buddhist heritage.