Exotic tourism
As a destination that has so much in such a small space, Bangladesh can be compared to one big natural theme park. Our many cultural and religious festivals/events, village or trading fairs, traditional craft-villages, heritage sites, gardens and parks, virtually un-spoilt serene beaches and fishing communities and rural lifestyles all offer unique and exotic experiences to visitors to this land. What we need is to first get the basics right at these sites. These include ensuring comfortable movement by road/water and air as may be required, safety of visitors at all locations, provision of facilities such as toilets and comfort centres, access to good interpretation and information facilities, quality guiding service, descriptive location signage in language versions, an environment free of hassle from touts offering socially unacceptable services and a posse of well-trained service personnel at all levels of operation. Visitor accommodation need be developed with much care and thinking. Rushing in to build may mean that we may overbuild and/or create white elephants. Bangladesh must first determine what it should offer to the visitors and where it needs to be positioned and pitched, before rushing into building big time. All options for involving the community at large in developing a sustainable tourism need to be explored and the time it takes for such planning may be used to get things right at the existing facilities.
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