Economic and Employment Opportunities of Tourism in Bangladesh : a Study on Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation

Economic and Employment Opportunities of Tourism in Bangladesh : A Study on Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation

1. Prelude
The New Millennium and the coming decades are very much crucial for the developing countries to achieve sustainable economic growth. Tourism is considered to be a large income generator of the world economy contributing over 10 percent to Gross Domestic Product (GDP). For at least one third of the developing countries, the tourism receipts are the main source of export revenue and the tourism industry generates sustainable economic benefits to the developing countries.
The exceptional growth of tourism over the last 50 years is going to be one of the most remarkable economic and social phenomena of the 21st century. The number of international arrivals shows an evolution from a mere 25 million arrivals in 1950 to the 763 million of 2004 representing an average annual growth rate of more than 7 percent over a period of 50 years – well above the average annual economic growth rate for the same period. Tourism has clearly outperformed all the other sectors of the economy and has grown into the most significant economic activity in the world.
The Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report 2007 of World Economic Forum (WEF), which aims to explore the factors and policies driving travel and tourism competitiveness in nations worldwide, has found Bangladesh fourth from the last among 124 countries. Endless neglect to this sector by the successive governments is to blame for the sad situation. Bangladesh has been ranked 120th. Among the neighbors, India is ranked 65th, Sri Lanka 79th, Pakistan 103rd and Nepal 106th. In 2006, the sector generated 10.3 percent of world gross domestic product (GDP), providing 234 million jobs ; or 8.2 percent of total world employment.
Tourism has many faces, eco-tourism is one of them. Eco-tourism is comparatively a new term in tourism literature. The term “Eco-tourism” blends “ecology” and “tourism” and covers

Bibliography: Chandra Praba, A. “Environmental Aspects of Tourism in Palani an Opinion Survey”. M.Phil. Dissertation. Madurai Kamarj University. Madurai, 2002. George, P.O. “Management of Tourism Industry in Kerala”. Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis. Mahathma Gandhi University. Kottayam, 2003. Kalaiarasi, N. “An Economic Study of Tourism in Madurai City.” M.Phil. Dissertation. Madurai Kamaraj University. Madurai, 1991. Kamalakshy, M.V. “Hotel Industry in Kerala with Reference to Tourism”. Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis. Cochin University of Science and Technology. Kerala, 1996. Sudheer, S.V. “Tourism in Kerala Problems and Prospects”. Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis. University of Kerala. Kerala, 1992. Rajadurai, M. “An Economic Study of Growth and Pattern of Tourist Inflows in Tamil Nadu”. Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis. Madurai Kamaraj University. Madurai, 2005. Batra, K.L. Problems and Prospectives of Tourism. Jaipur: Prontwell Publishers, 1990. Bezbaruah, M.P. Indian Tourism – Beyond the Millennium. New Delhi: Gyan Publishing House, 1999. Bhatia, A.K. International Tourism. Delhi: Sterling Publishers Private Ltd, 1992. Bhatia, A.K. Tourism Development. New Delhi: Sterling Publishers (P) Ltd, 1983. Bhatia, A.K. Tourism Management and Marketing. New Delhi: Sterling Publishers (P) Ltd, 1997. Bijender, K Punia. Tourism Management Problems and Prospects. New Delhi: Ashish Publishing House, 1994. Dhulasi, Birundha Varadarajan. Eco Tourism – An Evolution. New Delhi: Kanisha Publishers, Distributors, 2003. Krishan, K Kamara. Managing Tourist Destination. New Delhi: Kanisha Publishers, Distributors, 2001. Mathieson, A. and Wall, G. Tourism- Economic, Physical and Social Impacts. New York: Longman, 1982. Mohammed, Zulfikar. Introduction to Tourism and Hotel Industry. New Delhi: Vikas Publishing House (P) Ltd., 1998. Mowforth, M. and Munt, I. Tourism and Sustainability: Development and New Tourism in the Third World. London: Routledge, 2003. Nash, D. Anthropology of Tourism. Oxford: Pergamon, 1996. Raina, A.K. and Lodha, R.C. Fundamentals of Tourism System. New Delhi: Kanisha Publishers, Distributors, 2004. Roger, Carter. Tourism- Excises and Activates. Ed. London: Jeff Carpenter Publishers, Hodder and Sloughton, 1990. Sharma, J.K. Tourism in India. Jaipur: Classic Publishing House, 1991. Sharma, K.K. New Dimension in Tourism and Hotel Industry. New Delhi: Sarup & Sons, 1998. Stephen, F. Witt and Luiz, Moutinhop. Tourism Marketing and Management Hand Book. London: Prentice Hall, 1995. Suhita, Chopra. Tourism & Development in India. New Delhi: Ashish Publishing House, 1991. Tewari, S.P. Tourism Dimensions. New Delhi: Sterling Publishers Private Ltd, 1994. Ullah, Mohammed Ahsan. Hridaye Parjatan[Tourism in the Heart]. Dhaka: Sweety Rahman, 1996. Bashar, Dr. MA. “Services of Forests: Socio-cultural Roles and Nature-based Eco-tourism”. The Daily Star. 6 April, 2007. Carte, R.W. Baxter, G.S. Hockings, M. “Resource Management in Tourism Research: New Direction”. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 9(4), 2001. Haque, Dr. Mahfuzul. “Tourism Industry in Bangladesh”. The Daily Star. 27 September, 2006. Haque, K.M. Saiful. “Eco-tourism and Some Rich Tourist Spots in Bangladesh”. The Bangladesh Observer, Observer Magazine. February 13, 2004. Haque, K.M. Saiful. “Tourism: Our Gold Mine for Development”. The Bangladesh Observer, Observer Magazine. March 25, 2005. Hossain, Muhammad and Akter, Nasrin. “Electronic Means in Tourism: Applicability and Challenges for Bangladesh”. Journal of Institute of Bangladesh Studies. Vol. 29 (August, 2006). Naik, G.P. and S.G. Kulkarni. “Socio-Economic Benefits of Tourism”. Indian Commerce Bulletin. Vol. 2 No. 2 (August, 1998). Siddiqi, Raquib. “Bangladesh as a Tourist Destination”. The Bangladesh Observer, Observer Magazine. September 19, 2003. Siddiqua, Tasnim. “Eco-tourism: New Approach to Economic Development in Bangladesh”. Khulna University Studies. Vol. 7, No. 1 (June, 2006). Saha, S.K and K.C., Deepak. “An Assessment on the Problems and Prospects of Ecotourism in Royal Chitwan National Park (RCNP), Nepal”. Khulna University Studies. Vol. 6, No. 1&2 (June-December, 2005). Sherlock, K. “Revisiting the Concept of Hosts and Guests”. Tourism Studies 1(3), 2001. Veerrrasikaran, R. “Significance of Tourism in India”. The Southern Economist. Vol. 32 No. 9 (September 1, 1993). Vijayakumar