Coastal tourism is an indispensable tool to promote economic growth. Many coastal countries are earning immense revenue by investing in and developing its coastal tourism. Maldives, Thailand, Brazil, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, and many more have already taken this approach.
Bangladesh has a massive opportunity to cash in on its coasts. Cox’s Bazar (62 miles), the longest sea beach of the world, is the tourist capital in our country. The shark-free beach is good for sun-bathing and swimming. The breathtaking beauty of the sunset behind the sea-waves is captivating.
Gem of a place
Visiting fascinating spots like Himchhari, Teknaf, Inani beach, Buddhist temple at Ramu, and islands such as Sonadia, St Martin, and Moheshkhali can make memorable trips. Kuakata is a panoramic sea beach on the southernmost tip of Bangladesh. Kuakata (30km long), is one of those rare places which offer the full view of crimson sunrise and sunset in the waters of the Bay of Bengal.
Figures and numbers
Tourism is a part of the service sector which contributes to the GDP of Bangladesh. Though the contribution of tourism in GDP was only 7% in 2004-05, it had increased to 9.44% by the year 2009-10. However, this figure decreased in 2014 to 4.1% and in 2015, it rose to 4.7% of total GDP.
The direct contribution of travel and tourism to GDP was 2.1% of total GDP ($133.4 billion) in 2012. It is indeed a massive figure, and something that the government and the concerned authorities must pay heed to. Bangladesh continued to make progress in the tourism sector, which accounted for 7.7% of total GDP ($150bn) in 2013.
The rapid development of the tourism sector in Bangladesh has led to significant employment creation, which means there has been a drastic increase in the number of jobs created by the travel and tourism industry.
In 2012, travel and tourism directly created 1,281,500 jobs. It is predicted that, by 2023, the tourism sector could create 1,785,000 jobs.
Steps already taken
The government of Bangladesh has already launched programs protect areas of tourism and special tourism zones, where tourism authority would emphasise on using solar energy at remote areas. The National Board of Revenue has decided to provide customs duty waivers on importing heavy machinery and instruments to support coastal tourism oriented infrastructure.
The Bangladesh Tourism Board started the “Tourism Awareness Program” in 2013, which is in motion in the Chittagong Hill Tracts area. The Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism has started to provide journalism fellowship on tourism from 2016.
Looking forward
Looking at all the available reports and data about job creation, contribution to GDP, and growth -- it becomes clear that there is plenty of untapped potential in the tourism sector, especially coastal tourism, in Bangladesh.
What we need, as we move into a new year of possibilities and development, is more effective marketing strategies of our tourism sector. We can globally promote coastal tourism through advertisement, national and international tourism fairs, and investment in tourism technology.
Bangladesh has a massive opportunity to cash in its coastal tourism. Cox’s Bazar (62 miles), the longest sea beach of the world, is the tourist capital in our country
We need focus
An emphasis on a particular need (geographic, demographic, or a product segment) states that niche markets are usually constructed by dividing a selling point into sub-segments and the key issue in niche marketing is specialisation. We can apply niche marketing strategy for coastal tourism based on demographic and psycho-graphic segmentation.
Ethnic identity and nationality, age, sex, and religion -- all can be used to design promotional techniques to advance our tourism sector.
Psycho-graphic segmentation depends on hobbies, opinions, values, lifestyles, attitudes, and personalities. In terms of eco-tourism, niche markets can be designed and segregated among forests, hills, and islands. Hills and islands will include the Sundarbans, the lake district will inclue Rangamati and Kaptai, etc.
In addition, application of geographical information systems (GIS) is very important to market coastal tourism. By the use of such a system, the concerned authority can easily encourage tourism, show graphic location, sea-beach quality, tourist security, assimilation of plants and animals, geo-demographic characteristics, and put cultural variety and the socio-economic condition of indigenous peoples in plain words to tourists and travellers.
Through our coastal tourism, we can unloack doors to endless possibilities. We can also utilise our youth, generate and ensure job security. Coastal tourism, in a sense, can translate to economic growth, foreign currency, employment, and development.
To this end, let us step onto a new year with ideas to develop our coastal tourism, with plans to materialise strategies to expand our tourism sector, and ultimately utilise untapped potential in our tourist destinations.
Shishir Reza is an environmental analyst and Associate Member of Bangladesh Economic Association.
