Barrister Tahsin Noor Salim : World Tourism Day, celebrated on 27 September, is a day aimed at promoting tourism and bringing about the much needed development in this sector.
The theme of the year 2018 is “Tourism and the Digital Transformation.” According to the UNWTO Secretary General, Zurab Pololikashvili, innovation and digital advances can improve inclusiveness, local community empowerment and efficient resource management of the tourism industry. This year the event will be held in Budapest, Hungary. Discussions will centre around the importance of investing in disruptive digital technologies and the need to boost this sector through technological
improvements. Bangladesh is also bestowed with a lot of tourist spots which could contribute significantly to uplift the tourism sector and develop its economy. It is a land of picturesque beauty; Just to name a few: Cox’s Bazar- the longest beach; Srimongal, well known for its lusciously green tea gardens, Sundarbans- thelargest Mangrove forest which is also a UNESCO World heritage Site and the St. Martin’s Island withspectacular coral reefs.As per the World Travel and Tourism Council Report, the contribution of Travel and Tourism inBangladesh in the year 2017 amounted to about 2.2percent of its GDP and is expected to rise about 6.1percent in 2018.Although, Bangladesh has very recently approved of the Cox’s Bazaar Development Authority, thisshould not be adequate. A few recommendations that have been put forward include; Reforming
present tourism policies and streamline it to that of the world tourism market, improve the
infrastructures- more importantly building a rail connection between Cox’s Bazaar and Chittagong.
(Sanjay and Mallika, 2015)
Unfortunately there is still a lot of work that needs to be done. Our country, which is working toward its
mission to make Vision 2021 a reality, more commonly known as Digital Bangladesh, should also invest
in technology to promote and boost the tourism sector. The writer is a Lecturer and Academic Guidance Tutor at London College of Legal Studies.
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