Bangladesh Tourism Board holds seminar on public-private partnership

A seminar titled "Public-Private Partnership and Awareness Building for Promoting Ecotourism" was held at 10am on 12 August (Wednesday) at Tourism Bhaban, organised by the Bangladesh Tourism Board to discuss the development of ecotourism and strengthen cooperation between the public and private sectors.

Afroza Khanam MP, Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism, attended the seminar as the chief guest, while Fahmida Akhter ndc, Secretary of the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism, was present as the guest of honour. Mohammad Samimuzzaman, Chairman of the Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation, attended as the special guest, while Mohammad Abdur Rouf ndc, Chief Executive Officer (Additional Charge) of the Bangladesh Tourism Board, chaired the seminar, according to a press release.

Addressing the seminar, Minister Afroza Khanam said that despite Bangladesh having been independent for 55 years, there have been few notable examples of development in the tourism sector. She said the current government is working to establish Bangladesh as a tourism hub in line with its election manifesto and has undertaken several initiatives within five months of taking office. However, she acknowledged that establishing Bangladesh as a tourism hub would require collective efforts and sought support from all stakeholders.

The minister said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, the government aims to advance the country with cooperation from all stakeholders. She stressed the need to assess priorities when undertaking development initiatives and said the government plans to hold monthly meetings with private-sector stakeholders to reduce information gaps between government institutions and the private sector.

She said the government is considering developing tourism destinations around several villages, including Mitingachhari village in Kaptai upazila of Rangamati, Pankhali village in Dacope upazila of Khulna and Nafanagar village in Bochaganj upazila of Dinajpur, which have been inaugurated as "SDG Villages" by the Prime Minister to support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. She added that the government aims to identify tourism-potential sites across all 64 districts and work towards establishing Bangladesh as an international-standard tourism destination.

Secretary Fahmida Akhter ndc said work on the Tourism Satellite Account (TSA) has already begun to address the information gap in the development of the tourism sector. She also said the government is working to formulate an ecotourism policy. According to her, a lack of coordination had hindered progress in the sector in the past, but cooperation among stakeholders would help overcome these challenges and advance tourism development.

The seminar featured detailed discussions on the importance and current state of ecotourism in Bangladesh, challenges to its development, development action plans and the way forward. Professor Dr Mohammad Wasiul Islam of the Department of Forestry and Wood Technology at Khulna University presented the keynote paper.