Sonargaon Hotel's special Dhaka city tour

Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel on Friday launched a special tour of places in Dhaka city linked to the history and heritage of the Liberation War.

There were 13 foreign tourists who took the city tour on the first day.

The main attraction of the tour is the residence of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at Dhanmondi-32 which is now known as the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum. The tour also includes other places in Dhaka, including the National Museum, Bangabandhu Military Museum, and the Shaheed Minar.

Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Md Mahbub Ali inaugurated the new city tour as chief guest at the hotel on Friday.

The minister said, "We want every hotel to organise tours with unique and different packages like this. We are very rich in nature and tradition but we are not able to capitalize on that which is our failure."

"We have already completed all the processes of importing six high-quality tourist buses from Germany. When these buses run on the road, people will just gather to take a look at them but we need to do branding of our historical establishments," he added.

All domestic and foreign tourists can participate in the city tour for Tk4,500 and Tk5,000 per ticket, respectively. This ticket price includes various historical and sightseeing places with lunch or dinner and onboard snacks for tourists.

Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism Secretary Md Mokammel Hassan, as chairperson of the opening ceremony, said, "The main purpose of tourism is not limited to travelling only; it also extends to human-to-human relations. If you talk about the history of Bangladesh, you have to talk about the history of Dhaka. Tourists can learn about Dhaka's heritage through city tours."

Tours for local and foreign tourists to visit the historical places of Old Dhaka will be arranged soon, he informed.

He also said tickets for Padma Bridge tours over the next three months have sold out in advance already.

This latest city tour will operate every Friday and Saturday for now, said Hotels International Limited Managing Director Md Aminur Rahman, who was present as the patron of the ceremony.

Asif Ahmed, acting general manager, Pan Pacific Sonargaon Dhaka, and officials of Hotels International Ltd were also present on the occasion