Bangladesh and India may sign a river protocol this year to boost transboundary riverine tourism, officials said.
If signed, the protocol will allow tourists from both countries to travel through transboundary rivers. The initiative has been taken ahead of the Tourism Year 2016.
“We are trying hard to sign a river protocol with India soon to introduce transboundary river tourism,” said Shipping Minister Shahjahan Khan. “Once signed, Bangladesh can tap its huge potentials to attract tourists from the neighbouring country.”
He said the protocol would offer tourists an affordable cost in inter-country travel and Bangladesh could also benefit from the rise of visitors coming from India.
Aviation and Tourism Minister Rashed Khan Menon said the two countries would benefit from the protocol as it would help to create increased movement of tourists.
“We set the 2016 as a base year to expand our tourism sector. The campaign titled ‘visit Bangladesh’ will also continue until 2018, in which the river protocol can play a vital role,” Menon said.
Under the 2016 tourism year plan, the government targets to attract 1m foreign tourists in the year.
“Every year a lot of tourists visit Kolkata travelling through Hooghly river. If we can also take the opportunity in carrying tourists through rivers, that would be great” said Masud Hossain, managing director of Bengal Tours Ltd.
Mahbub Alam Bulu, a member of Tour Operators Association of Bangladesh (TOAB), said: “Undoubtedly, this is a good initiative. We can easily increase the number of tourists visiting Bangladesh using the river communication system.”
He said tourists from Dhaka could also easily visit Barisal, Sundarbans, Mongla, Khulna and Srimangal through rivers.
Bangladesh currently has around 24,000 km of rivers. The inland waterways still carry over 50% of all arterial freights and 25% of total passengers, according to official estimates.
Masud Hossain said the waterways are more comfortable and affordable for tourists than other communication systems. “Considering all the aspects, we can take the chance.”
Lamenting the lack of such efforts in the past, he said: “Despite having all kinds of facilities to promote ways for carrying tourists, no attempts were made previously in this regard.”
