It is great to hear that the cabinet has approved a Tk50,000cr master plan for the development of the tourism sector of our country. At present, how are the Bangladeshis doing in this sector?
In 2013, the total number of tourist arrivals in Bangladesh was 278,780 against 588,193 in 2012, according to Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation. In 2013, we faced prolonged political unrest that caused a drastic decrease in tourist arrivals in the country. The number of tourists in 2012 was the highest number that Bangladesh received in a year till now.
Now, let’s compare the performance of Bangladesh in tourism with two of our small neighbours – Cambodia and Myanmar.
In 1998, Bangladesh received 171,961 tourists, when Cambodia received 187,000. In 2012, Cambodia received 3.5 million foreign visitors, an increase of 25% compared to 2011. In that country, tourism increased more than 11-fold since 1998. In 2013, Cambodia received 4,210,165 foreign tourists. Myanmar received 1 million tourists in 2012, an increase of 54% from 2011. In 2013, it received 2.04 million foreign visitors. The statistics speak for themselves.
How can we explain the poor condition of tourism in Bangladesh? Is Bangladesh not an attractive destination for foreign tourists? With more than two decades of experience in the tourism industry, I can say, the small number of tourists who come to visit Bangladesh go back home with full tour satisfaction.
A Japanese tourist came to Bangladesh who already had visited more than 70 countries. After watching the sunset in Bangladesh he said: “I used to think the sunset in Morocco was the most beautiful sunset in the world. But now I know the sunset in Bangladesh is the most beautiful one.”
Six betrothed young couples came to Bangladesh from Latvia. They had a plan to visit 12 Asian countries; and Bangladesh was the last leg of their journey. When they went back home, one of them wrote to their tour guide in Bangladesh: “Among the 12 countries we have visited, we liked Bangladesh the most.”
An Uzbek lady, who did her Master’s in tourism from a university in Scotland, taught tourism in Malaysia for three years. Now she is staying in Bangladesh. She once told me: “Bangladesh has so many archaeological attractions that Malaysia does not have.” In 2013, Malaysia got more than 25 million tourists.
An American, a member of the Centurion Club, came to Bangladesh. Someone can be a member of that club if he/she has visited at least a hundred countries. Bangladesh was his 186th country to visit. On the way to the hotel from the airport, he told me the best kebab he ate in the world was in Uzbekistan. Later on I took him to one of the best kebab houses in Dhaka. After having kebab with naan there, he told me Bangladeshi kebab was the best kebab in the world.
He stayed in Bangladesh for four days. And on the way back to airport he told me: “The food in Bangladesh is so tasty!” I remembered the renowned art critic, Hassan Shaheed Suhrawardy, mentioned in one of his books that Dhaka cuisine was the best cuisine in the world.
Last but not least, a British tour agent sends two to four tourist groups each month to Bangladesh – each group comprising 12-20 tourists – during the tourist season from October to March. These groups make a cross-border tour comprising West Bengal, Bangladesh, Sikkim, and Bhutan. When these tourists go back home, they give their opinion of their tour experience to the tour agent by filling a form. Most of the tourists opine that their tour experience in Bangladesh is the best.
Now let’s have a look to the opposite side of the coin. A few years back, when a Japanese young man wanted to visit Bangladesh, his mother told him to take a lot of drinking water with him, saying: “You won’t get drinkable water in that country.”
A Polish tourist group came to visit Bangladesh. In the flight, a few worried members of the group asked the tour leader: “Is there any attached toilet in the hotels we are going to stay in?” The tour leader answered: “I have no idea, but I hope there is.”
A South African tourist came to Bangladesh. At the airport in Dhaka he asked the Bangladeshi tour guide who went there to receive him: “Have you brought a boat?” When he saw that the guide was confused he said: “Then how will we go to the hotel?” His idea was that Dhaka city, along with the whole country, was always inundated with floodwater.
A young Egyptian woman came to Bangladesh to attend a tourism fair. Her family and friends asked her not to go there, because it was a lawless country where women were not safe.
A German couple came to Bangladesh. When they were here, the lady’s old mother was always praying so that her daughter wouldn’t fall victim to a ferry disaster.
An American couple came to Bangladesh for a 14-day tour. I asked them what their idea about Bangladesh was before they had come here. They said: “We thought all we would see are flood and famine.” Then the gentleman asked me: “Why does your country always get bad press?”
As long as we cannot get rid of the present negative image of our country to the outside world, foreign tourists will not flock to Bangladesh – no matter what size tourism projects we take up.
To build a positive image, which our country deserves, we need a well-orchestrated drive run by competent people. It is a completely wrong idea that to develop tourism in Bangladesh we need to have bars, casinos, discotheques, massage parlours, etc. Iran does not have all these things, and still it received more than 5.6 million tourists in 2013.