Tourism in Bangladesh.

[ekhindustani]

It's relevant for Bagan as that is a solely tourist destination. Do you think one of your historic sites is even close to having international airlinks? No. Don't be stupid.

We had close to 5million visitors last year. The growth has been exponential since we opened up. The average tourist spends more than they do in other countries in the region as they are generally more prosperous those that come. Thais make up a whopping 15% of international arrivals. Chinese barely 10%. I am willing to bet any amount of money that Indians make up a far greater number of your small international arrivals.

It is not a SAARC issue. Plenty of tourists head to India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives. No one cares about a slave labour slum swamp that is now a terrorist hotbed. That's just a fact.

once the Thailand-Myanmar-India section of the AH1 is completed there will be significant increase in tourist arrivals in Myanmar. Last year Thailand saw some 1 million indian tourists and its increasing every year and finally when the highway is completed many would opt to travel by land to include Myanmar in their itinerary as well.

 

[UKBengali]

BTW I forgot to add that we host the world's largest tiger reserve.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hukawng_Valley_Tiger_Reserve

Only 50 tigers in such a large area?

Sundurbans has half the area and has more than 200 tigers.

I am not sure about the specific factors due to geography and human activities but looks like
an effort should be made to hugely increase the number of tigers in this reserve.

 

[Gibbs]

Myanmar is not a popular tourist destination though and I don't think it will ever be! Most of the tourists in Myanmar are from neighboring Thailand. It's natural that Myanmar gets more number of tourists than Bangladesh since their neighbor Thailand is quite richer than our neighbor India and thus the former has more outgoing tourists than the latter.

Actually it's a frontier destination that's quite rapidly becoming a top tourist destination in the world, Burma attracted some 5 million foreign tourists last year and the majority are from the West not China or Thailand and that they only lifted a travel ban in 2010.. Thailand offers different attractions for it's sheer number of visitors but places like Laos and Burma are the new hot spots in the region

Burma is also in the ring of Buddhist tourism along with Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Indonesia and Vietnam.. Attracting millions from East Asians (Japanese, Korean and Chinese) and those from Europe and North America

Good news is that the Govt of Pakistan has started to promote their own Buddhist heritage and will join in the circuit, I'm sure Bangladesh can do the same

 

[~Phoenix~]

It happened that our ancestors chose the best characters for this city
Ji 吉 auspicious
Da 大 great
Gang 港 port
吉大港 Auspicious Great Port!

Heres an aerial shot of the Chittagong.

Ok, he should have maybe worded things differently
to try to explain his point.

I am sure that both BD and Myanmar can benefit if we
thought about one-visa system for international tourists so they can visit both Myanmar and BD at same time.

A package where tourists get to see tigers in Sundurbans, river cruise down the large rivers in BD and also visit to see historic sites in Myanmar would be popular. This is something that India and BD are already
working towards.

I'm planning to visit Myanmar sometime though.

 

[AndrewJin]

Heres an aerial shot of the Chittagong.
View attachment 336083




I'm planning to visit Myanmar sometime though.

wow!

 

[Khan_21]

Maybe but some tourists may like the variety in one trip.

Anyway this probably wont work till say 2025 anyway
as BD needs to build infrastructure to make the experience of tourists fast and comfortable.

Infrastructure isn't everything . For Example in Gilgit Baltistan though we have the highest paved road in the world , we hardly have 5 star hotels there . But we still get hundreds and thousands of International Hikers visiting the region . BD's problem is not infrastructure but making people aware around the world that BD exists .

Here we can take the Example of the most peaceful country in the world , Iceland . It has some of the most breathtaking sceneries in the world but is hardly on the tourist radar compared to places like Norway , Sweden .Denmark because of lack of recognition . BD needs aggressive marketing around the world to make people aware about it .

I mean Pakistan hardly does any promotion and is not well perceived around the world but we still get around 1 million tourists . That's because we are a well known country .

 

[UKBengali]

Infrastructure isn't everything . For Example in Gilgit Baltistan though we have the highest paved road in the world , we hardly have 5 star hotels there . But we still get hundreds and thousands of International Hikers visiting the region . BD's problem is not infrastructure but making people aware around the world that BD exists .

Here we can take the Example of the most peaceful country in the world , Iceland . It has some of the most breathtaking sceneries in the world but is hardly on the tourist radar compared to places like Norway , Sweden .Denmark because of lack of recognition . BD needs aggressive marketing around the world to make people aware about it .

I mean Pakistan hardly does any promotion and is not well perceived around the world but we still get around 1 million tourists . That's because we are a well known country .

True that infrastructure is not everything.

The reason you get so many international hikers in Gilgit is that the terrain is unique and cannot be found anywhere else around the world.

Iceland is probably one dimensional as you can get similar things in Norway and there is the variety as well
that Iceland lacks. I think Iceland only has one large population settlement and that is only just about 6 figures
in population.

As BD builds infrastructure, gets richer and the government does a decent job in promoting the country we will see tourists coming in. Remember that BD is working with India to create a one-visa system and so tourists will have even more reason to visit both India and BD.

 

[Gibbs]

. But we still get hundreds and thousands of International Hikers visiting the region

But that's niche tourism, You cant compare that in the wider sense, To attract numbers you do need good infrastructure especially if you intend to high spending visitors which directly impact the economy, Cheap mass tourism itself is not a good thing particularly in environmentally and archaeologically sensitive area's.. Places like Peru (Machu Pichu) and Athens etc are facing sever issues due to that

Also i see a few Bangladeshi posters mentioning domestic tourism given the population numbers, this can also have adverse effects on the ecology of those destinations, In the long run Domestic tourists lack some of the more common sense that more experienced international travelers may have, Especially sensitivity to the environment and heritage sites

 

[Khan_21]

True that infrastructure is not everything.

The reason you get so many international hikers in Gilgit is that the terrain is unique and cannot be found anywhere else around the world.

Iceland is probably one dimensional as you can get similar things in Norway and there is the variety as well
that Iceland lacks. I think Iceland only has one large population settlement and that is only just about 6 figures
in population.

As BD builds infrastructure, gets richer and the government does a decent job in promoting the country we will see tourists coming in. Remember that BD is working with India to create a one-visa system and so tourists will have even more reason to visit both India and BD.

I propose BD Govt does a campaign something similar to '' Malaysia - truly asia '' . Ads on CNN , BBC and such channels will make it visible to international tourists .

But that's niche tourism, You cant compare that in the wider sense, To attract numbers you do need good infrastructure especially if you intend to high spending visitors which directly impact the economy, Cheap mass tourism itself is not a good thing particularly in environmentally and archaeologically sensitive area's.. Places like Peru (Machu Pichu) and Athens etc are facing sever issues due to that

Also i see a few Bangladeshi posters mentioning domestic tourism given the population numbers, this can also have adverse effects on the ecology of those destinations, In the long run Domestic tourists lack some of the more common sense that more experienced international travelers may have, Especially sensitivity to the environment and heritage sites

Agree. Other steps are also very important . Like Visa on arrival or no Visa requirement . Acquiring visa always bugs tourists and puts them off visiting the place . For example if i was given the choice of visiting between switzerland and Indonesia I would probably pick Indonesia because I can get it's visa in 1-2 days and no chance of rejection . Even though I would want to visit Switzerland more , the hassle of getting a schengen visa will make me lose interest .

India recently introduced e - Visas for 180 countries and is getting an increase in tourists due to that . I wish Pakistan follows the same and don't make it difficult for people to visit .

 

[Species]

It's relevant for Bagan as that is a solely tourist destination. Do you think one of your historic sites is even close to having international airlinks? No. Don't be stupid.

Historical sites are not our main attraction, eco tourism is, which is why the Cox's Bazar Airport is being upgraded into an international airport.

We had close to 5million visitors last year. The growth has been exponential since we opened up. The average tourist spends more than they do in other countries in the region as they are generally more prosperous those that come. Thais make up a whopping 15% of international arrivals. Chinese barely 10%. I am willing to bet any amount of money that Indians make up a far greater number of your small international arrivals.

Those percentages are only for arrivals at Yangon Airport, not the total arrivals, silly Bamar. And they spend more in your country because the hospitality expenses in Myanmar is one of the most expensive in the world due to shortage of hotels and other accommodation facilities.

It is not a SAARC issue. Plenty of tourists head to India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives. No one cares about a slave labour slum swamp that is now a terrorist hotbed. That's just a fact.

At least we are not a primitive tribal country committing genocides against every other ethnicity deemed to be a threat to their demography!

Anyway, I forgot I was talking to one such primitive tribal, don't quote me further!

Actually it's a frontier destination that's quite rapidly becoming a top tourist destination in the world, Burma attracted some 5 million foreign tourists last year and the majority are from the West not China or Thailand and that they only lifted a travel ban in 2010.. Thailand offers different attractions for it's sheer number of visitors but places like Laos and Burma are the new hot spots in the region

Burma is also in the ring of Buddhist tourism along with Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Indonesia and Vietnam.. Attracting millions from East Asians (Japanese, Korean and Chinese) and those from Europe and North America

Good news is that the Govt of Pakistan has started to promote their own Buddhist heritage and will join in the circuit, I'm sure Bangladesh can do the same

As far as I've read, most of their tourists are from Thailand and China, may be a minority from the West. If they are really attracting the tourists, good for them!

Bangladesh has just started to promote Buddhist tourism, two of the five Buddhist Mahaviharas are situated in Bangladesh!

It happened that our ancestors chose the best characters for this city
Ji 吉 auspicious
Da 大 great
Gang 港 port
吉大港 Auspicious Great Port!

That's my city, Chittagong.

 

[alaungphaya]

Historical sites are not our main attraction, eco tourism is, which is why the Cox's Bazar Airport is being upgraded into an international airport.



Those percentages are only for arrivals at Yangon Airport, not the total arrivals, silly Bamar. And they spend more in your country because the hospitality expenses in Myanmar is one of the most expensive in the world due to shortage of hotels and other accommodation facilities.



At least we are not a primitive tribal country committing genocides against every other ethnicity deemed to be a threat to their demography!

Anyway, I forgot I was talking to one such primitive tribal, don't quote me further!



As far as I've read, most of their tourists are from Thailand and China, may be a minority from the West. If they are really attracting the tourists, good for them!

Bangladesh has just started to promote Buddhist tourism, two of the five Buddhist Mahaviharas are situated in Bangladesh!



That's my city, Chittagong.

I don't need to. Everyone else has pretty much made my points for me. Watching 8 year olds stitch cheap underwear is not eco-tourism, bongo.

 

[Homo Sapiens]

It happened that our ancestors chose the best characters for this city
Ji 吉 auspicious
Da 大 great
Gang 港 port
吉大港 Auspicious Great Port!

I always suspected ''Chittagong'' name has something to do with Chinese language.It sound similar to Guangdong.May be there is an ancient Chinese connection with Chittagong port.Chittagong port is very ancient,it was already described by Roman historian Pliny the elder two thousand years ago.

 

[alaungphaya]

I always suspected ''Chittagong'' name has something to do with Chinese language.It sound similar to Guangdong.May be there is an ancient Chinese connection with Chittagong port.

You're right. Maybe the name is Arakanese rather than Bengali. Chittagong should be re-added into Yakhine State.

 

[Homo Sapiens]

10:35 AM, September 14, 2016 / LAST MODIFIED: 03:50 PM, September 20, 2016
[WATCH] Discover Bangladesh: Rangpur
Ananta Yusuf
After Dinajpur and Bogra, we decided our next destination would be Rangpur, located about 299 km northwest of Dhaka.

With an aim to give everyone a glimpse of the ancient and quaint Rangpur city, we embarked on a journey by bus from Kalyanpur earlier this month. After about seven hours, we reached Rangpur early in the morning.

A friend hired a few bikes and we were off to our first destination-- Tajhat Palace.

In the middle of the eighteenth century, a rich jewellery merchant from Punjab, Manna Lal Roy, established his rule as the zamindar of Rangpur and all the surrounding districts.

His fame as a rich jewellery merchant was so widespread that when he built a magnificent palace, it was given the name Tajhat by the locals. His son, Gopal Lal Roy, succeeded him and rebuilt the palace elaborately. The pride of Rangpur, the palace still stands tall in the heart of the city.

The vast two-storied palace is supported by magnificently carved Corinthian pillars. There is an octagonal dome mounted on a drum like structure at the centre of the palace, which is popularly known as the Hawakhana.

After Tajhat you can also visit Shataranji Palli in the city. If there is one item that is a must-buy in Rangpur, it is the Shataranji (handmade carpet). The price varies from Tk 1,000 to 6,000, depending on the fabric and design.

Hotels that are suitable for accommodation are: Hotel North View, RDRS Guest House and Caspia Home.

 

[Mage]

I think main focus of tourism of Bangladesh should remain domestic tourism. Right now like TopCat said we should focus more on manufacturing and industries.