Status and Prospects of Tourism Industry in Bangladesh with special edge of Revenue Perspectives: An Exploratory Study

Abstract

The article discussed the status and prospects of tourism industry in Bangladesh. It has found that tourism industry in Bangladesh is growing, but is not developed. Bangladesh has more prospect in heritage tourism, adventure tourism, agri-tourism, sports tourism, rural tourism, and religious tourism. Bangladesh offers many tourist attractions, including rolling tea gardens, hill forests and wildlife, picturesque landscape, longest natural beach in the world, historical mosques and monuments, archaeological sites, and colourful tribal life very enchanting. With the country's unmatched biodiversity, diverse landscapes, and rich cultural heritage, there's immense potential to make tourism a cornerstone of sustainable development. Cox's Bazar in the longest unbroken sea beach in the world and the tourist capital of Bangladesh. The country has three UNESCO world heritage sites. It plays a significant role directly and indirectly in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate of Bangladesh by creating new employment opportunities for both male and female, alleviating poverty, enhancing local community participation, earning foreign currency via foreign tourists. Tourism is a growing sector and contributing nearly 2.3 % of total GDP in 2023. There are many challenges before the tourism industry, such as inadequate funding, low engagement of local communities, insufficient safety and security, inappropriate marketing strategies, ineffective promotional efforts, obstacle to communication, and limited budget for promoting tourism overseas. Therefore, government should implement policies for mitigating such challenges, and develop the tourism industry in a new horizon.