Dhaka Travel Mart 2015 pledged more tourism prospects for Bangladesh
Recently, the government declared the year 2016 as the ‘Tourism Year’ with the aim of increasing numbers of foreign tourists to 10 lakh from the current 5 lakh per year. Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Rashed Khan Menon today said that the government will make a year calendar incorporating various tourism activities to attract more ftourists ahead of 2016. “We are planning massive programmes targeting the tourism year. We are even planning to hold a regional tourism conference here involving World Tourism Organization (WTO)” he said when inaugurating Dhaka Travel Mart 2015.
The minister said that contribution of tourism sector to the country’s GDP is only 2%. “But if we can work with proper planning, the contribution of tourism to GDP can exceed that of RMG sector”, he said. The travel publication The Bangladesh Monitor organised the international fair ‘Dhaka Travel Mart- 2015’ at the Ball Room of Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel. Bangladesh Tourism Board, Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation and Biman Bangladesh Airlines are supporting the event that is being organized for the 12th time in the capital.
A total of 50 organisations from Bangladesh and abroad took part in the mart, including National Tourism Organisations (NTOs), airlines, tour operators, hotels, resorts, travel trade bodies, health care service providers and financial and educational Institutions. They offered special discount airfares, tour packages and others.
The fair created a strong platform for outbound tourists as well as stakeholders who are promoting tourism. Md. Ashiqur Rahman, Sales and Marketing Executive at Seagull Hotel, said they had planned the packages offering discounts following the fair. Amazing Tours, a tour operator, had participated in the fair offering different packages in several destinations. It was learnt that Amazing Tours operated tours in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives, Turkey, England and EU countries. ‘The turnout of tourists in the fair was huge’, said Md. Al Amin Shisir, Sales Executive Officer of Amazing Tour. Pijush Bagchi, Head of Marketing of Monitor, said the fair has turned into a hub of stakeholders of the sector as well as tourists.
