Tourism Industry

Tourism Industry of Bangladesh

Term Paper
International Business
BUS 301

Submitted on:
20th July 2014
Letter of Transmittal
20th July 2014

Sub: Submission of term paper for completion of academic course
Dear Madam,
This is to inform you that we have completed our term paper on Tourism Industry of Bangladesh for the Summer 2014 semester as a requirement of our academic course International Business (BUS 301). The report encompasses on the functioning, organization, growth prospect, and other important facets of tourism in Bangladesh. Through this report a bridge between our classroom learning about the theories and the reality of tourism industry in Bangladesh has been established.
It was, indeed a great opportunity to study this industry of our own country. For extending our scope for learning, we shall like to take this platform to thank you. In writing this report, we have followed your instructions for report writing so as to present our views and understanding in the easiest possible ways. However, it will be our pleasure to clarify any discrepancies that may arise.
Thank you in anticipation.

Acknowledgements
On the very first note we will like to thank the Almighty for helping us to complete this paper.
It has been an honor and privilege to work with all those wonderful people who have contributed something of theirs to this paper. There are certainly some special ones who cannot go without mention.
We express our humble gratitude to our respected faculty Ms Syeda Shaharbanu Shahbazi, for her continuous support, assistance, guidance, and encouragement that has helped us during the time of preparation for this report. We also thank her in advance for sparing her valuable time to read this report.
On completion of this report, big note of thanks and appreciation for all the group members of this team who have contributed wholly to produce this report and bring it down to the shape that it holds today.

Table of Contents

Executive Summary………………………………………………………………………………………… 5
Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………………………. 6
Outline……………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 8
Overview…………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 8
Industry Size and Growth…………………………………………………………………………..……. 10
Domestic Market………………………………………………………………………………………..... 12
Export growth regarding size and market………………………………………………….…………. 16
Imports of raw material……………………………………………………………………………….…. 19
Industry production capacity……………………………………………………………………………. 19
Industry Segments service wise…………………………………………………………………….…… 21
Human Resource and skill requirement……………………………………………………..………… 24
Policy Initiative……………………………………………………………………………………...……. 26
Demand Drivers………………………………………………………………………………...………… 30
Value Chain……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 32
Porter’s Diamond Theory……………………………………………………………………….………. 34
Reference…………………………………………………………………………………….…………….. 39

Executive Summary
This report provides detailed information about tourism industry in Bangladesh in the light of international business. It provides an industry overview, size and growth, domestic market, related export and import, industry capacity, industry segment, required resources, policy initiatives, demand drivers, value chain, and industry analysis under Porter’s Diamond model. The theories which have been learned on international business have been incorporated with the real life scenario of Bangladesh tourism industry so that the actual functioning of the theories can be witnessed.
Bangladesh is a land enriched in natural beauty. It has a rich history and cultural background that presents that presents it with a wide array of tourism facility. In order to make the best use of the natural resources and historical sites the country has developed modern facilities like hotels, motels, restaurants, theme parks, and other recreation and communication modes. The emergence of globalization have facilitated this industry and contributed to the country’s GDP in a sustainable manner. Furthermore, it is also assisting other related and supporting industries to rise.
Several international players have highlighted Bangladesh positively as a tourism destination during the last couple of years. The worldwide New7Wonders of Nature campaign included Sundarbans and Cox’s Bazar among more than 440 candidate locations from 220 countries. Along with only 27 locations Sundarbans is still a part of the competition. World leading publisher of travel guides and guidebooks, Lonely Planet, recommended Bangladesh as one of the top ten interesting travel destination in 2009. New travel guides have been published on Bangladesh by international renowned publishers. There should be no doubt, national as well as international; the Bangladesh tourism sector has indeed potential. But to make a successful international tourism destination it is just not enough that Bangladesh has an interesting history, culture, nature and society to show - much more is required.
Tourism sector of Bangladesh needs to be boosted through strategic management to raise gross domestic product of the country. As such linkage among vision, mission, goal and result are required. This will enhance tourism opportunity of the country.
Introduction
This academic report has been prepared with the aim of studying tourism industry of Bangladesh. The main intention was to have an elaborate understanding of the industry in order to comprehend this industry as an internationally recognized industry.
Specific objectives
• General study on the industry – industry size, growth, capacity, domestic market, etc
• Analyze the export opportunities and potentials of this industry and the related imports that are being drawn by this industry
• Extensive learning on the industry production capacity, human resource and other factor requirements, policy initiatives, and demand facilitation
• Learn about the value chain of this service industry
• Incorporating theories with actuality
Scope of the report
The report consists of details analysis of tourism industry in Bangladesh from multiple dimensions. Thorough inclusion of theories and examples has enriched the report. This may be used for future academic and professional use to some extent. The keen analysis of issues can be effective if it is nurtured further.
Methodology
For this report mainly secondary sources have been used for data collection and analysis
• Text books
• Websites
• Journals
• Other reports and publications

Limitations
The major limitation of this report is that it is strictly based on secondary data. No primary research has been conducted. An overview of various matters has been brought forward, but it is deficient in terms of objectivity to a little extent. Therefore, much elaborate research and groundwork has not been conducted. Furthermore, access to recent data few cases proved to be challenging.

Outline:
Tourism in Bangladesh is a developing foreign currency earner. The country was listed by Lonely Planet in 2011 as the "best value destination”. Bangladesh's tourist attractions include, historical and monuments, resorts, beaches, picnic spots, forests and tribal people, wildlife of various species. Bangladesh offers ample opportunities to tourists for angling, water skiing, river cruising, hiking, yachting, sea bathing as well as bringing one in close touch with pristine nature. In the northern part, comprising the Rajshahi division, there are archaeological sites, including the temple city Puthia in Rajshahi; the largest and most ancient archaeological site, Mahasthangarh in Bogra; the single largest Buddhist monastery, Paharpur in Naogaon; the most ornamental terracotta Hindu temple in Bangladesh Kantaji Temple, and many Rajbaris or palaces of old Zamindars. In the south-eastern part, which is the Chittagong division, there are natural and hilly areas like Chittagong Hill Tracts, along with sandy sea beaches. The most notable beach, in Cox's Bazar, is a contender for the title of longest unbroken sandy sea beach in the world. Cox's Bazar is the longest natural unbroken sea beach in the world. In the south-western part, mainly the Khulna Division, there is the Sundarbans, the largest mangrove forest of the world with Royal Bengal Tiger and spotted deer. The historically and architecturally important sixty domed mosque in Bagerhat is a notable site. In the north-eastern part, Sylhet division, there is a green carpet of tea plants on small hillocks. Natural reserved forests are great attractions. Migratory birds in winter, particularly in the haor areas, are also very attractive in this area.
Overview of the Industry
Ministry of Tourism and The Civil Aviation Ministry design national policies for the development and promotion of tourism. The Ministry also maintains the Beautiful Bangladesh campaign. It was an ancient state founded around 300 BC where Bengal region (Bangladesh and West Bengal) lies today according to the information available from Wikipedia. Greek, Latin and Egyptian accounts about Gangaridai suggested that the country was located in the deltaic region of South Bengal. In many meetings, conferences, talk shows, seminars and travel fairs that were held in Dhaka, the principle speakers including the tourism minister and senior tourism officials speak about tourist arrivals and tourism revenue. But these figures are not accepted as reliable by many users, because their mode of collection is not often dependable. The “tourist arrival” figures are calculated on a monthly basis by the police department from reports at the entry check points and not by professionals. The foreign exchange figures are released by the Bangladesh Bank on the basis of returns furnished by the stakeholders of the tourism industry. While reports from tourism earnings are regular, the reports on tourist arrivals lag behind by years for reasons only known to government. During the last five years (2006-2010) Bangladesh received a total number of 15, 29,000 visitors and earned US$ 413.00 million. In order to make these figures more reliable at the national and at the international levels, steps should be taken by the government to modernize the methods of collecting such statistics. There is a Tourism Satellite Accounting System for aggregating the figures of tourist arrivals and earnings, which have been introduced by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). Bangladesh, a founding member of the UNWTO, should avail this technical assistance from UNTWO under the ‘digital’ Bangladesh program for streamlining these compilations. The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) and UNWTO reports say that international arrivals have been positive in 2012, although in the Euro Zone, due to sovereign debt issues and national austerity policies, tourism spending has declined. The pace of growth in the developing countries, including Bangladesh, is faster than in developed nations. Tourism and the resultant employments in the sector fluctuate with every major incident that affects the world; namely the global melt-down of banks, climate change, Tsunami and incidents like Arab spring. In order to adjust to the fluctuations, major tourist destinations adjust their tourism policies in time. The US government is very much awake to the problems of fluctuations. President Obama in January last year signed a law, The Travel Promotion Act 2010, to take steps in keeping domestic tourists at home and to attract more inbound tourists; keeping in mind that the number of Chinese visitors is expected to grow by 259% in the next 5 years and the number of Brazilian tourists is expected to swell by 83%. The US government is also liberalizing entry formalities by waving/relaxing the visa rules and allowing the citizens of Taiwan to visit US without a visa for 90 days. Besides, US government is undertaking giant travel promotion campaigns in their market areas and using high-profile spokes persons, websites, social media tools to work together to bring together interesting “travelling opportunities” to the international public and the travelling professionals. Comparing the situation of US, which look at all the problems affecting the globe with Bangladesh, may sound utopian but the point that is being made here is that the Bangladesh government should learn from the best practices in tourism development, and activate the government outfits to respond to the modern marketing needs.
Industry Size and Growth
The government created the Tourism Board in 2009, in addition to the Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation, which existed for the last 40 years to expedite the growth of tourism in the country. It now appears that both the organizations are less active in their divided filed of activities. It has been learnt from a very senior officer of the Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation that during the last financial year (2011-2012), the government allocated Tk.650.00 million to the Board for promoting and branding Bangladesh. A bulk of this allocation has remained unused. During the last year, the Board participated in some international tourism fairs but their presentations were the poorest due to a lack of experience. The Board is composed of 11 representatives drawn from various ministries of the government and 5 directors from private sectors, who do not directly transact with any tourism business. The Board is supposed to meet once in every 2 months to transact business but nothing is known about their activities. The Board does not inform the print and electronic media. There is a National Tourism Policy in the country and there is a National Tourism Council headed by the Prime Minister. But nothing is known to the public about the activities of this high level council. At present Cox’s Bazar, an unplanned beach town, having nearly 450 hotels and the motels, experiences seasonal traffics; and all kinds of illegal activities are conducted there, according to personal experience of some local and many foreign tourists and some official who work in the hotels there. The Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism, despite its existence from 1975, has not been able to bring out any official hotel guide, travel agents guide and tour operators guide. The minister is generally seen performing routine functions such as banning smoking in tourist hotels (government by a law) has banned smoking in public places inauguration of 3-4 travel fairs in a year and these travel fairs promote foreign destinations, rather than domestic tourist centers. Many promises came from the minister pretty fast before the listeners in the recent past, but the follow-up by his ministry remained pretty slow.
At present, despite some investment in putting Bangladesh on the international tourism map, there has been a significant failure to make any real impression. The first priority for any Marketing and Communications activity is to rectify this failure. The government must define the key target audiences; analyze what the target group needs: history, archaeology, culture, heritage, cuisine and shopping; create affordable flights and facilitate travel documentation including making visas easy and accessible, especially for potential travelers from key markets (US, Europe, Australia, Japan and China). The present unhelpful attitudes of missions aboard and at the entry points to harass foreign travellers have to be rectified. It must be understood that welcoming the tourists starts at the visa office, moves to arrivals immigration queues, and onward to hotel and accommodation. Because of the very absorbing capacity of this industry which is influenced by the functions of many ministries, departments and private sector enterprises, the scope of tourism activities have expanded. UNWTO, WTTC, ILO and UNESCO say that: tourism can generate revenue in areas of high biodiversity; tourism can raise public support for conservation since it can provide environmental education to visitors and local/rural people; tourism can catalyze economic opportunities for local/rural people; tourism can be less environmentally damaging than other revenue generating industries based on natural resources; tourism may be one of the few economic activities suited to take place within conservation areas located on marginal land and tourism based on natural resources can theoretically be sustainable if its impacts are managed and mitigated. The multiplier effect of the tourist dollar bigger, as the dollar changes hands through 13 beneficiaries within the country.
Most destination countries have superb five-star resorts and attractions, unique culture, landscape and heritage. Each place describes itself as having the friendliest people, and high standards of customer service. As a result, the need for destinations to create an identity — to differentiate themselves from their competitors — is more critical than ever.
The ‘Beautiful Bangladesh’ slogan, upon which such activities are based at present, is common place and uncompetitive, in a highly sophisticated and competitive market. The work behind branding this nation should be done in Bangladesh, in consultation with sociologists, economists, researchers’ economists and environmentalists.
Tourism product development is designed to increase the income in the sector by implementation of a comprehensive plan of action that will guide towards dealing with estimated increase in business over the short, medium and long-terms. The strategies for the development and management of tourist destinations should, therefore, consider the needs and interests of all stakeholders in the tourism system: local/rural community, entrepreneurs, investors, governments, tourists and others.
Tourism development needs social dialogue including negotiation, consultation and exchange of information between government, employers and workers on issues of common interest. The goal is to promote consensus building and democratic involvement with the stakeholders of tourism. This should start now and the existing gap be filled. Not only does the lands of Bangladesh have a history that goes back as much as 5,000 years as an early civilization, an early international center of trade and commerce, it has the tangible, as well as the documentary, circumstantial and empirical evidence to demonstrate that through the centers of tourism attractions.
Domestic market
The attraction of tourism of a country depends upon its geology, natural beauty, heritage, archeology and history. Bangladesh, the ancient state founded around 300 BC is now a land of 154.7 million people with an exponential market in tourism industry. With over 8% registered growth from the year 2000 to 2013 the domestic tourism market is full of potentials and opportunities.
The domestic tourism of Bangladesh continues to be driven by major cities, like Dhaka, Chittagong, Rajshahi and Sylhet etc. and mountain destinations for instance Rangamati, Khagrachori, Bandorban. The locations hosting the massive salt water body like Kuakata, Cox’s Bazar are also the prime intention of native travelers plus the islands across the Bay of Bengal like Vola, Kutubdia and of course St. Martin’s.
As more and more people nowadays regard personal well-being and relaxation as key factors in refreshing their daily lives, the home tourism flow showed smooth growth over the years and the stream of people in the popular tourist attractions rise in its peak in time of three major occasions-in the winter and after two Eid festivals; EId-ul-fitar and Eid-ul-adha.

Over year growth of domestic tourism Year Growth rate (Based on the number of trips and revenue from tourism sector)
2009 - 2010 4%
2010 - 2011 6%
2011 - 2012 7.25%
2012 - 2013 8%
To lodge this huge and consistent in ward flow of travelers in these cities, hotel and resort business flourishes impressively. Range of national and international hotels mounts in at the popular tourist destinations to give the travelers a sense of relief and relaxation from the monotony of city hustle and bustle.
Hotel Roseview, Hotel Supreme and Nazimgor resort are the popular choice of Sylhet. In Chittagong, Hotel Agrabad, Hotel Costal Palace, Seagull hotel are operating in full swing. Haq’s Inn, SB Hotel International, Parjatan Motel etc. are doing their business in Rajshahi. In Rangpur Parjatan Motel, Shah Amanat Inn and Hotel North View are the first choice of the customers. Ruposhi Bangla (hotel). Dhaka Regency hotel, Platinum Suites are few among the range of hotel experience anyone can enjoy in the capital city of Bangladesh.
Few top ranked hotels and resorts of Bangladesh tourism industries are –

Resort/ Hotel Special Features and Location

Dhaka Westin Location: Gulshan Avenue, Plot-01, Road 45, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh.
Height : 85.91 m (281.9 ft), Rooms : 241 Restaurants : 6 , Floors count : 24

Hotel Garden Inn Fully air-conditioned rooms, gym facility, Wi-Fi advantage, sports zone, rent a car service, conference hall, separate swimming pools.

Location: Sylet, Garden Tower, Shahjalal Bridge Link Road.

Radisson Blu Water Garden Five star hotel services, with spa, health club and pool, business lounge facility, free WI-FI, grab and run late checkout facility, expressed checkout and one touch service.

Location: Airport road, Dhaka Cantonment, Dhaka 1206.

Coral Blue Only resort in St. Martins.
Five minutes walking distance to Chera dip, Beach side sports facilities, Private beach facilities for diving, 24 hour reception

Apart from the travel to cities and favorite destinations; local festivals and traditions fiestas as well as food tourism and cultural activities are increasingly driving Bangladeshi countrymen to discover their nation state more exclusively than ever before. The food industry literally starts booming from the years of the recent past. A number of local and international food courts and restaurant chains are introduce and they are plating high quality international standard recipes with local style, spices and taste in it. To mention few names, international chain restaurants like KFC, Pizza hut, A&w, Nando’s and native delights like Nanna biriani, Beautyr lacchai, Mostakimer chap, Handir biriani will come upfront.
Major tourist attractions of Bangladesh
Although there is room for improvement in tourism industry, still there exist a handful of tourism spots for visits. These limited facilities are concentrated in some places, like Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet Divisions.
In Chittagong Division, the site seeing facilities are mainly located at Cox’s Bazar, Rangamati, Khagrachari and Bandarban districts. Mainamati at Comilla is an important archaeological site and Lalbagh Fort in Dhaka is a great historic site.
In Sylhet Division, the major tourist attractions are located mainly at Jaflong, Madhabkunda, Tea gardens and the Shrines of Harzat Shah Jalal and Shah Poran.
Some renowned attractions in Rajshahi Division are Kantaji’s Temple, Swapnapuri, Ramsagor and Rajbari at Dinajpur, Paharpur at Noagaon, and Mahasthangarh at Bogra.
In Khulna Division, some attractions are Shatgombuj Mosque at Bagerhat and Sundarban, the largest mangrove forest in the world, is located in the southern part of Khulna Division along the Bay of Bengal. This mangrove forest has been declared as a World Heritage site.
There is no denying the fact that, Bangladesh has not made enough efforts to preserve and develop its tourism sites of historical, cultural and environmental interests and that is reason why Bangladesh is not earning as per the expectation from this prospective industry of tourism. Considerable efforts of the Government as well as private sectors are necessary here to make this industry flourish so that the domestic market can rise and people of our country gets more interested in discovering their own country rather than visiting other countries as holiday destination.

Export growth regarding size and market
In tourism industry export is regarded as percentage (%) of total export; which is basically the international tourist receipts (% of total exports) in Bangladesh. An international tourist receipt means the expenditure by international inbound visitors, including payments to national carriers for international transport. These payments include any other payment made for goods or services received in the destination country.

The data shown in the graph shows that international tourist receipts got a downwards trend with some fluctuations.
There is lack of budgetary allocation and scarcity of trained people for the development of tourism sector in Bangladesh and because of these reasons the country is lagging behind in projecting her attractions to international tourist through advertisement in international print and electronic media. Eventually these factors lead to a stagnant growth rate and make the tourism industry a slow operating revenue generating entity. The data shown in the graph reveal that foreign earnings got a rhythmic upward trend for the first 6 years(2001-2006) and then it remained almost stable for the following few years (2006-2010).
Because of improper infrastructural development, out-dated communication and transport system and lack of proper allocation of budget befitting to make the industry an internationally standard one, the tourism industry is going downwards. Nowadays less people are getting lured in by the charm of this beautiful landscape. Every year the number of foreign tourist is going downhill.

The tourist arrivals in Bangladesh in different years and the rate of growth are given below-

Year Tourist Arrivals Number Growth rate
2002 207246 0.02
2004 271270 11
2006 200,311 10
2008 467,332 18
2010 303386 11

By pursuing managerial excellence, maintenance and spells of marketing; tourism industry can be uplifted and if proper steps are taken.
Necessary renovation, dedicated implementation of new projects, elimination of corruption is needs to catch the attention of the tourists and investors from around the world on this south-east Asian delta name, Bangladesh. If proper ambiance can be ensured with the help of government and private sectors, if tax barrier is loosen up and if operating cost and policies are become a bit less restricted and if the government de-regularize the industry in some sectors; the tourism industry will surely expand and will tempt more FDI (Foreign direct investments). Green field investments will be implicated besides the current brown field investors like Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group and franchisor like KFC, Domino’s Pizza etc.
Imports of raw material
Raw materials in tourism business include office supplies, advertising material, cleaning supplies, heating, electricity, gas and water as well as raw materials and intermediate goods which are further treated or processed by the enterprise. In tourism business most of the time raw materials are processed goods for resale or reuse.
As Bangladesh’s tourism industry is growing steadily the organizations have to ensure the standard of their service or product they serve to their customers. To win today’s hard competition and make profit, organizations try their best to meet customer demand, achieving their satisfaction. From the very beginning, tourism business organizations imported many things from abroad to match and meet the global standard of service. For example, Westin Dhaka the five stars chain hotels in Gulshan area run their business on 100% imported raw materials. From baking to cooking, constructing to decorating everywhere they use foreign products. When the tourism business of Bangladesh heavily relies on importing raw materials from abroad it creates huge supply-demand and purchase. To complete it, sometimes buyers directly contact the producer of the materials. On the other hand there are also renowned agents or suppliers who supply as the demand of the organization. This kind of B2B purchase takes huge size and need to be handled as professionally as it can be. For example, we can imagine that when Westin Dhaka needed to set up their whole air-conditioning system they may have contracted the producers directly or assigned any agent supplier who can provide them in actual. While such huge purchasing two or three parties come together to negotiate and fix all the terms and conditions in their own favor.
Industry production capacity
Tourism industry has the potential of growth and can contribute a huge number of money to the national earnings. But both private and government professional are not keen enough to make this sector as an earning tool. The below table shows the number of tourist came to Bangladesh from 1997- 2006 and the scenario reflect the growth. However, in 2006 the number decreased due to political crisis. So, the policy making is extremely poor in this sector and the government has to take the responsibility for this loss.
In fact, we do have attractive resources and growth can be ensured if we take the proper steps. There are a huge potential of employment opportunity but we need to improve the infrastructure of this sector. However, this sector can increase the household income of the people as well as government can increase revenue. It will be possible for the people of Bangladesh to introduce the country to the rest of the world through tourism industry, if we are aware of its potential growth.

Figure: Tourist arrivals in Bangladesh
The significant change can be brought if we change our mentality. Proper planning can develop the infrastructure which will not only attract tourists but also it will be beneficial for the people of Bangladesh. At present lots of foreign Hotel and Resort chains are coming to Bangladesh because of its potential tourism growth results. They have mainly targeted the Cox’s Bazar area which represents the longest sea beach.

Industry Segments: Service-wise
The tourism sector can be segmented into Geographical or Natural, Historical or Religious, Cultural and Environmental segmentation. Different part of the country is enriched with different types of attractions. Although there are opportunities of developing tourism attractions and facilities across the country, at present only a handful tourism spots are available for visits by tourists. These limited facilities are concentrated in some places, like Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet Divisions. In Chittagong Division, the site seeing facilities are mainly located at Cox’s Bazar, Rangamati, Khagrachari and Bandarban districts. Mainamati at Comilla is an important archaeological site and Lalbagh Fort in Dhaka is a great historic site. In Sylhet Division, the major tourist attractions are located mainly at Jaflong, Madhabkunda, Tea gardens and the Shrines of Harzat Shah Jalal and Shah Poran. Some renowned attractions in Rajshahi Division are Kantaji’s Temple, Swapnapuri, Ramsagor and Rajbari at Dinajpur, Paharpur at Noagaon, and Mahasthangarh at Bogra. In Khulna Division, some attractions are Shatgombuj Mosque at Bagerhat and Sundarban, the largest mangrove forest in the world, is located in the southern part of Khulna Division along the Bay of Bengal. This mangrove forest has been declared as a World Heritage site by UNESCO. There is no denying the fact that Bangladesh has not made enough efforts to preserve and develop its tourism sites of historical, cultural and environmental interests. Some important tourism attractions are listed in the following table.
Attractions in Dhaka Attractions in Chittagong Attractions in Sylhet Sonargaon: Cultural Capital of Port City of Chittagong Jaintiapur Town (The Capital
Bangladesh of an Ancient Kingdom) Bangladesh Institute of Arts and Himchari, Moheskhali, Inani Beach Gour Gobinda Fort
Crafts at Cox’s Bazar Central Shahid Minar : The Khagrachari Shahi Edgah of Sylhet
Symbol of Bengal The Dhaka Zoo Chandra ghona (Biggest Paper Mills Temple of Sri Chaitanya Dev in Asia) The Suhrawardy Uddyan Kaptai Lake, Buddish Temple at Tea Gardens of Srimongal Rangamati National Art Gallery of Sitakunda Eco Park The Border Post of Tamabil-
Bangladesh Jaflong Chota Katra Patenga and Fouzdarhat Beaches Madhabkunda Bara Katra Mercantile Marine Academy at Hairpur Gas Field Juldia Mausoleum of National Leaders Foy's Lake The Shrine of Hazrat Shah Jalal Ahsan Manzil Museum Shrine of Shah Amanat The Shrine of Hazrat Shah Poran National Museum Tomb of Sultan Bayazid Bostami Lawachara, Madhabpur Lake, Bangladesh Tea Board at Srimongal Science Museum Cox's Bazar (The Longest Sea- Tangore haor, at Sunamgonj Beach), Saint Martin Mukti Juddha Museum Court Building Museum Hakaluki haor at Moulovibazar Bangabandhu Memorial Museum The Shrine of Shah Amanat -- Bahadur Shah Park Chimbuk, Bandarban -- National Memorial of Dhaka Sailopropat, Meghla and Nilghiri at -- Bandarban The Lalbagh Fort Boga Lake, Ruma, Bijoy, Sorno -- Tara Mosque Mondir, Kaokaradong at Bandarban

Human Resource and skill requirement
Bangladesh faces the general problem of lacking strategies and policies for human resources development for tourism. The need to develop the required human resources for the tourism industry has become imperative as a result of the rapid growth of tourism. Some of the specific problems which need to be addressed include:(a) the quantity and quality of human resources which are related to the labor-intensive nature of the industry and the need for a high standard of specialized skills in cross-cultural working environments;(b) the shortage of tourism training infrastructure and qualified trainers in many countries;(c) the lack of national legislation and guidelines to improve the working conditions in the tourism industry.
According to an estimate 9,000 international standard rooms will be available in Bangladesh in next 5 years. In this connection initial contacts have been signed by some leading international chains already for construction of hotels and resorts in Dhaka, Chittagong, Cox’s Bazar and Sylhet. For operations of these rooms nearly 15,000 trained workers will be needed for which more hospitality training institutes have to be established both in the private and the private sectors.
It has been recognized by Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation that it is short of professional staff in its hotel operations division particularly and that the development of tourism in Bangladesh will require training of management cadres. These cadres would be in a position to carry forward vocational training programs for hotel and other sector workers once the basic needs have been met through a number of specially structured programs designed to fill up the current lack of trained workers for many work positions. In order to establish and develop a professional training program within the tourism industry in Bangladesh, BPC established the Hotel and Tourism Training Institute (HTTI), which was jointly funded in 1978 by the Government of Bangladesh and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) with the International Labor Organization (ILO) as executing agency. The Institute and the hotel are housed in purpose-built facilities having, in addition to 20bedrooms and usual hotel facilities, classroom areas, a training restaurant, training and demonstration kitchens, a front office reception area, a conference room, offices and administrative areas. It is intended during the second phase program to expand and upgrade to provide a travel agency, a library/documentation unit, a demonstration laundry, a bakery/patisserie training unit with a retail outlet and a small video studio. There will also be a mobile catering van for outside catering and a 26-seater coaster for the transport of trainees on study visits. The ILO, besides helping the Government to develop the hospitality industry, is also helping to develop human resources by providing in-depth training programs. The full-time courses, supervised by international experts and consultants, cover the following specializations:
• Hotel and Restaurant Kitchen Training
• Restaurant Service
• Front Office and Secretarial
• Bakery, Pastry and Confectionery
• Housekeeping Operations
• Tourist Guides
• Tour Operation and Travel Agencies.
There will also be part-time of day-release courses in various aspects of the industry, according to identified needs, such as:
• Hygiene and Sanitation for Food Handlers
• Short on-the-job Instructor Training Courses
• Communications and Social Skills
• Short courses in different aspects of catering for non-professionals.
Eventually, there will be developed a diploma course in Hotel and Catering Operations for management trainees. The current program is technical and vocational in nature and is designed to meet the more immediate needs for tourism development. A serious difficulty is the low level of foreign language skills of rank and file employees that make the inclusion of the proposed language laboratory a desirable priority. A good knowledge of foreign languages does not extend very far down the hotel hierarchy. Training programs of a forceful nature are required to remove inhibitions and give adequate practice in actually speaking foreign languages. On the other hand, restaurant employees have been well trained in accounting for the sales they actually make. The basic and long-term training needs are met in principle by the current and proposed programs. With will and commitment, they should be successful. Given that Bangladesh is now considered as one of the leading countries having an internationally acclaimed GDP growth, due to exports in areas like garments, manpower etc., this economic growth is bound to spur the growth of tourism industry in the near future.

Policy initiative
The tourism policy of a country provides the most explicit indication of the governmental approach to sustainable tourism development and the role that all stakeholders in the tourism industry need to play. As part of tourism policy, organizations can be set up which are able to set objectives, formulate plans and implement programs. Policy makers also need reliable information and good-quality data on a timely basis in order to appreciate the complex and long-term interactions that tourism has to maintain with the rest of the economy. If information or data are lacking, then the importance of the contribution of tourism to sustainable socio-economic development tends to be overlooked. In our country, the national tourism organizations do not receive enough resources, and their capabilities therefore remain limited. Planning has both policy and operational elements which form part of the process by which the government decides on objectives, sets out the means for achieving the objectives and sets priorities. Development of a tourism master plan and introduction of integrated tourism planning are appropriate approaches for sustainable tourism development, because all aspects can be covered in a comprehensive way, including the social, cultural, economic and environmental aspects. A master plan and integrated tourism planning can indicate that the tourism sector is a major part of the national economy and that the planning process will be ongoing and action-oriented in ways that facilitate implementation.
From early 80’s a comprehensive change happened in the public management of tourism industry. The governments started to release their control and regulation on tourism and encouraged private sector to come in policy planning, development and promotion of tourism. The Government regulatory Authority of Tourism transformed into promotional agency having considerable participation of the private sectors. This change in the management framework of tourism spurred the inward investment to destination development and management.
National Tourism Policy
The National Tourism Policy of Bangladesh was declared in 1992. Its main objectives are:
1) To create interest in tourism among the people
2) To preserve, protect, develop and maintain tourism resources
3) To take steps for poverty-alleviation through creating employment
4) To build a positive image of the country abroad
5) To open up a recognized sector for private capital investment
6) To arrange entertainment and recreation
7) To strengthen national solidarity and integrity
It may be recalled that the updated National Tourism Policy has identified immediate needs for the development of multi-sector industry like tourism. It has recognized that for the development of the industry, there is need to have long term national plan, investments, mobilization of financial and technical assistance, facilitate infra-structural development, preservation of historical and archaeological sites and attractions, identification and preservation of potential sites, development of art and culture, relaxation of rules concerning travel of foreign nationals, preservation of forest and bio-diversity, improvement of airport facilities for passengers, marketing and publicity abroad and coordination of river cruise.
In addition to these, the policy also recognized the need for different accommodation for tourists such as hotel, motel, resort, cottage, boatel, farm house, wayside hotel, highway inn, tourist home, time sharing, home-stay etc. and creation of food and entertainment activities. Also creation of favourable atmosphere and necessary affective measures for package tours.
The policy said that the government would remain as facilitator and help private sector to play active role in the development of tourism. All efforts should be made to ensure safety and security of tourists. Special importance should be given to the development of domestic tourism. Effective initiative should be taken for manpower development at public and private levels. Close coordination should be established among all tourism stakeholders.
The tourism policy also recognized and identified urgent need of coordination between various corporations, departments and ministries for proper tourism development in the country. In particular, the coordination between the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism and the ministries of environment and forest; cultural affairs; communication; land; Chittagong hill tracts affairs; information; water transport; foreign affairs; education; home affairs; water resources; local government, rural development and cooperatives; youth and other important government departments and all private sector investors is most important.

Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation
The Board of Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation was established in the year 1973, comprising the following purposes and functions of the board below:
• It shall be the function of the corporation to promote and develop tourism, provide facilities, undertake measures and carry out all forms of activities connected with or ancillary to tourism.
• To promote tourist undertakings and to control and regulate tourist installations and services.
• To organize reception and information facilities in or outside Bangladesh.
• To create tourism awareness among the people.
• To establish institutes for instruction and training of potential tourism personnel.
• To promote and develop tourism.
• To establish tourism infrastructures in Bangladesh.
• To provide facilities to undertake measures and carry out all kinds of activities connected with tourism
• To acquire, establish, construct, arrange, provide and run hotels, restaurants, rest houses, picnic spots, camping sites, theatres, amusement parks and facilities for water skiing and entertainment.
• To establish institutes for instruction and training of potential tourism personnel
The government has the key role to play in the development of tourism in Bangladesh. Through the NTO, the government by implementing the policy contributes in the tourism development. The government has the main role in regulation and supervision of industry. Success will depend on how soon policies are translated into action.

Demand Drivers
Tourism sector of Bangladesh has a huge potential to become one of the main national GDP contributor. However, many factors are creating barriers to reduce the growth of this sector. In fact, the resources and the facilities may play a vital role to increase the growth of this sector. It will be help full for to attract foreign tourist in our country, which will eventually contribute to our economy. Moreover, if we can create such an environment foreign investment may increase and employment will be created. Here, the question comes, that why should people come to Bangladesh from other countries? What are the factors? The answer is discussed below-

Figure: Demand Drivers
1. Environmental Resources
Bangladesh is a river based country with natural beauties surrounding it. Especially, the areas like- Sylhet, Khulan and Chittaging regions are mostly attractive to the tourist because of the natural beauties and eye catching sites. The tea gardens, hill tracks, river site areas, sea beaches, mangrove forest are the main attraction to tourists. Among these, Cox’s Bazar and the Sundarban is the largest of its genre in the whole. These two sites are the main attraction to the tourists.
2. Heritage Site
From the heritage point of view Bangladesh has a number of heritage sites, which are attractive enough to bring the tourists. Lalbagh fort, Mahasthangarh, Paharpur, Mainamati, Shatgambuj mosque are the major heritage site in Bangladesh. These historical places bear the characteristics of our ancestors. In fact, the curious people around the globe are eager to know about it.
3. Religious Occasions
Religion creates a bonding among the people from different origins. From the beginning Bangladesh is very much known as multi religious country. However, Islam is the main religion in Bangladesh. Every year, an Islamic get together occurs which is as known as “Iz-tema”. Here, people from different countries meets with each other and share their thoughts and feelings between them. This get together attracts a lot of Muslims around globe and day by day the number of attendants is increasing. Besides, traditional religious festivals of different religion like- Durga puja and Buddha purnima also attract tourists from other countries.
4. Cultural Aspects
Bangladesh is fulfilled with different cultural aspects. Traditional programs, different cultural occasions are highly attractable to the tourists. There are a number of tribes in Bangladesh who are rich from cultural perspective. Chakma, Marma, Garoh, Monipuri etc has its own style of living. There attractive life style is really eye catching. However, from city to city Bangladeshi culture varies and among them cultural from Dhaka city is most significant. The way people leave, eat and celebrate is really attractive. The traditional programs of Dhaka city like Pohela Boishakh celebration is most eye catching. A part from that delicious foods made from different culture and tribes also attracts people around the world.
5. Traditional View
Traditionally Bangladeshi people have a huge potential of being more serious about their origin and their way of leaving. Some events have become traditionally a part of life style. For example- Pohela Boishakh is one of them. Though it is a cultural event but still it carries the Bengali origin with it and people from every religion observe this occasion with their own traditional style. Moreover, the event is a key tool for a major tourist attraction.
6. Event Hosting
Bangladesh is a developing country and being that hosting any International event is a huge opportunity. The opportunity came through and we all know that Bangladesh is cricket loving nation. We successfully hosted two major cricket events, one in 2011 and another one a few months back in this year. These events gave us a huge opportunity to introduce our selves to the world. So, we have a good record in it. Moreover, hosting any national and international event may prove worthy of everything and can be a vital factor as a demand driver.
Value Chain
The idea of the value chain is based on the process view of organizations, the idea of seeing a manufacturing or service organization as a system, made up of subsystems each with inputs, transformation processes and outputs. Inputs, transformation processes, and outputs involve the acquisition and consumption of resources - money, labor, materials, equipment, buildings, land, administration and management. How value chain activities are carried out determines costs and affects profits.
Porter's 1985 description of the value chain refers to the chain of activities (processes or collections of processes) that an organization performs in order to deliver a valuable product or service for the market. These include functions such as inbound logistics, operations, outbound logistics, marketing and sales, and service, supported by systems and technology infrastructure. Analyzing the value chain in tourism industry of Bangladesh we can see lots of affiliation and attachment of different professions of people. To complete a circle of any business industry it is must to have a great supporting channel of workers as well as great management of it. Not only tourism industry but in all there is a huge importance of it. Shown below:-

Producer/ Service provider
Management
Sales & Marketing
Agents
System & data management
Transportation
Food & Beverage team
Outbound Logistics
Value chain refers to adding more value to a service or a product. The more a customer or buyer wants the more value is going to be added with it. While adding value to any particular product the demand of employee or workers rises. It creates more employment, ensures earning for those people as well as their country’s economy.
Management at any level of tourism business can make huge difference as this business is all about managing; managing clients, suppliers, employers and what not. In today’s digital world client or tourist or customer can enquire about their interest place, the whole process of travelling there. He or she will go for web based search where marketing and sales people will try to attract them. Agents also known as travel agencies will provide necessary information and possible arrangement for the client regarding his wish, will and demand. Nowadays, main tourist service providers try their level best to grab the clients view. Bangladeshi modern tourism hospitality and tourism service providers doing just what they need to do. Star labeled hotels, motels, resorts like Pan-pacific Sonargaon, Ruposhi Bangla, Westin, etc all are following this. Not only confined to them but also restaurants, lounges and coffee houses have been offering their services through web. Travel agencies book and reserve their clients wished services. When it comes to transportation the air flight comes first in view. All of the air travelling organizations try their level best to satisfy their customer so that they can get the full opportunity to utilize their charges and they again travel by their aero planes. In the value chain of a tourism industry food and catering suppliers plays a crucial role as for the visitors or travelers food and dining matters a lot. For both local and foreign travelers’ good dining experience can be a great business achievement. As for example, all the best hospitality and tourism service providers want to serve only the best and fresh food they can get. Out bound logistics are those who supply further necessary materials needed to run and accomplish a business cycle.
Porter’s Diamond Theory
In order to analyze a country’s competitive advantage for a particular industry, Michael Porter of Harvard Business School developed a model called Porter’s Diamond. Its prime purpose is to address the competitive advantage that some countries or groups have as a result of certain factors that are available to them and helps to scrutinize and perk up a nation’s role in a globally competitive sector. Unlike most traditional theories that demonstrate land, location, natural resources, labor and population as the key determinants of competitive advantage, the Porter’s Diamond model uses a more proactive approach by taking the following into account:

• Factor endowments
• Demand conditions
• Relating and supporting industries
• Firm strategy, structure, and rivalry
Bangladesh has a flourishing tourism industry. Its rich culture and heritage along with magnificent scenic beauty has opened the gates of opportunity for the tourism industry. Starting from archeological sites like Mohasthangarh to natural spots like Cox’s Bazar, the longest sea beach of the world, Bangladesh holds huge potential to develop its tourism industry. With globalization, the scope for expansion is widening. It is also contributing to the country’s GDP to a large extent. Given so, the competitive advantage of growing tourism industry of Bangladesh can be assessed in the light of Porter’s Diamond Model.
Factor Endowment
Factor endowment refers to the condition of a country in terms of its factors of production such as skilled labor, infrastructure, natural resources, and even knowledge that are applicable for a particular industry. A country is said to thrive in a particular sector when it has a strong hold on the required factors. Countries usually tend to build upon those industries where it has an advantage over the factors. As for tourism industry in Bangladesh, the availability of natural resources is profuse. As mentioned earlier, the country is blessed with the longest sea beach and the largest mangrove forest. Additionally, it has other coral reefs like Saint Martin and attractive beaches like that in Kuakata, Barisal. However, despite having such advantages, this sector is lagging behind compared to other sectors because of lack of infrastructural development and skilled labor. Many of the places are not easily accessible and lack the amenities like hotels and restaurants. As such, it is failing to attract the amount of tourists that it potentially can. During recent times large scale development has taken place in Cox’s Bazar, particularly during ICC World Cup 2011. However, that is just one destination out of the many. The road to Kuakata has been under construction for quite some years now and that has significantly acted as a barrier to the development of that region. Similar is the case for many archeological sites located in North Bengal.
Moving on to skilled labor, the tourism industry is deficient on this vital ground. Very limited number of highly trained people, involved mainly with the hotel and restaurant businesses of the major cities like Dhaka, Chittagong, Sylhet, and now Cox’s Bazar, are found. The smaller towns with tourist attractions lack skilled workforce. In most of the cases the management is run by government authority i.e. Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation, which is not efficient enough to generate maximum output.
Some of the international hotel chains like Radisson, Pan Pacific, and Westin have built their establishments in Bangladesh which contributes largely to its development. These international giants are bringing in technology and other resources are that helping the overall industry to grow. Nevertheless, the progress rate is minimal. On the other hand it can be noticed that well-equipped factors are being utilized mainly by the private sector. The controversy comes when we see that majority of the tourist destinations are under government control and not privatized. Private hotels and resorts, both national and international maybe found, but the extensive portion of the management and infrastructure is under government control. Hence, the shortage of factors and underutilization of factors exist.
Demand Conditions
Demand conditions illustrate the state of home demand for products and services in a country. Home demand plays an important role in shaping the factor conditions of any sector of a country. It paces up innovations and developments. According to Porter, a country can successfully achieve national competitive advantage in an industry or market segment if the home demand provides a clearer indication about its demand trends to domestic suppliers than to foreign suppliers. As far as this is concerned with Bangladesh tourism industry, it can be said that with a constant economic growth of approximately 6% over the past 10 ten years, accompanied by an increasing per capita PPP, people’s discretionary income is rising. As a result, more number of people is opted to recreation. Many theme parks such as Fantasy Kingdom in Dhaka, Sea World Foy’s Lake in Chittagong, Vinnyajagat in Rangpur, and many more has been set up. Most of these parks centre on the district cities. Not much is seen in the urban or suburban locations. Due to the increase in local demand many hotels and restaurants are being launched. For example the capital Dhaka holds several outlets of Nando’s, a South African casual dining restaurant, and also the international fast food giants like KFC and Pizza Hut. At the same time, with improvement in people’s standard of living the quality of service provided by these enterprises have to be improved in order to retain in the market. Previously, people were less aware about the quality aspects. Conversely, in this age of technology and remarkable change in people’s perception the quality of products and service offered by this industry is fundamental.
It can be said that the middle and lower middle class of people are leaning towards the local tourism attraction for recreation, particularly those outside the capital; whereas the upper middle class and upper class choose foreign destinations. Their local demand is limited to the five-star offerings of the major cities and developed locations like Cox’s Bazar. Therefore, this sector is losing a big chunk of earnings from not being able to lucratively attract the members of the upper class. If more can be offered to the customers in the form of better accessibility and hospitality it will draw further demand and the tourism industry will flourish promptly.
Relating and Supporting Industries
Relating and supporting industries demonstrates the existence or non-existence of internationally competitive supplying and supporting industries. As Porter suggests, one internationally successful industry can pull up other industries to the international level. For tourism industry in Bangladesh, it can be seen that many international hotels and resorts and restaurants are now available in Bangladesh. Since Bangladesh has developed immensely in ready-made garments, textiles, fisheries, etc traders and business personnel from all over the world are coming for trade purpose with these industries. Despite the fact that their function is limited within the corporate hub it can be said that it is contributing positively to the tourism sector as well. It may not be at a very large scale now, but eventually it will expand with the aid of proper promotion. These triumphant industries have added to the achievement of industries like food and recreation. Simultaneously, as the industry of tourism and recreation tends to expand the industries that act as a supplier to it will also blossom. For example, as more infrastructural development will be needed, more architectural accessories will be needed that will cause the construction industry to boom. In the same process many other industries will eventually rise. At the moment, since tourism industry itself is in an infant stage and only starting to grab international attention this phenomenon may not be that prominent. But over time, this will turn in.
Firm strategy, structure, and rivalry
Firm strategy, structure, and rivalry encompasses the conditions in a nation that settles on how entities are formed, organized, and managed, and that in turn determines the distinctiveness of domestic competition. Here, cultural aspects play a key role. Management and organization varies from country to country to a huge extent. By far, Bangladesh tourism industry is under government control and organization. Even though a lot of privatization has taken place and more are expected in future, the locations in the suburban places are under government control and lacks supervision and maintenance. Intervention of private sector in some of the most prominent location like Cox’s Bazar and Chittagong has caused it to progress radically. During the early 90’s Cox’s Bazar had government hotels under Parjatan for accommodating tourists. Over the years the standards in those hotels have fallen and people where withdrawing from it. In due course, the private sector took over and now many fine hotels now stand in Cox’s Bazar. Competition among local and foreign companies has developed. It may not have reached the cut-throat competition level till now, but the competitiveness is helping to restore quality of products and services. Nonetheless, such is not the case in every place. As stated earlier, the basic infrastructure and facilities are unavailable in numerous places. If those sites can be properly managed and equipped with the best more competition will sneak in and lead to further development.
To sum up, it can be said that Bangladesh tourism industry has huge potential for growth. The availability of natural resources gives it an advantage. It demands development of infrastructure skilled labor force to pull up this sector. Increase in people’s income and better standard of living is increasing demand for amusement and recreation, and if this need can be catered fruitfully by the local players the industry will prosper more. Tourism industry is blooming with the emergence of other industries, and similarly it can contribute to other related and supporting industries. Lastly, increase in privatization will increase competition among the firms and improve quality and standards.

Reference

• Rahman, M. L., & Hossain, S. M. N. (2010). An Overview of Present Status and Future Prospects of the Tourism Sector in Bangladesh. Journal of Bangladesh Institute of Planners, Vol. 3, December 2010, pp. 65-75.
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