Tourism Policy and Planning in Bangladesh

Book excerpt: This book accounts that Bangladesh is a potential destination in South Asia exhibiting a steady growth in its economy along with socio-cultural developments. With a population of over 170 million, the country possesses significant possibilities in (domestic) tourism. This book explicates that increasing number of upper social classes along with their affordability to spend on tourism and leisure activities has recalled attention for the development of this emerging industry. This book comprehensively examines the overall tourism and hospitality contexts in Bangladesh under the lens of current policy and administrative frameworks. In so doing, the contribution of tourism and hospitality industry has been highlighted in the economy of Bangladesh as a means to creating employment opportunities. Further, the book addresses that contributions remain uneven and distributed improperly and to date the tourism industry has not been offered the desired attention in supporting examples in this regard. Nonetheless, tourism and hospitality education and research have been intensifying in recent years across numerous higher academic institutions (e.g. public and private universities) in Bangladesh. This book explores critically the requirement of supportive roles of key tourism and hospitality stakeholders both from public and private domains. Ultimately, the book signifies collaborative and continuous efforts are imperative that partake both the practitioners and the academia in the development and execution of inclusive and functional tourism policy and planning in Bangladesh.