Introduction: Tourism is one of the initiators of people's movement, a facilitator for exchange of knowledge, a provider of pleasure, a way to enjoy

leisure, and a means to enrich culture. There was a time when only the elite classes had the time and money to enjoy travelling. Especially before fifties of the twentieth century, travel was the privilege of a few rich, affluent, and perhaps adventurous people. Things have since changed much. Today, the rise in the standard of living of people in several developed and developing countries along with the fast technological revolution in transport industry has brought overseas holiday within the reach of middle and even working class. Besides, the emergence of cheap holiday through non-scheduled carriers has brought about a major revolution in the concept of holiday package. Thus, the concept of tourism has now acquired a wider significance among the mass people. Peoples are prone to fun and enjoyment. Being curious, they always want to get the flavor of unseen and unknown for pleasure. Their inherent attraction for the enjoyment of natural beauty and diverse civilization motivate them to discoveries and inventions through extensive travelling. They also intend to gather new experience from new things and new places, get lasting pleasure, and know different unknown cultures through visiting destinations. Besides, tourism is a leisure activity to relief oneself from the stress of daily routine-life. People get depressed of their monotonous workloads and want to escape from the pressures of workdeadlines, avoid crowd city life, break traditional daily life, and thus enjoy some time in a new place having natural and cultural significance. A new place can relieve the monotony of one's existence and -fill one mind with joy. For this a large number of people is now moving from one place to another, from one country to other countries, from one end of the world to another, and may be in future, from one planet to other ones. Thus tourism and the resultant movement of people are booming globally. Today, the tourism industry is recognized as the single largest industry in the world. As such tourism has become the largest trade sector in the world and this sector has been recognized as a major thrust area of economic and business activities in most of the destination countries as well as Bangladesh. It has shown a tremendous growth. For most of the destination countries, tourism has become an emerging sector. They are now earning larger portion of their national income from tourism. For this, as developing country Bangladesh is developing necessary tourism-infrastructure and arranged necessary facilities to fed the tourists and thus

reap the potential benefit from tourism activities. The utmost efforts are yet on to attract increased number of tourists.

1.1. Bangladesh at a glance: Bangladesh is a country of vast, largely unknown and unspoiled natural beauty and reserves, which are simply unique and fascinating. These natural phenomena are composed of hills and vales, forests, rivers, lakes, sea and beaches, and the evergreen landscape embracing the

country. Bangladesh- the land of Royal Bengal Tiger, nature has bestowed it with all the beautiful shades of green. This large delta rises from the Bay of Bengal and does up to the footsteps of the west, north and east, a little strip of the southeast is connected with Myanmar. The mighty Bay of Bengal guards its coasts in the southern part. As a new destination, Bangladesh attractions. has excellent tourist

1.2. Geography Bangladesh is located in the tropics in South Asia and has a total area of 147,570 sq. km. It shares its borders with India on the west and north and Myanmar (Burma) on the east. On the south, 66,400 kilometers of coastline merge into the Bay of Bengal. Bangladesh is a part of the Bengal basin which is one of the most seismically active zones of the world. However, no major earthquake has occurred in Bangladesh since 1950. Topographically, the country is almost entirely a fertile alluvial plain formed by the four main rivers, the Padma, Meghna, Jamuna and the Brahmaputra and their hundreds of tributaries. Hills rise above the plain only in the Chittagong Hill Tracts in the far southeast and the Sylhet division in the northeast.

The worlds largest littoral mangrove belt, The Sundarbans, covers an area of nearly 3600 sq km in the south western part of Bangladesh and another 2400 sq km in east India. About 10 % of Bangladesh is still forested. Half of the forest is in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, a quarter in the Sundarbans, and the rest scattered in small pockets throughout the country. The country is divided in six divisions: Rajshahi, Sylhet, Chittagong, Khulna, Dhaka and Barisal Division, all named after their respective capitals. The capital city, Dhaka, with over 10 million citizens (2001) is located in the central part of the country.

1.3. Climate Bangladesh has a tropical monsoon climate with three main seasons- the hot and humid summer (March-May), the rainy season (Jun-Sep) and the mild and relatively dry winter (Dec-Feb). Spring and autumn (Oct-Nov) are brief but can be distinguished in changes in vegetation as well as mean daily temperature. Average annual temperature is 26C and while rainfall is 2540 mm. The best season for travelling in Bangladesh is between October and February. Early March can still be pleasant.

1.4. Culture Bangladesh is heir to a rich cultural legacy. In two thousand or more years of its history, many illustrious dynasties of kings and Sultans ruled the country and have left their mark in the shape of magnificent cities and monuments. Apart from this, the century old cultural traditions can be viewed in innumerable tangible and intangible heritages -in archaeological sites, in sculptures, in stones and terracotta, in architectures, museums, archives, libraries, classical music, songs and dance, paintings, dramas, folk arts, festivals, games as well as ethnic cultural activities. The people of Bangladesh are very simple and friendly. A beautiful communal harmony among the different religions has ensured a very congenial atmosphere. That is why, the UN has recognized the country as Moderate Muslim democratic country. More than 75% of the population lives in rural areas. Urbanization has, however, been rapid in the last decade.

1.5. History Bangladesh has a glorious history and rich heritage. Once it was known as Sonar Bangla or the Golden Bengal. The territory now constituting Bangladesh was under the Muslim rule for over five and a half centuries from 1201 to 1757 AD. Subsequently, it came under the British rule following the defeat of the sovereign ruler, Nawab Sirajuddaula, at the battle of Palassey on 23 June, 1757. The British ruled over the Indian sub-continent including this territory for nearly 190 years from 1757 to 1947. During that period, Bangladesh was a part of the British Indian provinces of Bengal and Assam. With the termination of British rule in August 1947, the sub-continent was partitioned into India and Pakistan. Bangladesh formed a part of Pakistan and was called East Pakistan. It remained so for about 24 years from August 14, 1947 to March 25, 1971. It appeared on the world map as an independent and sovereign state on 26 March, 1971 and subsequently liberated on December 16, 1971 following the victory of the war of Liberation. Bangladesh is ruled by an elected single-house legislature, National Assembly, presided over by a Speaker, with legislative power led by a Prime Minister, who is also the Head of the Government, while President is the Head of the State. Bangladesh has a general election every five years under Non-Party Care-taker Government. Foreign affairs policy of the country has been marked by participation in multilateral interventions and peacekeeping missions, particularly as part of UN forces. The country is the pioneer in micro-credit concept for poverty reduction, which brought the Nobel Prize in Peace for the country in 2006. The founder of world reputed Grameen Bank Professor Dr. Muhammad Yunus is the Nobel laureate.

1.6. Population The Bangladeshi population is relatively homogeneous. The national language, Bangla, is spoken by over 98 % of the population, while other ethnic groups, including various tribal groups, make up the remaining 2 percent. Religion also plays an important role in the society, Muslims make up about 83%, and Hindus 16%, Buddhist and Christian are religious minorities. Bangladesh is one of the most densely populated countries in the world with its population of over 140 million. It is a

relatively young population, as nearly 60 percent are under the age of 25 and only 3 percent 65 or older. Urban population is growing rapidly especially in Dhaka, Chittagong, Khulna, and Rajshahi. Bangladesh was almost completely a rural-agrarian country until 1951 with only 4 percent living in urban areas. By 2001 the level of urbanization was 23 % and by 2025 this level is estimated to reach 40%.

1.7. Economy Bangladesh has an agrarian economy, although the share of agriculture to GDP has been decreasing over the last few years. Yet it dominates the economy accommodating major labour force living in the rural areas. From marketing point of view, Bangladesh has been following a mixed economy that operates on free market principles. Bangladesh is a pioneer in the world of Microcredit with one of the largest number of microfinance institutions and highest penetration rates in the world. Microcredit pioneer and founder of Grameen Bank, Bengali Muhammad Yunus, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006. His innovative banking program has for over 30 years provided poor people with small loans they use to launch businesses and lift their families out of poverty. Tourism has since the 1990s been a small but rapidly growing sector of the economy.12 In 2007 the employment in the Bangladeshi Travel & Tourism Industry was estimated at 752.000 jobs or 1.2% of total employment. The industry was expected to contribute 1.5% to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2007 or US$ 998.2 million.

1.8. Tourism Bangladesh: Tourism is often synonymous to traveling for pleasure and education. It is also a business of attracting tourists and providing for their accommodation and entertainment. In many countries, tourism is an industry for earning Inland Revenue and foreign exchange. The many businesses that grow concomitantly with development of tourism include airlines, shipping, hotels and restaurants, finance companies, tour operators, travel agents, car rental firms,

caterers and retail establishments and together, they contribute significantly to the overall development of a country's economy and to its cultural diversification and assimilation. Bangladesh offers tourists a variety of attractions in almost every part of the country. Bengal had always attracted tourists. Travelers from different parts of the world had interest in this part of the world since very ancient times. They visited Bengal with varied purposes. As tourism in its modern sense is a relatively recent phenomenon, it took its start in the present Bangladesh area only during the 1960s. Tourists from abroad came to see and enjoy the sea beach, scenic beauty of the landscape covered with lavish greens and the web of rivers, tribal culture, religious rituals, historical places, forests, wild life and hill resorts. Bangladesh is located in an advantageous position from tourism point of view. It is in the macro Asiatic Air Traffic Corridor. Being so located it is comparatively easier for this country to share this traffic for promoting tourism.

2.1. Ethnic Origin of the People of Bangladesh During the pre-historic period human beings were nomads, living in small groups. They did not know how to grow food; so, they were hunter-food gatherers, moving place to place to hunt wild beasts and to gather wild food to quench their appetite. Afterwards they learnt how to domesticate wild animals. Still they remained nomads. In search of new pasture lands for their herds they used to move from one place to another place. The first group of human beings who came to Bangladesh was Mongoloid people from Tibet and China . They crossed the Himalayas to reach this land. After the Mongoloid race came the Austro-Asiatic people to Bangladesh from Indo-China region. Perhaps this people came to Indo-China region from the Polynesian and Melanesian islands in the South Pacific Ocean. By 8th Century BC or 2800 years ago a group of them reached in Bihar near the border of Bangladesh. In 18th and 19th century a few Portuguese and even English settled down in Bangladesh.

2.2. Religious history of Bangladesh Ancient Arabs used to worship different god and goddesses, such as Laat, Maanat; ancient Iraqis used to worship Enlil, Isthar, and Uruk. God and goddesses of ancient Greeks were Zeus, Appollo, Venus and many more. In fact during ancient time every nation had their deities of worship. Ancient people of Bangladesh used to worship a deity called Bangi. Perhaps the name of the country derived from the name of the deity worshiped by the people of the land or vice versa. In 14th century some Muslim saints from the Middle East and Iran started preaching Islam in Bangladesh, and soon Islam became the faith of the majority people. There is a misconception among the people of Bangladesh as well as foreigners that people of this country got converted to Islam from Hinduism. The British knew very well that the people, whether Muslim or Hindu, of this country were very sensitive of their faith. So they did not want to exasperate the people against their rule by hurting their religious sentiment. However, through the efforts of Jesuit and other Christian missionaries a few people of Bangladesh became Christian.

2.3. Heritage of Bangladesh Heritage Heritage is the features belonging to the culture of a particular society, such as traditions, languages or buildings, which still exist from the past and which have a historical importance. Our rivers always change their courses. The ever shifting rivers courses, excessive monsoon and extremely humid climate of our country as well as brick vandalism or deliberate destruction of buildings caused by human beings have destroyed so many of our cities and building heritages! In the middle of the nineteenth century a European, Bishop Heber, came to Bangladesh.

Pre- Moghul Mosques Among our mosques, Sat Gambus Mosque in Bagherhat, along with other pre-Moghul mosque at that place, is a world heritage. Other renowned mosques in Bangladesh are: Chhoto Sona Mosque in Chapai Nababganj, Kusumba and Bagha Mosque in Rajshahi, Baba Adam mosque in Munsigaj, Goaldi Mosque in Sonargawn, Sura Mosque in Dinajpur, Sailkupa Mosque in Jessore, Shahzadpur Mosque in Pabna, Atia Mosque in Tangail, Sat Mosjid mosque, Khawja Ambar Mosque, Kartalab Khan Mosque in Dhaka. Some of these mosques are pre-Moghul mosques built during 14 th and 15 th centuries, and some are Moghul mosques built during later period. Pre-Moghul and Moghul mosques differ in some architectural features.

2.4 Tourism Attractions of Bangladesh DHAKA: The Capital The capital city of Dhaka, gateway to Bangladesh for most international visitors, is a colorful and thriving metropolis of some 12 million people. It bears an exciting history and rich culture. Known all over the world as the city of mosques and rickshaws, it has attracted travellers from far and near through the ages. It is the center of industrial, commercial, cultural, educational and political activities for Bangladesh. Motijheel is the main commercial area of the city. Dhaka's main waterfront sadarghat is on the bank of the river Buriganga and

is crowded with all kinds of river craft, yachts, country-boats, motor launches, paddle steamers, fishermen's boats all bustling with activity. Resources of DhakaLalbagh Fort: The Fort of Aurangabad, popularity known as the Lalbagh Fort was built in 1678 A.D. by Prince Mohammad Azam, son of Mughal Emperor Aurangazeb who was the then Viceroy of Bengal. Suhrawardy Uddyan: Formerly known as the Race Course, Suhrawardy Uddyan is a popular park of the city. The Child Education & Recreation park (Shishu Park) is also located in a comer of this big Uddyan. National Poet's Graveyard: National poet Kazi Nazrul Islam died on August 28, 1976 and was laid to rest here. The graveyard is adjacent to the Dhaka University Mosque. Churches: Armmanian Church (1781). St. Mary's Cathedral at Ramna, Church of Bangladesh or former St. Thomas Cathedral (1677) at Tejgaon. Bangabhaban: Tourists can have a look (outside view only) of Bangabhaban, the official residence of the President. Zoological Garden: Called Mirpur Zoo, it is situated at Mirpur. 10 km. to northwest of Dhaka, on 230 acres of land. Shahid Minar: Symbol of Bang-ladeshi nationalism, this was built to commemorate the martyrs of historic Language Movement of 1952. Botanical Garden: Built over an area of 205 acres of land at Mirpur, just east of the Mirpur Zoo. Object of garden: botanical education, research, preservation of plants and some recreation. 1857 Memorial (Bahadur Shah Park): Built to commemorate the martyrs of the first liberation war (1857-59) against British rule, It was here that the revolting sepoys and their civil compatriots were publicly hanged. National Museum: Housed in an impressive building the Museum contains a large number of interesting collections including sculptures, coins, paintings and inscriptions.

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Ramna Green: Ramna Park is a vast stretch of green ground surrounded by a serpentine lake. National Art Gallery: Situated in the Shilpakala Academy premises this has a representative collection of folk art and paintings by artists of Bangladesh. Ahsan Manzil Museum: Located on the bank of river Buriganga in Dhaka. It is an example of the nations rich cultural heritage. It was the home of the Nawab of Dhaka and a silent spectator to many events. Today's renovated Ahsan Manzil is a monument of immense historical beauty. It has 31 rooms with a huge dome atop which can be seen from miles around. It now has 23 galleries in 31 rooms displaying portraits, furniture and household articles and utensils used by the Nawab. Baldha Garden: Baldha Garden has rare collection of botanical plants and flowers. National Assembly Complex: National Assembly Complex in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar designed by the famous architect Louis Kahn has distinctive architectural features. Mosques: Dhaka is better known as a city of mosques. The number of mosques in Dhaka cityold and newwould be more that one thousand. The only surviving monument of the pre-Mughal period in Dhaka is Binat Bibi's mosque (1457) in Narinda. Other monuments of the Sultanate period around Dhaka are the singledome Goaldi Mosque (1493-1519) and Mosque of Fateh Shah at Mograpara (1484). The earliest Mughal monument in Dhaka is the Eidgah, an open field for Eid prayers, located in Dhanmondi residential area. One of the finest examples of Moghul mosque architecture in the 17th century is the threedomed Sat Gombuj mosque which appears to be seven domed, hence the name sat which means seven. Another typical example of architecture is the three-domed mosque built in 1679 and situated behind the old High Court building. The mosque of Khan Mohamad Mridha located closer to the northwest corner of the Lalbagh fort was built in 1706. The only parallel to Mridha's two-storyed mosque is the five-dome Kartalab Khan's mosque at Begum Bazar near the Central Jail. This mosque was between 1700 and 1704. It has a graceful twosided roofed, hut-shaped room along its northern face, which, with its curvilinear eaves, gives it a very distinctive look.

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The Chowk Jame Mosque, according to an inscription found on the building was built in 1676. Perhaps one of the best known and frequently visited mosques in Dhaka is the petite Star Mosque in Armanitola which has an inlaid star pattern made of broken pieces of china. It was built in the early 18th century. Baitul Mukarram, the National Mosque in the down town area is the forerunner of a number of strikingly beautiful modern mosques. It is modeled after the rectangular shape of the holy Kaaba in Mecca. National Memorial: Located at Savar, in the suburb of Dhaka city, is the National Memorial. It was built to commemorate the martyrs of the war of independence, Jahangirnagar University and its sprawling campus is also located nearby. Sonargaon: About 29 km. from Dhaka is one of the oldest capitals of Bengal. It was the seat of Deva dynasty until the 13th century. From this period onward till the time of the advent of the Mughals. Sonargaon was a subsidiary capital of the Sultanate of Bengal. National Park: Situated at Rajendrapur, 40 km. due north of Dhaka within Joydevpur Thana in the magnificent Bhawal region on Dhaka-Trishal-Mymensingh Highway, this is a vast (1,600 acres) national recreational forest, ideal for those who love nature. Wildlife Sanctuary: About 128 km. from Dhaka is Madhupur, an interesting wildlife and game sanctuary of the country. River Cruise: During the dry winter months river cruise is available. The cruise provide an opportunity to have glimpse of riverine Bangladesh and its lash green countryside.

(Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation (BPC), the national tourism organization and The Guide, a private tour operator runs regular city sightseeing tours and river cruise).

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CHITTAGONG: The commercial capital of Bangladesh The commercial capital and the largest international seaport of Bangladesh, the health city (declared by UNESCO), Chittagong is located in a picturesque hinterland of large hill forests and lakes. It is really an amazing vacation spot. Its green hills and forests, broad sandy beaches and fine cool climate always attract holidaymakers. It combines the hum of a restless sea-port with the pleasure of a charming hill-town with its undulating topography. Chittagong is connected with Dhaka by rail, road, air and water. It is also connected with Cox's Bazar, Kolkata, Pukhet, Singapore and Middle East by air. Bangladesh Biman and private GMG airlines operate daily services from Dhaka to Chittagong.

COX'S BAZAR: The world's longest unbroken white sandy beach A conglomeration of miles of golden sands, towering cliffs, surfing waves, rare conch shells, colorful pagodas, Buddhist temples and tribes, delightful sea-food- this is Cox's Bazar - the tourist capital of Bangladesh, having the world's longest unbroken (120 km). Smooth, sandy, shark-free beach sloping down to the blue waters of the Bay of Bengal against the picturesque

background of a chain of hills covered with deep forests. Cox's Bazar is one of the most attractive tourist spots in the world. The breath- taking beauty of the setting-sun behind the waves of the sea is captivating.

SAINT MARTIN`S ISLAND: St. Martin is the country's only Coral island. Forty eight km from Teknaf - St. Martin is the country's only Coral island and unspoilt paradise with friendly people. Named Narikel Gingira (Coconut Island) by the local, the dumb-bell shaped St. Martin has an area of only eight sq. km from one to four meters above sea level during sea level during high tide.

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RANGAMATI: The Lake District From Chittagong, a 77km road amidst lush green fields and winding hills will take you to Rangamati- which is a wonderful repository of scenic splendours with flora and fauna of varied descriptions. The township is located on the western bank of Kaptai Lake. Rangamati is a favourite holiday resort because of its beautiful landscape, scenic beauty, lake, colourful tribes, hanging bridge, and tribal museum.

BANDARBAN: The Roof of Bangladesh Ninety two km from Chittagong by road - Bandarban is the district headquarters of the Bandarban Hill District. It is the home town of the Bhomang Chief who is the head of the Mogh tribe. The Moghs are of Myanmar origin and Buddhists by religion. The moghs are simple and hospitable people. Bandarban is also the home of the Murangs who are famous for their music and dances. Several other tribes of great interest live in the remote areas of the district. The highest peak of Bangladesh- Tahjin dong (4632 ft) is located in the Bandarban district.

SYLHET: The land of two leaves and a bud Immaculately nestled in the picturesque Surma Valley amidst scenic tea plantations and lush green tropical forests, it is a prime attraction for all tourists. Its terraced tea gardens, eyesoothing orange groves and pineapple

plantations and hills covered with tropical forests form a beautiful landscape. The Sylhet valley has a good number of haors which are big natural wetlands. These haors which provide sanctuary to the millions of migratory birds who

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fly from Siberia across the Himalayas to avoid the severe cold. SRIMONGAL in Moulvibazar district known as the tea capital of Bangladesh is the main tea centre of the area. For miles and miles around the visitors can see the tea gardens spread like green carpet over the plain land or on the slopping hills. Sylhet, the tea granary of Bangladesh, not only has over 150 tea gardens. A stay in one of the rest-houses of tea gardens would be an enchanting one. Sylhet is also known as the land of the famous Muslim Saint Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA), the great torch bearer of Islam to this region. Another shrine of this town is the Shrine of Hazrat Shah Paran (RA). Mahasthangar (Bogra): Dating back from the 3rd century BC, this is the earliest known city site in the whole of Bengal. One can see the ruins of an early Buddhist monastery near Mahasthangar. Paharpur (Naogaon): This gigantic temple and monastery of the 8th century is by far the most spectacular Buddhist site that has been discovered. It has been declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO. Dinajpur: Ramsagor Lake and the Kantajis Mandir (built in 1722) are two important attractions in this northern district. The Mandir, with mythological decorations in terracotta, depicts the entire story of Mahabharata. Sixty Domes Mosque (Bagerhat): Built in 1454, with 77 domes, this is the most magnificent and certainly the largest brick mosque of Bangladesh. The mausoleum in memory of the Muslim mystic Khan Jahan Ali is located here. It has been declared as a World Heritage site by UNESCO. Comilla: Here the most important place to visit is Mainamati-Lalmai, an extensive centre of Buddhist culture (7th to 12th century), developed during the Chandra and the Deva dynasties.

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2.5. Tourism potential in Bangladesh Bangladesh is located conveniently on the east-west air-corridor making it a gateway to the Far East. It is endowed with resources and the potential for a tourism industry. In the south- east the country has a 120 km long beach of soft silvery sand, perhaps the world's

longest, in a Riviera-like setting with crescent-shaped low hills overlooking the Bay of Bengal. The ranges of the hills clad in lush green thickets are treasured locations for eco-tourists and wildlife watchers. At the head of this terrain is Cox's Bazaar which is as romantic as its name is to the outside world. The Hill Districts to the north and north-east of Cox's Bazaar nestle the Kaptai and Rangamatilakes, a 840 sq.km body of crystal clear water lying in sylvan shadows not far from where a dozen hill tribes follow their traditional life-styles. The Tea District of Sylhet in the far north-east of the country has prospects of tourism, as does the Sundarbans, a large mangrove forest in the South which is home of the Bengal tiger; remains of palaces of old principalities and archaeological sites of Buddhist monasteries. Shrines and holy places, mosques and temples, particularly in the northern part of the country, are among the tourist treasures of Bangladesh.

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3.1. TOURISM SECTOR IN BANGLADESH Various tourism facilities have been developed in many of the potential tourism areas by the Bangladesh Parjatan (Tourism) Corporation and other government, semi-government and non-government agencies. The Government of Bangladesh formulated a National Tourism Policy in February 1992. The main objective of this policy is to attract investment in tourism from the domestic private sector as well as by foreign investors. The government encourages foreign investment in the sector, either in the form of joint ventures or on a full foreign ownership basis. In order to encourage investments, the government has put in place a number of incentives such as tax exemptions.

3.2. National Tourism Policy Promotion of tourism in Bangladesh under the aegis of the government started in 1972, following independence of the country. The main attractions of the tourism industry of Bangladesh are varied cultural heritages, ancient archaeological sites, Buddhist heritages and many eco-tourism sites, worlds longest natural sea beach, etc. Recognizing the contribution of tourism to the socio-economic development of the country, the government framed the National Tourism Policy in 1992. In the Tourism Policy, status of tourism industry in Bangladesh was described, aims & objectives were defined and implementation strategies were suggested. The policy identified tourism as a multidimensional industry and spelt out the necessity to have an effective coordination among various government ministries, departments, agencies and civil society bodies. As per the recommendation of the National Tourism Policy, a National Tourism Council headed by the Prime Minister and an Inter-ministerial Coordination Committee headed by the Minister of Civil Aviation and Tourism were formed. Unfortunately, both the committees virtually remained dysfunctional. Until now, only two meetings of the National Tourism Council were held. The National Tourism Policy undertook some initiatives for a vigorous promotion of tourism within and outside the country. However, most of those remained unimplemented. Against this backdrop and emergence of private sector tourism industry, it is urgently felt that the 1992 policy needs updating.

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3.3. National Industrial Policy, 2005 The National Industrial Policy 2005 has recognized tourism as an industry and declared it as a thrust sector. As per the Industrial Policy, foreign investors have been offered various incentives to invest in tourism industry, which include: (a) Tax exemption on royalties; (b) Tax exemption on the interest of foreign loans; (c) Tax exemption on capital gains from the transfer of shares; (d) Avoidance of double taxation of foreign investors on the basis of bilateral agreements; (e) Exemption of income tax on salaries up to three years for the foreign technicians employed in the approved industries; (f) Remittance up to 50% of the salary of the foreigners employed in Bangladesh and the facilities for repatriation of their savings and retirement benefits and personal assets at the time of their return; (g) Facilities for repatriation of invested capital, profits and dividends; (h) Guarantee against expropriation and nationalization of foreign private investment (as per (i) Provision for transfer of shares held by foreigners to local partners with the permission from the Board of Investment and the Foreign Exchange Control Dept. of Bangladesh Bank.

3.4. The Tourism Master Plan The Tourism Master Plan of Bangladesh prepared in 1988 with the assistance of UNDP/ILO has identified a number of hindrances of the tourism industry and suggested various ways and means for the growth of tourism in Bangladesh. The Master Plan has envisaged a short-term, medium-term and long-term planning strategy for the promotion of tourism in Bangladesh. The short and medium-term strategies are intended to be completed within a 10-year period,

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the short-term referred broadly to the third and fourth national development plans, and the medium-term extending into the following five year period. Because of the constraints on public sector resources and possible caution on the part of the private sector to commit investment finance on tourism projects, the development programme follows the same broad approach in allocating projects to short and medium- term programmes. Although, in short term, some increase in tourism activity in Bangladesh can be achieved through small-scale product improvements, in the medium and longer term, major product initiatives will be required to achieve the growth targets. The major product development strategies may be River Tourism Product, Village Tourism Development, Cultural Heritage (archeological sites, historic buildings and monuments, museums, fine arts and performing arts etc.), Forest and Wildlife and other products innovation.

3.5. Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation as National Tourism Organization Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation (BPC) was established in 1972 through a Presidential Order no 143, and placed it under the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism. It has been entrusted with dual responsibility - promotion of tourism in the country as well as creation of facilities on commercial basis. Since its inception, BPC has been developing and creating various tourist facilities across the country. Till to date, it has created 42 tourism units (hotels. motels, restaurants, tourism centre, picnic spots, duty free shops, drinks corner, etc.) at different places of tourist attractions of the country in order to offer facilities to the tourists. It also runs a National Hotel and Tourism Training Institute (NHTTI), which to date, produced more than 24,000 trained manpower. As per the privatization policy of Bangladesh government, BPC has leased out as many as 11 commercial units to private sector on commercial basis.

3.6. Infrastructure Though communication and transport system in Bangladesh is quite well established, the infrastructure in the tourist places is yet to be fully developed. Tourism and amusement facilities in some areas - like Coxs Bazar, Kuakata, Paharpur, Sundarbans, Teknaf and St. Martin are not sufficient. Presently, there are some tourism infrastructure in and around of Dhaka, the capital city through private sector initiatives. Owing to lack of funds, construction of tourism infrastructure cannot be undertaken.

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3.7. Tourism in Bangladesh: SWOT ANALYSIS Strengths Industry experts insist that promoting tourism should be based on our strengths. We should definitely exploit factors created by geographical diversity and the exotic tribal life in some parts of the country. The strengths of tourism are as follows:

Bangladesh has the potential and resources to create innovative tourist destinations which will pull people from other nations in hordes. The 25 rivers of Bangladesh can easily be turned into haunts for water sports and adventure, entwining entertainment with the beauty of the rivers.

In Bangladesh there are different appealing spots for the eco-tourists, who travel to different destinations in a sustainable manner. The country possesses some unique archaeological sites, cultural heritage and ecotourism products like the worlds largest mangrove forest, the Sundarbans, the worlds longest unbroken sea beach in Coxs Bazar (120 km), the oldest archaeological site in the Southern Himalayas-Paharpur and worlds largest terracotta temple - Kantaji Temple in Dinajpur, and spectacular monuments and mausoleums of language movement and liberation war of the country.

There are many tribal groups in different areas of Bangladesh. Each has its own culture, social structure and lifestyle. Not many parts of the world boast such diversity. The nation has also been bestowed with archaeological sites and religious sanctuaries of old which have significant historical value that can attract tourist en masse. The key strategy would be to convey to potential tourists that there is much more to experience in Bangladesh.

People of Bangladesh are generally very hospitable and tourist friendly. Domestic tourism is increasing steadily. Due to two-day holiday in the week, the trend of moving out for recreation has increased mainly among the middle class people of the society.

Awareness about tourist attractions among the local community is increasing. Communication and transport system has been developed from north to south, east to west.

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Weaknesses Tourism- the globally recognized tool for poverty alleviation is yet to be recognized by the policy makers of Bangladesh one of the poorest countries with significant tourism potentials. While most of the countries all over the world are making all out efforts to develop tourism and boost foreign currency revenue, Bangladesh remained stuck in non- action. So, Bangladesh has remained one of the most backward countries in the world in tourism sector. The country often suffers from image crisis. The country continues to remain as an unknown destination to the tourist generating countries. There is a great shortage in properly skilled human resources. At the moment, the industry is suffering from a huge crisis of proper tour guides. Due to the deficiency in human resources it has become very difficult to smoothly run tourism businesses. Due to absence of a tourism law, the tour operators or tourism service providers can not be punished for any mishandling of tourists. Also owing to absence of law, tourism products can not be protected or conserved, which is there in many countries of the world. One of the biggest hurdles is the lack of proper infrastructure in the country which has made operating tour guides and other excursions a hectic and unprofitable feat. Frequent changes of officials in the BPCs management and its line ministry. Absence of representation of civil society in the BPCs Board of Directors. No revenue budget for the promotion of tourism development in the country. Absence of a regular policy direction. Due to absence of proper policy direction, BPC or the private sector cannot receive any fund or loan from any quarter.

There are some flaws in the law of categorizing the countrys hotels and restaurants. Categorizing of the hotels and restaurants as Star or non-Star is not under the jurisdiction of the BPC. Non-technical hands or institutions are involved in this process.

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Opportunities It is easy to implement eco-tourism, riverine tourism, and spiritual tourism, as the country possesses enough opportunity to develop these types of tourism. Government has formulated favorable foreign investment policy to attract overseas investors in readymade garments, leather goods, natural gas and petroleum sector and liberal policy for joint venture investment in tourism sector. As there are hundreds of rivers crisscrossing Bangladesh, immense potentiality exists for development of riverine tourism in Bangladesh. Bangladesh is located strategically in South Asia. Tourism generates jobs directly through hotels, restaurants, taxis, souvenir sales and indirectly through the supply of goods and services needed by tourism-related businesses. So the employment generation effects of tourism are massive Tourism can play a crucial role in stabilizing a countrys balance of payment situation. He enlightens us that that 60 to 90 per cent of the foreign exchange that the country earns through the RMG export leaves the country eventually to pay for all the raw materials and accessories needed for production. In tourism, it is not irrational to assume that foreign exchange retention could be as high as 100 per cent.

Threats/Constraints Unstable political situation created a bad image abroad, which should be taken as the biggest threat for development of tourism industry overseas. Continuous campaign against Bangladesh by certain quarters as a fundamentalist country is another obstacle. Unholy alliance between the trade union and political leaders, which disrupts labor discipline. Politicization of administration. The lack of a proper tourism authority in Bangladesh has been the main deterrent for the industry. Although the BPC claims to be the tourism authority in Bangladesh, it is not. Trade Union Menace in the organization. Rapid growth of population is another big problem. Bangladesh is the most overpopulated country of the world, except the city state of Singapore.

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3.8. Tourism for Economic Growth in Bangladesh The Tourism sector can play an important role as a driving force of Economic Development by contributing in three high priority goals of developing countries: A. Generation of income: Tourism Expenditures and the Export related goods and services generate income to the host Economy and can stimulate the investment necessary to finance growth in other Economic sectors. Government may earn revenue by imposing tax on the popular products demanded by the tourists. B. Employment: Tourism offers the opportunity of providing jobs for different classes of people and thereby contributing to the alleviation of poverty in developing countries. Tourism generates jobs directly through hotels, restaurants, taxis, souvenir sales and indirectly through the supply of goods and services needed by tourism-related business. In addition Tourism can induce the local government to make infrastructural improvements and also make an important contribution to a country's Balance of Payments (BOP). So Tourism is a powerful engine of growth for many developing countries. C. Foreign exchange earnings: Although the number of tourist arrivals in Bangladesh has shown an increasing trend over the years, Bangladesh has not been able to reap the full benefits in the tourism sector up to the desired level according to its potentiality. In the year of 2004-2005, approximately 2,71,270 tourists visited Bangladesh and it earned 3967 million taka whereas in 2005-2006 3,00,000 tourists visited Bangladesh contributing more than 4000 million Taka to the domestic economy.

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4.1. Place or Country of origin of the Tourists Majority of the domestic tourists have birth place in Dhaka. (39%) and majority of domestic tourists have working place also in Dhaka (74%). Next importance place of origin of domestic tourists is Chittagong. Among the foreign tourists, majority are European tourists (74%). Only 3% of tourists are from USA as found in the sample. Among the Asian tourists, majority are Chinese , Indian, Thai and Philippines constituting together 21%.

4.2. Age Distribution of Tourists by Country of Origin, Sex and Marital Status Majority of the tourists domestic or foreign as per their age distribution belongs to younger and middle age group up to 40 years. Of course, domestic tourists are younger than foreign tourists and female tourists are younger than their male counterparts. Average age of

domestic tourist is around thirty, while that of the foreign tourist is thirty six. Among the domestic tourist male tourists are younger. Among the foreign tourists female are younger in age. About 93% of the tourists have age exceeding 20 years and none of them is above 70 years. Among the unmarried segments of tourists 100% domestic tourists and 94% foreign tourists have age below 35 years. Among the married domestic tourists, around 88% are below 35 years as against 24% of the foreign tourists in this age group. While 81% of the domestic tourists are below 45 years, a considerable number of foreign tourists have age above 45 years (24%). On an average, 7.2% of the tourists have age exceeding 50 years, domestic tourists having age 50 years are 2.6% while foreign tourists of this age group constitute 22% which means that though domestic tourists of older generation are not many, number of foreign tourists in this age group constitute a considerable number. So tourism authorities should take the case of age as an important consideration for development of products and security for tourism. Different age group needs different tourism facilities including health and guidance services.

4.3. Occupational Pattern of the Tourists Major portion of male domestic tourists belongs to students (38%), service holders(23%) and businessmen(25%). Among the female domestic tourists, about 25% are service holders, 37% are students and 25% are housewives. Most of the foreign tourists are service holders,

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students or businessmen. Among the male foreign tourists, about 57% are service holders, 23% businessmen and 14% are students. Among the female foreign tourists, 54% are service holders, 31% are students and 14% are housewives.

4.4. Income Level of the households of the Tourists We have analyzed the income level as per type of the tourists. We have used both the indicators of per capita income and household income. We have categorized all the tourists in five income groups: lower income, lower middle, middle group, upper middle and rich income groups. In terms of indicator of per capita income, lower income tourists constitute 5%, and lower middle constitutes 18% and most of the tourists belong to middle (50%) and upper middle income group (27%). Sexwise, female tourists in the rich income group constitute higher proportion than their male counterparts. According to marital status, the situation is different as per sex. Among the unmarried, majority of the female tourists belong to the middle class. No upper middle or rich classes were found among unmarried female tourists. Even among the unmarried male tourists only 29% belong to upper middle class and none belongs to rich income group. The reason why among the unmarried tourists, there is none from rich class is that there may be greater concern for security in the richer family for their children. Concern for security for the unmarried female tourists is more in the richer class as evidenced by the fact that not a single unmarried female tourists belongs to even upper middle class not to talk of rich income group. Most of the tourists in upper middle and richer class are married. Most of the rich tourists belong to married group and they constitute 27% of married tourists. This implies that the package for the rich tourists should consider the taste and interest of the married tourists. Thus income level and marital status are important factors for domestic tourism development. Among the foreign tourists 88% belong to rich income level. Sex wise, male tourists are a bit richer than female tourists. Thus, income level of the tourists is important for tourism. It is obvious that considerable amount of money is required for transport, accommodation, and food involved in travel. Duration of stay and distance of tourist destination depends upon the capacity of the tourists to bear the expenses of traveling. Per capita income of households of the tourists is much higher than the average income of the country and per capita income of households of the foreign tourists is much higher than that of the domestic tourists. Major portion of domestic tourists has per capita income below 3

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lakhs Taka while major portion of the foreign tourists have per capita above this level. Major portion of the domestic tourists belong to middle income bracket of the population. Thus economic background is an important factor for the development of the country.

4.5. Duration of Stay Average day of stay of the tourists is only five: four for domestic tourists and seven for foreign tourists. No domestic tourist was found to spend more than ten days (only 3% spent 10 days). On the other hand, about 43% foreign tourists spent 10 or more days on average. Average duration of stay among the female in case of domestic tourists is more as compared to male counterparts, while it is less among the foreign female tourists. as compared to their male counterparts.

4.6. Type of Tour of the Tourists There are five types of tour found prominent. These are: group tour(47%), individual tour (22.5%), family tour (18%), official tour(4.5%), honeymoon (4.5%) and package tour (2.7%). While domestic tourists concentrate on group tour(47%), family tour (23%) and individual tour(17%), foreign tourists concentrate on group tour(50% and individual tour(35%). Female domestic tourists belong more to family tour than their male counterparts(18%), who give more emphasis on group tour. In major cases, both male and female come under group tour. Among the foreign tourists, individual tour for both the male and female is much higher than the domestic tourists.

4.7. Activities engaged in by the Tourists during their Stay The tourists (463 responses) have identified their activities in the tour spot during their stay here. Major portion of the tourists identified wandering, sight seeing, sunbathing, visiting historical places, knowledge gathering and pleasure trips as important activities (83% responses) they did while staying there. Other important activities of the tourists were recreation, resting, visiting friends, cultural interaction and study. The activities like study, recreation, seeing rural life style have been mentioned only by the foreign friends.

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5.1. Transportation International fares from Europe and Thailand to Bangladesh are often cut-rate flights and the national transport, whether it is by air, land or water, are cheap compared with western standard. Bangladesh has international airports in Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet; the main outbound destinations are Bangkok (Thailand) and Calcutta (India). The largest national airport, Zia International Airport, is located in the capital. More than 20 airlines are handling over 183 international flights per week to over 25 destinations in Asia and Europe. Several flight routes options exist from European destinations to Dhaka. As an example flying from Copenhagen, Denmark, to Dhaka, is possible with one stopover in London (England), Bangkok (Thailand) or Rome (Italy). Several alternative travel routes include a two stop over journey; First stop over is in one of the European cities of Frankfurt (Germany), Helsinki (Finland), London (England), Wien (Austria) or Istanbul (Turkey). Second stop over is in Dubai (United Arab Emirates), Doha (Qatar) or Delhi (India). About 3.8 million international and 0.8 million domestic passengers pass through Zia International Airport annually, which is over 50 % of the country's international and domestic arrivals and departures. In addition to the international airports, there are smaller, domestic airports in Rajshahi, Bagerhat, Barisal, Coxs Bazar, Jessore, and Saidpur. There are only a couple of direct flights between regional cities, including Coxs Bazar-Chittagong and Saidpur-Rajshahi. The Bangladeshi rail network is largely British-built, linking most major towns and cities. The network is divided into two halves eastern and western by the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers. Connections between the two networks are often poor further more travel is slowed down by unbridged rivers requiring ferry crossings and circuitous routing. A train ride can take up exactly the same time, or twice as long, as a bus ride. Approximately 6240km (3877 miles) of roads makes it possible to reach virtually everywhere in Bangladesh. Road travel can be very slow given poor quality of many of the roads, heavy and chaotic traffic in urban areas and occasionally ferry crossings being a necessity. The Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation provides a countrywide network of bus services. Bangladesh has a well-developed and well-used system of water transport, further more with a total of 8000 km., rivers and streams outstretch roads in total distance. Although water

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transportation is generally slow and highly affected by the rise and fall of the rivers though out the seasons, this transportation form is an interesting alternative. The main routes are covered by Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC), while private companies are primary operating on shorter routes. Sundarbarns, the mangrove forest, can only be visited by boat.

5.2. Accommodation, restaurants and night life Traditionally, Bengalis have preferred to accommodate and entertain guests at home, however small and congested a house may be. Any suggestion of keeping guests or relatives at hotels or entertaining them in restaurants was almost sacrilegious. During the British period, officials and their guests found accommodation and food at circuit houses. In the 1950s and 1960s, a large number of rest houses were built all over the country providing services to business travellers. The first hotels and motels build around interesting spots with facilities suitable for tourists were launched by the national tourism organization The Bangladeshi Parjatan Corporation after 1960. Many little-known places of historic, cultural, ethnic and natural interest were made popular this way. The largest complexes were built in Dhaka, Chittagong and Coxs Bazar, but the organisation also offers

accommodation in the cities of Khulna, Dinajpur, Rangamati, Sylhet, Bogra, Rajshahi and Rangpur. Generally the facilities and service offered by these accommodations are at a basic level. A variety of facilities at different service levels are offered in the private build hotels and restaurants which have emerged all over the country since 1971. Business related tourism still seems to be the primary target group and the metropolitan cities of Dhaka and Chittagong has attracted most attention. The top end hotels in Dhaka are: Radisson Water Garden Hotel Dhaka, Sheraton Hotel, Sarina Hotel Dhaka, Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel, The Westin Hotel Dhaka and Hotel Swiss Park Bangladesh.

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Hundreds of restaurants serve Local, Oriental, Indian and Western food. Further more several exclusive private clubs in Dhaka and Chittagong provide accommodation, food and bar services to their members and guests. Examples of popular private tourist accommodation outside the two main cities include in Sylhet Division Nazimgarh Resort, in Dhaka Division Royal Resort, in Rajshahi Division Hotel Naz Garden, Elenga Resort and Jamuna Resort, in Chittagong Division Esmeralda Resort, Hillside Resort and Seagull Hotel. Private tourist boat operators with onboard accommodation are primary sailing in the Sundarbarns or nearby Dhaka. Examples of high quality tourist boat operators are Contic, Guide Tours, Bangladesh Ecotours and Excursion Bangladesh. Bangladeshi nightlife is nearly non-existent. Being a Muslim country, alcohol is frowned upon and found mostly in the international clubs and pricier restaurants in Dhaka and in some restaurants in tourist centers like Cox's Bazar. Some of the nicest hotels in the cities have fully equipped bars with exaggerated prices to match. In town Teknaf and on Saint Martins Island beer from Myanmar is occasionally sold.

5.3. How is Bangladesh Sold? The Bangladeshi tourist slogan most referred to is Visit Bangladesh: Before Tourists come, used several years ago by Parjatan. Nevertheless the promotion of Bangladesh as a tourist destination is far from unambiguous, most likely due to lack of national political policy and business corporation. The first and still active national policy on tourism in Bangladesh was introduced in 1992, but according to TOAB no changes in the industry has been evident since its announcement. There is no cooperation between the reprehensive organs form the government and private tourist sector, Parjatan and TOAB, further more a collectively marketing policy does not exist in either organ. But several webpages are providing national tourism information, e.g. Gateway Bangladesh, Bangladesh Online and Discovery Bangladesh.

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The main source of the tourist promotion of Bangladesh abroad is the few foreign tour operators selling this destination. The profiles of these companies often include concepts of sustainable travel and development, and their tourist products are frequently aiming to improve the tourists knowledge and understanding of the destination society. In foreign markets Bangladesh is generally presented as a fairly undiscovered tourist destination as well as a country with developing problems, natural beauty and interesting cultural life. Several of these foreign tours operators are able to customize their Bangladeshi tours by including volunteer work, field study trips or visits to NGO projects, traditional companies and villages. The national tourist promotion of Bangladesh by the local tour operators seems to be highly influenced by national pride. The quote below is an example of the perception of the potential of the Bangladeshi tourist product; these same phrases are often used in local sales promotion. Land of enormous beauty, hundreds of serpentine rivers, crystal clear water lakes surrounded by ever green hills, luxuriant tropical rain forests, beautiful cascades of green tea gardens, world's largest mangrove forest preserved as World Heritage, home of the Royal Bengal Tiger and the wild lives, warbling of birds in green trees, wind in the paddy fields, abundance of sunshine, world's longest natural sea beach, rich cultural heritage, relics of ancient Buddhist civilizations and colorful tribal lives, - Bangladesh creates an unforgettable impression of a land of peace and tranquility. - Tour Planers Ltd. (2008) In the home market tourist promotion every company is generally on their own. Sales promotion in English is common, as to the extent that some companies do not promote to the local market in the native language. Brochures, business cards and word of mouth seem to be important marketing channels, as not all companies have a web-page. To attract tourists the local tourist operators often outbid competitors in professionalism, quality, service, linguistic skills, sustainable development, adventure and unique tourist products. Comparing the tours of the different operators, few stands out with a distinct profile and product while the majority seems to offer quit similar tours and sales phrases. To a western observer the linguistic promotion promises sometimes also conflict with a poor photo quality, especially when showing a low or different quality concept of facilities and service.

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5.4. The future Bangladeshi tourist supply Travel & Tourism is a catalyst for construction and manufacturing also in Bangladesh. In 2007 the public and private sectors combined were expected to invest 764.8 million US$ on Travel & Tourism or 4.6% of total investment. By 2017, this amount should reach 1,864.3 million US$, corresponding to 4.4% of total investment. The Bangladeshi level of investments in Travel & Tourism is not exceptional. Worldwide in 2007, Travel & Tourism Capital Investment were expected to reach 1,155,427.0 billion US$, equivalent to 9.5% of total annual worldwide investment. At the year 2017 the investments in this line of business is predicted to reach 2,392,765.0 billion US$, or 9.9% of the total world investment. In South Asia, Travel & Tourism Capital Investment is expected to total 23,306.0 million US$ in 2007, or 8.0% of total regional capital investment. The Bangladeshi aviation industry followed the globally growth rate in 2007, with a 7.6 percent growth. To fulfill a steadily growing demand for air transport several private airline operators operating in Bangladesh are planning to expanded their activities. This expansion includes adding more aircraft to their fleet, new international destinations and raising the numbers of flights to both international and national destinations.

5.5. The potential of the tourism industry The tourism industry is quite a young line of business in Bangladesh, where the development predominantly has been left to the local market forces. Today this market has both local and international tourist players competing for the small existing market, primarily composed of a local tourist market and a foreign business market. The Bangladeshi government and private tourist sector are represented by organizations, nevertheless co-operation, strategies and policies aiming at developing a prosperous and sustainable tourist industry are rear - and not always implemented if they exist.

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To develop the Bangladeshi tourism industry successfully a local based strategy is crucial without visions, missions, goals and policies for this line of business the development is largely uncontrolled. Here by there is a possibility that an undesired or destroying tourist development takes place, often influent by powerful foreign tourist players. Political and/or private initiatives can control a national tourism development as well as introduce initiatives to strengthen the influence of local communities. The political history of

Bangladesh seems to indicate that the private sector should have a large influence if the national tourism development is to be sustainable and consistent. The future tourism strategy should have two primary aims. First; the development has to be sustainable including economical, cultural and environmental considerations. The term sustainable can be determined as: Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. As tourism often causes both positive and negative influence on a destination the phenomena and control of a sustainable development is complex. Every destination has an ultimate sustainable load, but a generally and objective definition of this sustainable limit do not exist. The second aim for a Bangladeshi tourism strategy is that actions should be taken to increase the tourist income by raising the numbers of tourists, the income pr. tourist or the average length of stay. In this regard it is obvious to focus on existing local markets as well as to aim for the traditionally profitable inbound tourist market. The low existing inbound tourism demand indicates that fundamental product and promotion improvement is required. Strategically product improvement must take into account that International travelers have a much higher service expectation than most domestic

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travelers, they judge operators (and hence destinations) on the basis of their professionalism. And although there may be many professional operations in Bangladesh, both large and small, there is a terrible lack of connection between their products and the discerning dollarspending traveler. To meet the expectations of the foreign market investments in the existing infrastructure and other tourism related services seems to be necessary. Likewise product improvement must result in a desired tourist product, which must take existing Bangladeshi attraction supply and foreign demand into account. The Bangladeshi destination already awakes life lessons and eye-opening experiences to expatriates and some of the existing product potential lies in trekking, beach resorts, wildlife and the everyday life of the Bangladeshi people. One possible national product improvement strategy therefore is to develop the Bangladeshi tourist destination inspired by the philosophy of responsible travel. This philosophy redefines the way people travel around the world. [The responsible traveler] wants a holiday that minimizes his/her impact on the environment and detrimental influence on local cultures, while simultaneously enlightening themselves about the world abroad. The responsible target market generally travel for a longer time period, they would most likely buy a guided round trip in Bangladesh and/or including nearby countries e.g. Nepal, India, Burma and Bhutan. Responsible travel is a world niche market increasing especially in USA and Europe. Regarding strategically tourism promotion, the second improvement proposed to attract the inbound market, this should be more unanimous and go far beyond the slogan: Visit Bangladesh: Before Tourists come. And Beautiful Bangladesh The Bangladeshi tourism industry can be criticized for lacking marketing professionalism, which is severely crippling the industrys inbound and expatriate tourism growth. The solution is that the local operators provide the tourists with truthful, well researched and easy-to-understand information on what a journey to the country will be like, and why it will be memorable. In the process of accessing new foreign tourist markets the expatriates can be considered a pivotal springboard, as one can never underestimate the power of the word of mouth. Before Bangladeshi tour operators can do any kind of job reaching the outside world, they need to convince the expat market first.

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6.1. The Role of Tour Operators Tour operators based in the major originating markets affect the nature of tourism development and the impacts that this development has bring brightness of nation and society. It is essential to understand the role of tour operators and how the changing structure of the tourism industry in the globalization era, to improve our knowledge of how tourism strategies can be successfully implemented in developing countries like Bangladesh.

6.2. Definition of Tour Operator Tour operator is a company that assembles the various elements of a tour. Typically it combines tour and travel components to create a holiday. The most common example of a tour operator's product would be a flight on a charter airline plus a transfer from the airport to a hotel and the services of a local representative, all for one price. Niche tour operators may specialize in destinations, e.g. Italy, activities and experiences, e.g. skiing, or a combination thereof. The original raison dtre of tour operating was the difficulty of making arrangements in far-flung places, with problems of language, currency and communication. The advent of the internet has led to a rapid increase in self-packaging of holidays. However, tour operators still have their competence in arranging tours for those who do not have time to do holidays, and specialize in large group events and meetings such as conferences or seminars. Also, tour operators still exercise contracting power with suppliers (airlines, hotels, other land arrangements, cruises, etc.) and influence over other entities (tourism boards and other government authorities) in order to create packages and special departures for destinations otherwise difficult and expensive to visit.

6.3. Travel Agency A travel agency is a retail business that sells travel related products and services to customers on behalf of suppliers such as airlines, car rentals, cruise lines, hotels, railways, sightseeing tours and package holidays that combine several products. In addition to dealing with ordinary tourists most travel agencies have a separate department devoted to making travel arrangements for business travelers and some travel agencies specialize in commercial and business travel only. There are also travel agencies that serve as general sales agents for

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foreign travel companies, allowing them to have offices in countries other than where their headquarters are located.

6.4. What does a tour-operator do? Tour operators are businesses that combine two or more travel services (e.g. transport, accommodation, catering, entertainment, sightseeing) and sell them through travel agencies or directly to final consumers as a single product. A tour operator is thus a crucial link in the distribution chain, representing the central connection between customers and providers of tourism services, and thus has the power to influence both the demand and the supply side. The product that a tour operator sells to customers is the 'package tour', i.e. the packaged combination of transport, accommodation and services. Due to bulk-buying the tour operator is able to offer this package at a cheaper price than the customer would have been able to achieve dealing directly with individual suppliers. This package is distributed to the customer either directly (e.g. via direct sell, internet) or via a middleman (the travel agent) who arranges the sale of the package for commission (see following figure).

The role of the tour operator in the distribution chain.

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6.5. Principles of tour operator The principles of tour operators are providing a organized service and a product, which make up the package holiday. They are divided in three groups: Transport carriers like, ferries, cruise lines, airlines, road transport, coaches(GMG airline) Accommodation providers like , hotels, motels, camp sites, villas, apartments, holiday centers( Long Beach Hotel ) Additional services like, transfer agents, excursions operators, car hire and travel insurance (Navana car hire company)

6.6. The chain of distribution A massive range of products and service is required to meet the travel needs of leisure and business tourist. The relationship between producers, wholesalers and retailers from the supply structure, or chain of distribution as it is sometimes described. Producers Principals Accommodation: such as Long beach Hotel

Extra service: such as Speed boat hire

Wholesalers

Tour Operators

Ascott leisure & Holidays, Asian Holidays etc.

Retailers

Travel agent

Galaxy Travel International etc.

Customers

Customers

Families, business people.

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6.7. Integration in Tour Operators As competition in the outbound travel industry has intensified tour operators have sought alliances and merges with other business as a way of maintaining or increasing market share and maximizing profitability. This is most noticeable in the tour operator/ travel agent relationship where: Galaxy International owns the travel agency chain. GMG airlines own tour operator business. Many tour operators have a strategic alliance with GMG airlines, Mountain Club etc. Some tour and travel company owns the transportation facilities.

These are all examples of vertical integration in the travel industry, when a company has control over other companies that are in different levels in the chain of distribution.

Forward Vertical integration: Vertical integration can be called forward when an organisation takes over a company, which is lower in the chain of distribution. Backwards integration: Vertical integration can be called backward when on organisation takes over company, which is higher in the chain of distribution. Horizontal integration: It is when a company takes control of another company which are in the same level in the chain of distribution i.e. a travel agency takes control of another agency.

6.8. Tour Operators Association of Bangladesh (TOAB) Theoretically both the National tourist Office Parjatan (The Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation) and the private-sector run tours in Bangladesh, but in reality the private-sector operators have eclipsed national tour service. At The Bangladeshi Tourism Fair 2007 it was estimated that about 150 private tour operators in the country, no Bangladeshi tour operator works abroad, and no foreign tour operator work in Bangladesh.

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In 1992, 78 private tour operators founded the TOAB association (Tour Operators Association of Bangladesh), which aims to develop and nourish tourism in Bangladesh and to promote tour products of Bangladesh in the international arena. In 2002 the association was recognized as a trade organization from the Ministry of Commerce, the Government of Bangladesh. In addition to their focus on their home market, several TOAB members cooperate with foreign tour operators and provide tour packages to nearby South Asian counties - primary India, Nepal, and Bhutan. Latest membership update from 2006 show 73 members and 4 associated members, including tour operators, hotels and resorts. On foreign markets Bangladesh is included as a tourist destination by few local travel operators, for example Experience Bangladesh (USA), Undiscovered Destinations (UK), UNITAS rejser (Denmark) and Grace Tours (Denmark). But from now on it is known as Beautiful Bangladesh. In 2007 TOAB claimed that their members cater up to 95% of the foreign tourists and also hosted most of the domestic tourists: However the organization do not have any statistic on how many tourists they host every year, how big their private industry is, or how big their contribution to the government treasury is. And all tour operators outside TOAB do not seem totally unprofessional. They are competitive too.

6.9. Tour Operators in Bangladesh Thomas Cook, an entrepreneur in tourism, pointed the way towards the industrialization of tourism. By packaging the tourist experience, that is, offering a combination of accommodation, transportation and entertainment pre-booked at one fee per person, he recognized the complexity of assembling the diverse components of tourism, which include accommodation, transport, meals and excursions. To ensure that tourism components are put together in a structured fashion, tour operators evolved to do just that. In short, a tour operator is a business which transports paying tourists on scheduled itineraries. In Bangladesh these businesses usually own vehicles to transport tourists and the owners of these enterprises often accompany tour parties.

There are three categories of tour operators, namely inbound, outbound and domestic (local) tour operators. But in Bangladesh some of the tour operators do all.

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Inbound tour operators (also known as land operators) arrange itineraries and assemble the components of group tours on behalf of outbound travel agents located in overseas source markets. Hence inbound tourism involves all activities associated with tourists visiting a country from. The inbound tour operator does not come into contact with the traveller. However, in Bangladesh many inbound tour operators employ their own tourist guides rather than contract this critical tourism contract to outside companies that may be reluctant to ensure the delivery of a quality service. Outbound agents may be tour wholesalers, conference and incentive organizers, retail travel agents or travel companies that create group travel programmes for sale to end-users. Outbound operators deal with residents of a country travelling overseas. Domestic tour operators are concerned with people who travel within their home country.

6.10. Characteristics of the tour operating industry in Bangladesh Two major trends characterize the tour operating industry in the Bangladesh: Concentration and integration: The package holiday is the main product for the tour operator in our market both inbound and outbound. The main trends in the industry are economies of scale, horizontal and vertical integration. Through these strategies, tour-operators can achieve considerable buying power and control over their suppliers, as well as the distribution of their products. Horizontal integration refers to a situation when companies join together with the aim to remove competition, to increase economies of scale, and to increase purchasing power. Horizontal integration comprises mergers at the same level in the tourism distribution or supply chain, i.e. mergers between different tour operating companies. Vertical integration implies the takeover or formation of businesses at different levels of the supply or distribution chain. For a tour operator this means investment into either suppliers through backward integration (e.g. accommodation, transport) and/or forward integration (e.g.travel agents). The main advantages are control over supplies in terms of quality, availability, access and price, and the ability to reach consumers. Vertical integration is a significant feature among the leading tour operators and has drastically increased in recent years. Some Bangladeshi operators own accommodation, and travel agents like Mountain club, Galaxy tours and travel.

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 Specialization: Intense integration practices have also led to increased specialization and the development of niche operators and niche products. Small and medium size operators have to compete with larger, integrated companies. As vertically integrated operators capture a large proportion of mainstream package holidays, independent operators (also sometimes vertically integrated) increasingly focus on specialization. Independent tour operators compete by providing high quality, specialist and tailor-made services, which is responding to the trend that holidaymakers are becoming more discerning about the holidays that they take. They often specialize in geographical areas or activities. The differences between mainstream and niche operators as follows: Mainstream tour operators Carry high volumes of tourists. Have now adopted formerly 'off the beaten track' destinations. More destinations in developing countries are available to more customers. Apply their marketing powers to destinations where they operate. Generally operate on low margins and high volumes. Any swings in consumer demand can lead to capacities being cut with devastating effects for destinations. Continue to sell mainly on price. Thus loyalty to specific tour operators or to destinations is very low. Serve customers that are highly price-sensitive and low spending. The bottom end of the market is the first to fall off should a price increase in the host country occur. In recent years all-inclusive developments, and thus the manageability and predictability of holiday expenditure, have become increasingly attractive to this segment. Tend to channel their clients and market their destinations through travel agents that they own. High Street travel agents remain the first choice for consumers seeking package holidays. Focus on a relatively standardized and basic product (sun, sand and sea), with little interest in destination specific products and attributes. Carry large volumes and have thus considerable power in tourism destinations dependent on them for visitors. Are now introducing less standardized and more tailor-made holiday options, reflecting changing consumer demands and offering possibilities for local suppliers.

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Are in full control over their demand and supply structures due to vertical integration, leaving little influence to destinations themselves. Are frequently preferred trading partners for local suppliers because of the volumes they provide.

Independent (niche) tour operators Carry relatively small volumes. Often serve of-the-beaten-track destinations to a fast growing consumer segment that desires tailor-made and high quality tourism products. Are increasing their specialization and have adopted niche products in order to distinguish themselves from inexpensive mainstream operators. Serve consumers that are less price-sensitive, and higher spending customers. Interest in ethical products is growing and customers interested in ethical tourism are often the better-off, sophisticated travelers, using independent and niche tour operators rather than mainstream. Generally do not use integrated High Street travel agents, but independent agents and direct-sell. Technological advances, in particular the internet, are expected to have largely advantageous impacts on niche operators. Are highly dependent on local supplies, to the point that this is often their unique selling proposition. They provide a more complex and less standardized product, one that goes beyond simply providing accommodation and transport, by focusing on destination characteristics and inputs. Tend to have established long tern relationships with their suppliers in the destinations and to adopt a partnership approach. Generally pay higher prices to local suppliers due to the low volumes they purchase.

As for any company, the commercial objective of tour operators is profit maximization. A key feature of the mainstream operators are very low profit margins (on average 2-3% of the total revenue after all expenditures are paid), and thus the large companies focus on increasing market-share, i.e. increasing the volume of passengers carried, by selling on price

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and serving an extremely price sensitive market. Mainstream tour operators seek to maximize profits in three ways: Minimize cost: Minimize costs of the packages that they put together through bulk buying, owning suppliers, providing a basic product, i.e. accommodation and transport, while additional services are being sold as add-ons (e.g. excursions), and extremely tight yieldmanagement. Maximize revenue: Maximize revenue by maximizing the volume of sales to make up for low profit margins and price-sensitivity of the mainstream market. Given the relatively fixed costs of operating in a destination and a perishable product, avoiding being left with unsold packages is essential, even if this means selling under cost price i.e. a concentration on bums-on-seats. Pricing strategy: Pricing strategies are an essential tool for tour operators in the Bangladesh but price increases can only be used in a very limited way, within this very competitive and price sensitive market. Pricing strategies, i.e. discounts, are used to lure consumers into shops or offices and to persuade them to buy early, thus allowing tour operators to get rid of excess capacity as early as possible and to earn interest on deposits made on holidays to be taken months later.

6.11. Influence of Tour Operators By the nature of their role and the sheer volume of their operation, tour operators influence any aspects of tourism development and impact: Image creation: Given the fact that selling a tourism product depends largely on imagery, the marketing and distribution channels that bring customers and suppliers together play a crucial role. The image of the product is created by the tour operators promotional activity at home in generating areas, frequently with very limited destination input. Customer demand: Tour operators have direct access to the clients. As the bulk of package holidays are sold through travel agents belonging to vertically integrated tour operators, they are providing the images, information and options upon which customer awareness, demand, and buying behavior are based. This enables them to open new destinations and grow them rapidly.

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Product price: With many destinations offering a similar product and being marketed in a similar way, price is a major decision making factor for consumers. Package holidays are often deliberately priced low in order to generate high demand. Size, path and type of tourism: The major benefit provided by mainstream tour operators to Bangladesh is that they can significantly increase the volume of tourist arrivals and movement, ideally leading to employment generation, export earnings and economic development. However, this also affects the nature of the destination. High volumes are

achieved by providing low or competitive cost holidays through economies of scale, bulkbuying, and low input prices. The first element, high volumes, does not go without the other, low prices, and vice versa. However, there are trade-offs. High volumes of price-sensitive, low spending customer groups are not always the most appropriate. If tourism is developed to meet the needs of mainstream customers, it makes it more difficult to invest in more diverse areas and products, which may have greater involvement of mid and small-scale producers. Government strategy in destination: Governments may rely on multinational companies to develop tourism in a particular destination, and in return offer financial incentives, assistance in terms of marketing, access to slots and routes for airlines, or commitments to fund infrastructure investments. Eagerness to attract investors and operators can conflict with a governments adoption of measures that encourage pro-poor behavior by companies and which may make the destination less attractive to smaller operators and other market segments which may be more pro-poor. Contractual arrangements with suppliers: Tour operators are able to offer highly competitive prices to their customers because of their ability to bulk-buy supplies at low cost. For local suppliers (e.g. hoteliers, excursion-providers), the high volume and relative security of contracts from tour operators is attractive. However, the need to secure these contracts and operate at low prices can make it difficult for local providers to invest in a differentiated product or allocate extra resources to commitments. The reliance of the larger operators and their local staff on earnings from excursion programmes can create conflict with other suppliers often poor producers of sightseeing and activities. Linkages and market opportunities for locally-provided services: There is little incentive for large tour operators to expand access for local entrepreneurs, where they are selling a standardized product in which security and familiarity are more important to the customer

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than local flavor. The suppliers Package Travel Directive further encourages operators to encourage their clients to use the operators own excursions and to stay within the confines of the products over which the originating market operators have control. Furthermore, tour operators often earn important revenue from their own sale of excursions, which would be undercut by promoting services sold by local businesses. Leakage of expenditure: Leakage refers to tourism payments that never reach the

destination - because they pay for services of companies in the originating or other off-shore country or that leaves the destination to pay for imported goods. A general consensus has been that leakages are higher if integrated tour-operators are involved rather than locallyowned enterprises. This relates to the fact that integrated companies frequently own the main elements of the package holiday, i.e. transport and accommodation. Small operators have a less dramatic influence on tourism volumes, but can still significantly affect the path of development by putting a new area or new type of product on the map. Part of their product appeal is frequently a destination focus and the inclusion of local products, and they are less likely to own downstream operations. Thus independent operators rely more on destination inputs and can provide important markets for local products. They are more focused on enhancing product quality rather than price competition, and can also often have a more balanced relationship with suppliers due to the product characteristics and volumes generated. Economic Dimension: Tour operating employs relatively few people across the world (a few tens of thousands), but their activities can stimulate hotel and infrastructure development. These include water, sewerage, airports, roads etc, transport services, agriculture, information technology, restaurants, entertainment and media, education and training, consumption of pharmaceutical products, clothing, equipment, medical services, excursion venues and public administration concerned with policy-making, marketing and management of tourism. While tour operators have a limited number of staff, a huge network of activities and jobs across the economy depend upon delivering the demand for tourism. The marketing efforts of tour operators are what the suppliers of services and governments look for. Foreign exchange received by countries through tour operators takes the form of payments to hotels and ground handlers as well as taxes, duties and charges. In addition, consumers spend money outside the hotel on the complementary offer.

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Outbound tourism demand is affected by confidence in economic conditions and security as well as perceptions of discretionary income. Leisure outbound travel has been growing at around one and a half times the growth in GDP and is not highly volatile, unless there are safety concerns. Fluctuations in tourism revenues in receiving countries are more marked due to consumer perceptions of the relative safety and attractiveness of destinations, as well as changes in relative price. Social Dimension: The ability to travel and to witness other cultures not only brings prosperity to the receiving country, but also fosters understanding and tolerance in the visitor. The tour operator offer based on high volumes, bulk buying and low prices has provided access to travel to thousands of people. The tour operators main contribution has been to increase tourism volume in many destinations that would otherwise have had little tourism development. However, the way in which different countries and destinations have dealt with the effects of this increase varies widely. Influences of increased tourism on citizens of receiving country: By far the most positive influence of tourism has been on the citizens of the country, where the foreign influx has provided income for much greater social choices than have previously existed and accelerated the process of modernization and openness. As local people have become richer through tourism, countries dependent on international tourism have found themselves generating a greater number of domestic tourists.

6.12. Tour Guiding A tour guide is responsible for the logistics of a tour, and the clients they are traveling with. The lodging, meals, transportation and activities have usually been prearranged, but in some cases a guide may be responsible for any or all of these details. It may be a one day or multiday tour. Guides usually Meet their clients at the airport. Accompany them to hotels & activities scheduled during the tour. Manage meals & transportation throughout the tour. Assign rooms.

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 Deal with luggage. Explain the itinerary and schedule. Provide information about the areas visited. Lead activities specic to the tour. Handle health emergencies. Manage last minute changes, conicts and mix-ups. Are responsible for keeping everyone in the group happy and ready to sign up for another tour. Manage a budget. Generate reports for the tour company.

Guides may be hired as employees of a company or as sub-contractors. Most often guides work as subcontractors. There are also few types of tour guide. They are, A step-on guide joins groups (sometimes already with a guide) for portions of a tour. They are the local expert and the term refers to the guides who get on motor coaches to narrate tours of local sights and attractions. A trip or trek leader has all the responsibilities of a tour guide but may work with a smaller group, often in the adventure travel segment of tourism. They may be required to teach certain skills to the group and prepare meals. A tour director is responsible for the set up and planning of a tour and may or may not also be the tours guide.

There are group tours for almost any demographic of traveler. Some groups consist of people with a shared interest, such as bird watchers or photographers. People who travel with a group may be looking for a relaxing holiday, an educational experience, or the fulllment of a life long dream. Knowing the goals and expectations of you, the tour guide will help you to deliver the kind of experience they have paid for.

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7.1. Tour operator in Sustainable development Tourism is the world's largest industry. Tour operators are the vain of this industry. They always bring the scope of expand of this business. The activities of tour operator help to create a gentle movement of tourist. For this reason tour operator bring the awareness of sustainable development in the limelight. In Bangladesh tour operators take place for the improvement of the following things and create the demand of necessity directly and indirectly: Ensuring Clean and Safe Environment: No one wants to visit a place that is not clean or unhealthy. Tourism cannot survive without a clean and safe environment. In a like manner, communities that do not provide pleasant surroundings and a clean environment have a very hard time attracting business. Having friendly people and good service: Tourism requires friendly people and good service. No matter what the attraction may be, a tourism centre that lacks good customer service and friendly people will fail. So the communities that always offer good service not only attract newcomers, but, in the end, have a good time holding on to their local population, young people and businesses. Good restaurants, hotels and recreational facilities: Tourism requires good restaurants, hotels and recreational facilities. These are the same factors that are essential to any community seeking economic development. For this reason the facilities are improving day by day in Bangladesh. Enhancing community-based tourism: Bangladesh can be an ideal destination for community-based tourism. For sustainable progress in poverty eradication, the present time is suitable for considering the implementation of community-based tourism. Bangladesh is a country of thousands of villages. Most of its heritage sites and international tourist spots are positioned around villages. These are intended for education as well as recreation. Tourism campaigns on Special Attractions: Sometimes rare plants or animal species are the main attraction, sometimes traditional food, handicraft or historic buildings. A European example of well-developed rural tourism is France. Camping and caravans are the most popular forms of accommodation in rural areas, many of them on farms. Many farmers have developed camping sites on their farms. Others prefer to invest in various kinds of short-term rental houses.

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Enhancing community-based rural tourism: Bangladesh has huge potential for tourism. The concept of community-based rural tourism and its benefits are still unexplored. Now is the right time to think of rural tourism development. It is the demand of tour operator industry. Apart from rural tourism, all general attractions, like archaeological sites, historical places and natural beaches are, more or less, getting importance. Rural tourism can turn into a booming sector for at least two reasons. First, through rural tourism, Bangladesh may rid itself of poverty, and second, the infrastructure of far-off and rural places will be developed. Community-based rural tourism is a must for the economic development of Bangladesh. Community Association & Tourism: People sell their community's best when there is a great deal to see and do in it, when it is safe and secure, and when customer service is not merely a motto but a way of life. Community festivals, traditions, handicrafts, parks and natural settings all add to the desirability of a locale and its ability to sell itself to potential outside investors. The quality of life can also be reflected in a community's museums, concert halls, theatres and uniqueness. Tourism focusing on emerging and minority communities: Tourism is an important economic development tool for emerging and minority communities around the world. Since tourism is based on the appreciation of other cultures, tourism industries have been especially open to giving disadvantaged groups around the world opportunities that have often been denied to them by other economic sectors. Employment Generation: Tourism requires a great deal of construction work and provides large numbers of entry-level jobs. Tourists may infuse additional money into the local economy through shopping. In nations where manufacturing is not developed, the tourism industry can be an essential method for reinvigorating local economies. Infrastructure Development: Improving the infrastructure, human resources, proper policy and concerns of government can easily hold the industry back into the right track and thus Tourism can become the engine of poverty alleviation and economic growth. Focus on innovations: Focus should be made on innovations like eco-tourism. The number of eco-tourists in the world has been increasing by more than ten percent a year. Initially, Bangladesh may set its target to attract one million eco-tourists a year. To achieve that target, it will have to chalk out a down-to-earth tourism marketing strategy and go for aggressive marketing in countries, which produce most of the outbound tourists.

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Tourism Fairs: Nowadays different organizations often organize tourism fairs in Bangladesh, in which mainly outbound tour packages are sold. Sending tourists from Bangladesh to other countries cannot be treated as the development of tourism in our country. These fairs are sellers' fairs in character from the perspective of Bangladesh because the foreign exhibitors or their counterparts in Bangladesh sell outbound tour packages, and only a few offer domestic tour packages. Instead of helping the country to earn foreign currency through tourism, the sellers' fairs help in depletion of the foreign exchange reserve of the country. Bangladesh needs buyers' fairs, where foreign buyers (travel agents) will come to Bangladesh to get offers of tour packages, so that they may send tourists to our country. Efforts from both Public & Private Sectors: It is common knowledge that tourism cannot grow in isolation as it is a multi-sector industry. Governments are only just starter but effective and active participation between the private and public sectors, non- governmental organizations, institutional bodies, and local communities should be ensured to get the fruitful effects of Tourism Industry. So committed efforts are needed from both the public and private sectors for full development and utilization of the potentials of the Tourism Industry.

7.2. Infrastructure development and investment for the tourism sector A tour operator sells packaged tour. It works as media for the tourist. It cannot takes the responsibilities of infrastructure development. But it takes a great place in expanding tourism industry. And it provides the indication about the scope, vision and necessity of development of tourism industry. So, tour operators always keep their keen eyes on infrastructure development and investment for the tourism sector in Bangladesh. Tour operators of Bangladesh demand the development of infrastructure to sustain and investment for this sector and forecast the opportunities. There is a close and dynamic relationship between infrastructure development and sustainable tourism development, because inadequate infrastructure is one of the most serious constraints on future tourism development. To overcome constraints and problems, an integrated planning approach and formulation of master plans should be encouraged. The government should create an environment conducive to private sector investment and provide adequate incentives to that end. In addition, infrastructure requirements for tourism

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development should be properly integrated with the full range of a country's infrastructure development and investment requirements. To this end, the following action could be taken:

(1) Governments should indicate their clear commitment to private sector involvement in tourism infrastructure development, and this should form part of integrated plans or a master plan. So that the tour operators can expand their hopeful opportunities. (2) In order to attract private sector participation, governments should address such issues as creating a conducive business environment, liberalizing rules and regulations, providing investment incentives, developing an adequate legislative framework and strengthening government capacity to negotiate. (3) Training workshops should be organized to build capabilities among government officials in negotiating techniques and to promote relationships between the public and private sectors for tourism and related infrastructure development.

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8.1. Tour Operator and Destination Management Planning (DMP) Tourists choice of destination appears to be influenced by a wide variety of motivational factors- money, time, freedom to travel and health are but a few of the numerous factors. Owing to technical advances and human development, many more people are being educated. Education has a tendency to broaden the mind and therefore also stimulates the desire to travel. This is obviously beneficial to tourism because the more curious people are about different countries and cultures, the more likely they are to travel. The stage in the life cycle has a great influence on the reasons for travel, depending on age, family composition and domestic commitments. Young married couples earn dual incomes and have disposable income to be able to travel. Students travel using the minimum luxuries, while having a burning desire to explore their surroundings. Pensioners have ample time to travel, while busy executives travel all over the world for the purpose of business.

Destinations and tourist products go in and out of fashion - hence tourists may want to travel to the latest, trendiest destination. Destination image plays a major role in travel motivation because the techniques used to promote a favorable destination and its attributes will greatly influence choice of destination. If the image of a destination coincides with the tourists preferences and expectations, the destination will be given a favorable rating. An individuals perception of a holiday destination is conditioned by the information available at the time of decision-making. Since tourism is an intangible product, destination image is of vital importance, because tourists will base their attitude towards a destination and their desire to travel there on the image of the destination. As a result tour operators are setting up their mind in Destination Management Planning (DMP). This is true that still there is a widening gap between what consumers expect from domestic tourism and what is being offered. Tour operators works to minimize this gap. The most effective way to address these challenges is coordinated effort from all stakeholders: all levels of government; and industry. In this context, Destination Management Planning

(DMP) emerged as an effective mechanism for improved cooperation and collaboration with

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local industry and strengthening partnerships with regional economic development agencies/boards and education and training providers. The practice of Destination Management Planning Framework assists all tourism agencies and destinations in ensuring the sustainability and competitiveness of tourist destinations for communities, business operators, industry stakeholders, and consumers. It is based on the large body of work being done on various aspect of DMP internationally. around Bangladesh and

8.2. DMP: International context The development of locally and regionally relevant Destination Management Plans (DMPL) is supported by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNTWO), with DMPLs being implemented in many tourist destinations around the world. The UNWTO hosted a Destination Management Conference "Creating Competitive Advantage for your Destination" in Hungary in February 2007. With the support of the UNWTO, the European Commission has developed an "Action Plan for more Sustainable European Tourism". Planning, that Action Plan comments: "Many of the challenges set by sustainability, and the actions required, can best be addressed by the different stakeholders working together at a destination level. It is here that the needs of the environment, the local community and businesses come most closely together. It is much easier to take an integrated and holistic approach when working at this level. Furthermore, it is increasingly recognized that the concept of a destination, within which a wide range of facilities and activities together make up the complete experience, is critical in influencing consumer choice." On the subject of Destination Management

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8.3. DMP: Concepts DMP is a management system that provides a tourism organization with the tools to produce sustainable and competitive tourism in a destination. DMP is organized around defined visitor destinations, each with its own natural and unique tourism assets, and unique development, marketing, and management needs. DMP is a step forward from traditional destination marketing roles and provides a more holistic and integrated approach to understanding the tourism potential of each destination, and the best methods of maximizing that potential. Destination Management Planning is defined here as being inclusive of all of the practices and principles known as: Destination development planning: Critical assessment of the destination's tourism potential and monitoring of progress; Effective consultation and collaboration with all stakeholders; Focus on attracting investment and infrastructure projects; Workforce planning to generate local employment and to ensure that there are adequate workers to service demand; and Long term tourism strategies to grow the industry.

Destination marketing: Ongoing research; Identifying and targeting the correct markets, including new and emerging markets; A raised awareness in the target market(s) of the qualities of the tourism destination; and Increased visitation and yield.

Destination management: Protection of the natural and unique tourism assets of the destination; Ensuring quality visitor experiences; Industry leadership; and Growing a unique and sustainable tourism industry within the destination.

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Following figure illustrates the relationship between these three principles. This Destination Management Planning Framework (DMP Framework) encompasses the economic, environmental and community practices and principals called on in the above three disciplines and is considered to be 'Best Practice' in DMP.

Destination Management Planning - Concepts

8.4. DMP: Benefits The potential benefits for destinations, communities, business operators and tourism agencies that can be achieved through an effective and nationally consistent approach to DMP include: Improved destination competitiveness Increased destination appeal resulting in increased visitation and yield; Advantage over other destinations; and

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Ongoing investment in tourism.

Increased visitor satisfaction Delivering on the brand promise; Increased repeat visitation; and Enhanced destination reputation.

Economic, social and environmental sustainability Increase in tourism's contribution to destination's economy; Community support for tourism development; Controlling tourism's environmental impacts; and Long term industry viability.

Effective partnerships Strong partnerships (community, industry, government, development agencies etc) are an important factor in many better performing tourism regions. The benefits include: Avoiding duplication of resources; Bringing a focus to developing the full visitor experience from arrival through to departure; Increasing the profile of tourism in regional destinations; and Minimizing conflicts between tourism and other sectors.

Continuous improvement This Framework encourages the implementation of DMP as a process of continuous improvement rather than a once off "set-and-forget" activity. The benefits include: Early awareness of emerging trends; Development of innovation and new technology; and Constant refreshing of destination brand.

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8.5. DMP: Key Characteristics Although it is recognizes that no two destinations are the same, and that each destination or region will require those aspects of DMP that best suit its unique tourism assets and circumstances, the following points are provided to assist destinations in tailoring a DMPL that will ensure their sustainability and competitiveness. The core of effective DMP is the commitment of all those that will be implicated in the outcomes of the DMPL, and involves them in the decision-making and implementation of the DMPL, including establishing a strategic vision and setting objectives that: Clearly contribute to achieving the vision; Are realistic, achievable and measurable, and are based on the best available information; Take a holistic and integrated approach to the broader social, environmental and economic development goals for the destination; Identify global forces that may have an impact on the destination; Include both short and medium-term activities, as well as long term planning; Deliver economic benefits: tourism potential: identifies the destination's key success factors,

strengths of current tourism supply/demand, external factors and constraints, and opportunities for growth; business operations: improves potential for business operators (tourism and non-tourism) to improve profitability and operational efficiency; local supply chains: maximizes the proportion of tourism income that is retained locally; employment: improves the quality of jobs in tourism and how the sector is perceived as a career choice; enables economic growth in an area and, where relevant, assists in the restructuring and/or diversification of local economies; and Identifies and facilitates private-sector tourism investment opportunities within the destination.

Align with community aspirations: manages the pressure of change in the interest of the overall well-being of the community. This may include managing:

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challenges to the quality of life for local residents; provision of infrastructure and public amenities; local residents' willingness to welcome visitors; and responsible behavior by tourists towards local communities.

Strengthen environmental management: contributes to the conservation and enhancement of natural and cultural heritage assets; identifies appropriate carrying capacities and visitor management plans; encourages energy and water-use efficiency; promotes and facilitates reduction, reuse and recycling of waste materials; seeks to minimize pollution, traffic congestion and litter; and encourages responsible behavior by tourists towards the environment.

Encourage innovation: Increases business productivity and efficiency; and Drives economic growth.

Facilitate collaboration: Enabling effective leadership and partnerships within which the different stakeholders can communicate and work together.

Encourage and facilitate continual improvement (capacity building in the destination) This may include: For individual businesses: improved business practices; For the destination: improved management skills for destination

managers; collection of data to facilitate performance benchmarking; and For the labor force: enhanced opportunities for skill development, employment and career options; future planning for a sufficient available workforce.

Develop business operators' and destination managers' ability to anticipate and respond to risk and crisis.

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9.1. Tour operators in Tourism Marketing Tourism has become a major contributor to the gross national product (GNP) of many nations, with the marketing of countries and destinations to attract visitors becoming an essential common practice. Companies need to be exposed to the marketplace in order to attain new and existing business resulting in marketing becoming an essential aspect of every business. Tourism marketing is implemented by tour operators to facilitate this.

Tourism marketing is the process through which a tourism company first anticipates consumer needs and then manages to satisfy those needs to achieve sales. It is also the way in which a company identifies what consumers want and ensures that these requirements can be met in a profitable and efficient manner which satisfies consumers on a long-term basis. The number one marketing priority for a company should be to create customers. The company is rewarded by making sales, which in turn provide profits. This leads to building customer relationships, which involve a series of interactions between individuals and a company over time.

Marketing is a concept that focuses on meeting customer wants and needs. To be able to satisfy customer wants and needs, it is necessary to consider the marketing mix of the product or service the company is providing. The marketing mix involves four marketing strategy areas, namely product, price, promotion (marketing communication) and place (distribution). These four Ps determine how a product is made or a service provided, how much it costs, where it is distributed and how it is presented in all company communications. Since this study deals with the marketing communication methods used by tour operators, its main focus will be the promotion (marketing communication) strategy area of the marketing mix. However, taking into consideration that the tourism product is quite different from traditional products, further attention will be focused on its significance as a service.

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9.2. The tourism products as a service Marketers are concerned with four basic characteristics that make the marketing of tourism offerings different from the marketing of manufacturing products, namely intangibility, inseparability, variability and perishability.

Intangibility Services such as tourism can be described as intangible. This implies that they cannot be seen, felt, heard, tasted or smelt prior to purchase. Service offerings cannot be inspected or tested in advance and cannot be brought to the consumer. This increases the complexity for potential tourists of acquiring product knowledge in advance of purchase, as is possible with tangible products. Thus the tour operators have an important task to promote the intangible benefits of tourism, such as relaxation, entertainment and education as well as aiming to make the intangible aspects seem more tangible. This task is facilitated by brochures showing hotel rooms, and more recently, by CD-ROMs.

Inseparability In the case of the manufacturing industry, products are manufactured, sold and then consumed over a number of years, unlike tourism offerings which are sold first and then produced and consumed simultaneously. Thus in the tourism industry, customers will often be involved in the creation of the service, for example, asking the tourist guide questions about the museum being visited. This has implications in that the way the offering is delivered is crucial because staff and consumers have to be present when the service is being consumed.

Variability Tour operators offerings will be different each time they are consumed because humans produce them. Service providers are part of the offering and cannot provide the exact levels of service each time or the same levels of service as their colleagues. Also, no two consumers are precisely the same. They may have different needs, demands, expectations, moods,

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perceptions and emotions, causing the tourism offering to vary according to each situation. Tourism companies like tour operator can only strive towards offering a standardized and consistent service, but because people are involved, an exact standard can never truly be realized.

Perishability Producers cannot hold stock of a service. There is a finite period during which the sale and consumption of a service can occur. If that period has passed, the revenue that could have been earned by providing the service is lost. Thus providers of services will try to sell their service even if it means lowering the price, rather than losing the full potential amount. Hence, reducing prices shortly before a service is due to be delivered is one way to stimulate demand before the service is considered perished.

9.3. Marketing communication methods Marketing communication is the collective term for all the communication functions used in marketing a product. Each marketing communication function has unique strengths and companies and agencies are finding more and better ways to use these functions strategically. Promotional decisions need to be made about advertising, direct marketing, interactive marketing, sales promotion, publicity and public relations and personal selling. Most of these functions have been used for at least a hundred years, so individually they are not new, but what is new is managing them in an integrated fashion as part of a strategic communication programme in a changing environment. Many different marketing communication methods are used by tour operators to promote their products and services. To facilitate promotion of their products and services, different media are used.

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9.4. Motivation to Travel As travellers become more sophisticated in their vacationing behaviour, research must continue to become more sophisticated to explain their behaviour. Bangladesh, competing as a long-haul tourist destination, must realise that having a good product is not enough in a globally competitive market. Managers have to research their markets and investigate the motives and expectations of tourists in order to attract and satisfy the needs and expectations of both international and local tourists.

Tour operators need to do research to find out why people travel. This is to enable them to design packages to suit their potential clients needs. If they offer packages that appeal to different market segments, there is a greater possibility of attracting clients, rather than providing a one-for-all package deal. For example, a business traveller might prefer to stay in a guesthouse rather than a hotel. Guesthouses are perceived as being more homely, and if a business traveller is in the country for a long period of time, he/she will probably prefer the make yourself at home attitude prevalent in most guesthouses. Travelling groups may find staying in hotels easier, because few guesthouses are large enough to accommodate large group tours.

It is extremely difficult to determine why people travel because the decision to travel stems from individual needs and desires which in turn determine motivation to travel. Motivators are factors within the psychological make-up of an individual that help influence his or her patterns of tourist behavior. Tourism motivators are complex and are influenced by many factors such as money, time, freedom to travel and health.

Motivation to travel is followed by an evaluation of alternative holiday destinations, a booking and the holiday itself. Hence the main objective of tourism service providers is to satisfy the tourists needs as best they can, the tour operators are contributing a great motivation to them.

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9.5. Travel needs Travel needs have changed with the times. Technological, economic and political progress has affected human living conditions considerably in the sense of longer life expectancy, health, wealth and utilization of leisure time.

People have truly developed their need for relaxation, distressing and overall fun and games, and since travel is available to all, it has become close to being a basic need. Consequently, because each individual is different, different travellers have different needs. For example, leisure travellers choose their destinations carefully beforehand. They are on holiday and want to relax, enjoy scenery, visit museums or shop. They may try camping or adventure tourism or may prefer to learn about the history and culture of the country they are visiting. Business travellers, on the other hand, rarely choose their destinations (because they have to attend to business matters in specific areas). Sometimes business travellers have an afternoon off and are free to explore the nearby area. However, they usually have to be in the city, close to offices to attend conferences or meetings. For these reason tour operator has come in front to fulfill their need.

9.6. The way in which tour operators satisfy travel needs Tour operators are able to package together the different components of tours or holidays and sell these to the public, either directly or through a travel agent in order to satisfy the travel needs of tourists. The package holiday concept only gained popularity after the Second World War, when air transport became more easily available. Tour packages include at least two of the following elements: transportation, accommodation, meals, entertainment, attractions and sightseeing activities. Packaging holidays or tours eliminates a great deal of risk for the tourist and also, tour operators are able to negotiate better prices, compared with the costs that would be incurred by tourists if they had to purchase each element separately. Tour operators are able to compile different tour packages to suit the varying needs of tourists hence packages vary widely in the number of elements included. Four of the most common packaging types are briefly discussed below.

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Independent tour: An independent tour can be regarded as the least structured tour package. Purchasers of independent tours compile their itineraries themselves. Tour operators book the necessary elements according to their set itinerary. Foreign independent tour (FIT) and domestic independent tour (DIT) : A tour including many elements designed and planned to fulfill the particular needs of the traveller may be classified either as a foreign independent tour (when travelling abroad) or a domestic independent tour (if remaining in the country). Hosted tour: A number of tourism supplier elements are combined to form a package. A local host is available to give advice and make special arrangements. Escorted tour: This is the most structured type of tour package available as well as the most complete tour package because all the elements are included in the package price. An escorted tour begins and ends on set dates and follows a detailed itinerary. A tour escort accompanies the tour members throughout the tour.

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