Assessing the potentials of developing water-based ecotourism:

A study on Bangladesh
 A thesis report on
“Assessing the potentials of developing water-based ecotourism: A study on Bangladesh”

Submitted To:
Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management
University of Dhaka

Supervised by:
Mrs. Nusrat Jahan
Associate Professor
Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management
University of Dhaka

Submitted By:
Md. Mahbubur Rahman
Roll: 888
MBA – 10th Batch
Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management
University of Dhaka

Date of Submission: 22 September, 2019

 Declaration of Supervisor

This is to certify that the thesis report on “Assessing the potentials of developing water-
based ecotourism: A study on Bangladesh” submitted for the award of the degree of Masters
of Business Administration from the Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management,
Faculty of Business studies, University of Dhaka, is a record of research carried out by Md.
Mahbubur Rahman under my supervision. No part of this thesis paper has been submitted for
any degree, diploma, title or recognition before.

____________________

Mrs. Nusrat Jahan

Associate Professor
Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management
University of Dhaka
 Declaration of the Student

I do hereby declare that this thesis report has been written by me during of 2019 under the
Valuable guidance of Mrs. Nusrat Jahan, Associate Professor, Department of Tourism and
Hospitality Management, Faculty of Business studies, University of Dhaka, in fulfilment of the
requirements for the award of the degree of Masters of Business Administration (MBA). I’m
also declaring that I have not submitted this thesis paper for any degree, diploma, title or
recognition before.

____________________

Md. Mahbubur Rahman

Roll: 888
MBA – 10th Batch
Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management
University of Dhaka
 Letter OF Transmittal
22 September, 2019

Mrs. Nusrat Jahan

Associate Professor
Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management
University of Dhaka

Subject: Submission of thesis report on “Assessing the potentials of developing water-based

ecotourism: A study on Bangladesh”
Dear Sir,

It is a pleasure for me to submit the report on “Assessing the potentials of developing water-
based ecotourism: A study on Bangladesh”, which is prepared as a fulfilment of the MBA
program under Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management, Faculty of Business
Studies, University of Dhaka. I am grateful to you for allowing me to work on such an
interesting practical topic. While doing the research I tried to dedicate my level best effort and
provided extensive literature review to find out the relevant materials of the study. I sincerely
hope and believe that my report will secure your approval and serve its purpose.

I apologize for my mistakes done unintentionally. I hope that you would be kind enough to
accept this report and bless me heartily.
Sincerely yours

____________________
Md. Mahbubur Rahman
Roll: 888
MBA – 10th Batch
Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management
University of Dhaka
 Acknowledgement

With heartiest gratefulness, I would like to acknowledge a few individuals for their immense
support and guidance in the completion of my thesis report. I am very much thankful to the
Almighty Allah for helping me throughout my life and study.

I would like to thank Mrs. Nusrat Jahan, Associate Professor, Department of Tourism and
Hospitality Management, Faculty of Business studies, University of Dhaka, for his utmost
cooperation and suggestion during the preparation of my paper. From the beginning of my
research, my supervisor Mrs. Nusrat Jahan helped me a lot. She suggested me from every
angle. She provided me with every materials and procedures required for the analysis. She gave
his valuable time to read through the paper and criticised and gave correction while I was
preparing the paper. So, I am very much grateful to her.

I am also grateful to the researchers and scalars for supporting me by providing their valuable
information and opinion through different studies and research articles.

I would like to acknowledge all of the staff of Bangladesh Tourism board, Bangladesh Porjoton
Corporation, the bureau of statistic of Bangladesh and the staff from my department who also
supported me to complete the research project by providing valuable information.
Abstract

The use of ecotourism term can be tracked since past century which in parallel to notion of
sustainability (Singh, 2010). The main idea of both terms is preserving and protecting the
natural environment for today and future generation. The notion of both terms has been
explored largely on the impacts of tourism to the natural environment, understanding the
terminology of ecotourism and the approach of sustainability in water-based tourism. However,
the primary concern on the role of the nature in attracting tourists which varies to different
settings of natural environment and understanding the awareness of sustainability approach in
ecotourism water-based setting are equally important (Shamsuddoha, 2004). Rivers, lakes and
wetlands are the main attractions of most ecotourism spots in Bangladesh (Parjatan.gov.bd,
2019). These areas have high potential of the vast natural habitat and wildlife that provide
access for tourists to enjoy the quality of experience. Unfortunately, most of these areas are not
well known to domestic tourists as well as international tourists. This paper discusses the
ecotourism settings in Bangladesh in the context of different water-based tourist destinations
like rivers, lakes and swamps (Salunkhe and Kumar, 2018). Three common characteristics of
ecotourism as suggested by Ceballos-Lascurain (1988) had been adopted; (1) travelling to
undisturbed areas or uncontaminated natural areas, (2) fulfilled by nature-based activities (3)
to study, admire, and enjoy the scenery and its wild plants and animals. Through observing and
analysing different researches and studies, critical discussions and decisions are made to
develop the water-based ecotourism in Bangladesh. And also, the potential opportunities and
challenges are addressed to develop a sustainable ecotourism approach.

Keywords: Water-based, Ecotourism, Sustainable tourism, Challenges and Opportunities,

Development
Contents
Chapter 1 .................................................................................................................................... 1

Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 1

Background of the study ........................................................................................................ 2

Rationale of the study ............................................................................................................ 3

Chapter 2 .................................................................................................................................... 4

Aim and objectives ................................................................................................................ 4

Question of the study ............................................................................................................. 4

Focus of the study .................................................................................................................. 4

Limitations of the study ......................................................................................................... 5

Structure of the study ............................................................................................................. 5

Chapter 3 .................................................................................................................................... 7

Literature review .................................................................................................................... 7

Relationship between water and tourism ........................................................................... 7

Why focus on water-based tourism? .................................................................................. 8

Ecotourism and sustainability ............................................................................................ 9

Benefits from water-based ecotourism ............................................................................ 11

Chapter 4 .................................................................................................................................. 14

Methodology ........................................................................................................................ 14

Research philosophy ............................................................................................................ 14

Research approach ............................................................................................................... 14

Research design ................................................................................................................... 15

Data collection ................................................................................................................. 15

Data analysis .................................................................................................................... 16

Data reliability and validity ............................................................................................. 16

Research scopes ................................................................................................................... 17

Ethical issues ........................................................................................................................ 17

Chapter 5 .................................................................................................................................. 18

Findings and discussions...................................................................................................... 18

Principles of ecotourism .................................................................................................. 18

Impact of ecotourism ....................................................................................................... 20

Potential challenges and opportunities to develop water-based ecotourism .................... 21

Chapter 6 .................................................................................................................................. 26

Conclusions and recommendations...................................................................................... 26

Chapter 7 .................................................................................................................................. 28

References ............................................................................................................................ 28
Chapter 1
Introduction
Tourism is the most rapid growing industry and economic generator to the destinations, towns,
regions, country and globally. While the idea of ecotourism as a niche market in tourism
industry has gained popularity since sustainability notion has been recognized. Ecotourism has
experienced a quick growth and the most rapid growing segment of the tourism industry. This
is due ecotourism has become popular as a result of sustainable awareness was established
across the globe. Moreover, it is well acknowledged because of its balanced goal in conserving
the environment and benefiting the hosts while simultaneously providing a pleasurable
experience to the tourists fulfilling the needs of the tourists (Wearing., 2005). The concept of
ecotourism is well linked with sustainable development activities, protected area conservation,
and regional and community development strategy. Ecotourism is being proposed as a
sustainable option to mass tourism by governments and the tourism industry.

In addition, ecotourism is responsible to undisturbed natural areas with the purpose to

appreciate the environment and sustains the well-being of local people. Ecotourism is not only
protecting the environment, but also helping in changing the local communities in positive
manner. According to the National Ecotourism Plan, local communities that live in ecotourism
spot are generally the low-income earners. Thus, ecotourism provides possible economic
option for the local communities. For example, ecotourism encourages responsible travel to
natural areas that maintains the integrity of ecosystem and provides profitable incomes for the
local communities (Wearing., 2005). It is undoubtedly true that ecotourism in these days has
not been taken into consideration in the context of the potential of unrecognized setting and the
failure of operation and management related to ecotourism industry. The primary reason is due
to disregard on the management issues especially in the setting of rivers, lakes and swamps.
Although many of this water-based ecotourism has been developed into resorts, unfortunately
these resorts were facing the issue of poor visitor rates. As a result, these resorts will gradually
facing an annual loss and some quarters had closed down their resorts. This problem occurs
particularly in the water-based tourism (Tourismboard.gov.bd, 2019).

Different studies revealed that in order to mitigate the lower visitor problem, the scholars
recommended an immediate measure should be implemented to increase the effectiveness of
management and improve the cleanliness of the tourist destinations (Singh, 2010). And also
claimed that the decreasing number of foreign tourists is due to dissatisfaction of the quality of

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services delivered by operators at the destination. Therefore, the need for exploration and
improvement pertaining management and operation in the area of water-based ecotourism
resort management is crucial. Previous studies on ecotourism have primarily focused on the
definitions of ecotourism, the ecotourism concept, and the characteristics of ecotourism spots.
Limited studies have been focussing on the contribution or potential of ecotourism spots that
becoming extinct, such as lakes, rivers and swamps. In addition, there is also a lack of research
on the assessment of sustainability approaches in ecotourism areas in Bangladesh.

With all these idea in mind, this paper aims to identify the ecotourism characteristics or
principles in nature-based setting mainly in water-based areas like; lakes, rivers and swamps
in Bangladesh. The implication of this paper is to acknowledge the potential of the ‘unsung
heroes’ by highlighting the issues of marketing and management related to water-based
ecotourism (Salunkhe and Kumar, 2018). In practical contribution, this study will serve as
guidelines for the stakeholders to increase their awareness in the sense that it may be helpful
to restore the glory of Bangladesh. This paper will firstly explain the terminology of different
water resources as water-based tourist destination in Bangladesh and the associated
management issues respectively. Then, the paper will discuss the principles of ecotourism,
followed by explanation of the research methodology that been adopted to develop critical
research analysis and findings. Therefore, there will be discussion on different water-based
tourist activities and potential challenges and opportunities for sustainable tourism approaches
to develop water-based ecotourism.

Background of the study

The study is emphasized on the water-based tourism prospect in which determining a new
potential for different water places in Bangladesh. Bangladesh have many water resources
which are favourably in providing the river-tourism, canal-tourism, lake-tourism and other
water tourism activities resources (Page and Dowling, 2007). Some of the activities such as
adventure water activities, white-water rafting, kayaking, boating, tubing, swimming, fishing
and cruising are such an attractive and enjoyable moment which are get a high demand from
the tourist around the world especially tourist who is seeking for challenges, adventures,
experiences and satisfaction. This research paper considers several elements in water-based
tourism prospect include the ecotourism perspectives and also study of the suitability for
nature-tourism area. All of those elements are important in determining different water-based
tourist destinations as potential spot for different water tourism activities. The conclusion of

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the paper shows significance of developing the ecotourism phenomenon to ensure sustainable
tourism approach for water-based tourist destinations.

Rationale of the study

Bangladesh is profound with numerous numbers of different water resources and in fact, the
possessing of may rivers made Bangladesh known as a riverine country (Bbs.gov.bd, 2019).
The main feature of water-based tourism destinations is water, one of the most popular natural
set- tings for rest and recreation (Mehmetoglu, 2007). Even short periods near water are
claimed to have a beneficial soothing effect on most people. Using water in different
destinations like river, canal, lake, mere, swamp etc. as tourism resource might be interesting
to be studied since the demand of adventure and outdoor activities are increasing. There are
several types of activities that can be carried out on the flow water stream such as river
journeys, kayaking, rafting, fishing, relaxing and wildlife watching. According to Bruce and
Malcolm (2009), rivers are a major tourism resource providing spectacular settings,
recreational opportunities, waterfront landscapes in many centres of tourism interest, a means
of transport and an essential source of water for human consumption. The world’s great water-
based tourist destinations have long intrigued travellers and even in ancient times provided the
backdrop for travel. From the citation above, it is clear that apart from other natural and
artificial tourism, water is the one of the most interesting tourism resources to be chosen.

3|Page
Chapter 2
Aim and objectives
In this study, the overall aim is to identify the potentials of developing water-based tourism as
ecotourism tourist destinations in Bangladesh and planning different specific measures and in
order to achieve them to make the destinations the top attractive places to be visited (Islam et
al., 2013). The specific objectives of this study are as follows:

 To observe and determine the key criteria to develop ecotourism in tourist destinations.
 To determine what type impact would be resulted in to be carried out for ecotourism in
water-based destinations.
 To investigate the potential challenges and opportunities in Bangladesh to develop the
water-based ecotourism.

Question of the study

To conduct business research project, different relative questions are made to identify wat are
needed to meet the research objectives. Identifying research questions is significantly needed
to measure what the essential and effective frameworks for are conducting research (Hunt and
Stronza, 2009). For conducting a purposeful and integrating research, some questions are made
to establish a coherent relationship between the research aims and outcomes. Through this
following research project some significant questions will addressed to gain the research
outcomes:

 What are key principles to maintain the ecotourism criteria and make it feasible?
 What impact would have been appeared after developing ecotourism?
 What are the key opportunities and challenge to develop ecotourism?

Focus of the study

To accomplish this research project, different issues are focused and discussed on to fulfil the
research objectives (Collis and Hussey, 2013). The key focus is analysing the perspectives of
ecotourism and water-based tourism to ensure the sustainable approach for developing those
destinations under ecotourism criteria. Different relevant facts and issues will be focused on to
create a solid understanding about the environment different water-based destinations, their
potential opportunities and challenges for developing ecotourism and others. Moreover, some
controversial issues are also focused to ensure integrated research framework like dynamic

4|Page
perceptions about different tourism phenomenon and different tourism drastic in developed
countries and other economic and social issues.

Limitations of the study

There have different uncontrollable facts or issues which influence the research outcomes and
researchers have to deal with these limitations and try to evolve with effective pathways to
recovering the influence of them as much as possible. The core limitation of this research
project is use of secondary data and information, which make the impartiality, authenticity and
accuracy of the questionable (Sharma, 2009). A large number of legal and authentic data
sources are used for collecting reliable and trusted data and information to cover the
information gaps. Moreover, the dynamic information and data are collected from updated and
official data sources. One significant limitation of this research project is the lack of research
evidence, as this research is based on qualitative research methods, there is no valid verification
of the research outcomes (Gössling, 2015). Verified outcomes from the research ensure the
serving of research purposes. And for this reason, relevant and valid quantitative information
are presented to create an evidence-based research outcome. Another significant limitation of
the research is the lack consistency in different phenomena of research topic area, which is a
drawback to create consistent and integrated conclusion. It is needed to provide consistent
conclusion for effective research outcomes (Silverman, 2013). To create an integrated and
justifiable research conclusion, the findings and discussions are synchronized coherently
around research questions and objectives. Broader sense of research objectives is another
limitation of this research which decreases the efficiency level in specific focus of the research.
Some key focuses are made to provide narrative and persistent information flow to meet the
research objectives.

Structure of the study

Research structure is the outline of the segments of the work done to conduct the research.
Providing research structure is significant to ensure the chronological order and the effective
research segmentation to develop a coherent research paper (Easterby-Smith, Thorpe and
Jackson, 2012). This research project is structured in five chapters including different segments
which are defined below:

Chapter Chapter name Chapter details

number

5|Page
 Chapter 1 Introduction Introduction chapter is to provide the
overview, background, rationale, of the
research to understand the key issues of the
research.
Chapter 2 Aims and objectives This chapter is provided with the aims and
objectives of the research as well as the key
research questions, limitations and focuses
of the research.
Chapter 3 Literature review Literature review is to provide the
substantive and available knowledge from
different published sources about the
research topic and related areas.
Chapter 4 Methodology Methodology chapter is to provide the
processes are done to conduct the research
and also define the tools and techniques
used to analyse and present the research
findings and outcomes
Chapter 5 Findings and The ‘findings and discussions’ chapter is to
discussions provide the findings of research data and
information from potential sources and
discussions will be made to meet the
research objectives.
Chapter 6 Conclusion and In this chapter valid and reasonable
recommendation conclusion is made based on the research
findings and discussions and
recommendation is made based on the
ethical considerations and better cost
implications of this research to create better
outcomes
Chapter 7 Reference This chapter is provided with all the data and
information’s sources used to collect them
to conduct this research.

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Chapter 3
Literature review
Relationship between water and tourism
Beyond its well-known industrial and energy uses, water offers a wide variety of opportunities
for recreational and tourist activities. The relationship between water and tourism is
characterized by a dual understanding of this element: as a precious resource and as an
attraction. Considering water to be a valuable, scarce resource, researchers have conducted
studies focused on identifying practical and business initiatives through which water-based
tourism can be developed without jeopardizing the quality and availability of water resources
(Fleischer, 2010). In this sense, the relationship between water and tourism is focused on
sustainability. On the other hand, as a tourist attraction, water represents a resource with a
strong potential to attract tourists. Different types of bodies of water can sustain several, diverse
forms of tourism, such as beach tourism, river tourism, tourism of reservoirs, lakes, and natural
pools, and tourism of thermal waters. The latter must undoubtedly be considered to be the
oldest form of tourism in general and, certainly, the oldest form of water-based tourism, in
particular. According to (Erfurt-Cooper and Cooper, 2009, p. 33), the elements that influence
current tourism trends can be found in the historical phenomenon of thermal baths, which
predated the 20th century. Indeed, taking baths in natural, warm waters motivated the tourist
patterns of the 19th century. Such natural hot springs and spas gave birth to an entire industry
of services, including accommodations, catering, entertainment, and complementary activities,
which offered a complete, touristic experience beyond the hydrotherapies offered by the
thermal waters themselves. This phenomenon contributed to the establishment of thermal spas
as the origin of a new hospitality industry, which favoured both the economic growth of these
areas and a new interest in preserving the water resources upon which such wealth and
wellbeing depended.

The rise of new forms of tourism, such as beach tourism, together with the decrease in the
interest in homeopathic health treatments as a result of the spread of modern medicine and
drugs, has led to a gradually declining interest in hot springs, which, deprived of their
therapeutic value, have become less popular options for leisure and recreation. However, it is
worth noting that the emergence of new health problems that are afflicting societies in the
developed world, such as stress, physical inactivity, and chronic diseases, has highlighted
certain weaknesses of the modern public health agencies (Chen, 2015). For this reason, public

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health organizations are seeking to increase the health and wellbeing of people through
alternative routes (e.g., outdoor activities, appreciative outdoor recreation, etc.), in which
water-based experiences can be included, thus creating an opportunity for a renewed interest
in hot springs. From an economical perspective, thermal tourism has remained relevant and
attractive because of its target audience—the elderly. This segment of the population not only
represents the largest portion of modern society, but it also typically possesses the most
important currencies in the tourism sector—time and money. As a result, thermal tourism has
the potential to endure fewer seasonal limitations and longer average stays than other forms of
water tourism.

Nevertheless, even if it could be argued that thermal water activities represent the greatest and
earliest example of the dual purpose and benefits of water tourism, it must be reiterated that,
from a commercial perspective, this type of tourism has experienced a gradual decline in
popularity because its medicinal and healing attributes may be less well known amongst
younger audiences, who tend to be more interested in conserving the natural beauty of water
than in its healing potential (Chandra Roy and Roy, 2015). In any case, new and growing trends
and mentalities with respect to water-based landscapes and activities have begun to emerge in
today’s society. Moreover, these practices have become popular, because they are linked to
various cultural values that are appreciated by diverse consumers, including health, wellbeing,
and respect for nature. Thus, water-based tourism initiatives are being proposed in response to
the growing demand of current consumers. In addition, these experiences are becoming
attractive to new groups of tourists, such as groups of friends, families with children, and young
people (Wilkinson, 2015). From an environmental perspective, these types of tourism offer
important opportunities for the development and implementation of new sustainable models
for the management of water resources, which have a positive impact on the conservation of
the environment, biodiversity, and local ecosystems. Thus, water-based tourism initiatives have
the potential to turn this resource into a sustainable economic and social asset, and through
tourism, water can be utilized as an engine for regional development, the protection of unique
ecosystems, and the improvement of the quality of life for tourists and local communities.

Why focus on water-based tourism?

A lot of researches articles have been written about water-based sport, leisure, adventure and
tourism. In addition, a number of books have focussed on water-based tourism, and several
have highlighted water tourism. Few, however, have focused specifically on water-oriented
experiences across the broad fields of study of tourism, sport, leisure, and recreation (Wearing.,

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2005). Furthermore, few, if any, have substantively addressed a variety of water-based
experiences associated with a stable, albeit moving and movable platform. As a consequence,
this research turns the spotlight onto water-based experiences associated with some form of
platform. Specifically, the research considers the water-based experiences of sailing, motor
boating, motorized sports, surfing and windsurfing, sport and big game fishing, white-water
rafting, kayaking, one-day boating adventures, sail training adventures, as well as scuba diving,
free diving, and snorkelling, albeit that these latter three do not necessarily always associate
with a platform. Apart from water tourism, the remaining terms tend to categorize by location
rather than by overall resource base and related experiences (Singh, 2010). As a consequence,
drawing on the term water tourism, for the intent of this research, the phrase “water-based
tourism” has been coined. In doing this, recognition is given to the overlap among tourism,
sport, recreation, and leisure as well as to the diversity in water resources that may be used for
the former. Such water resources include salt, estuarine, fresh, and frozen water in their various
formations.

In order for a tourism activity to be evaluated in the context of sustainable tourism, it is

important that these functions are fulfilled. In order for tourism activities to be planned and
carried out without neglecting the protection of the natural and cultural resources used, in order
to increase and adopt this sensitivity, tourism workers should be educated and the beneficiaries
should be informed (Shamsuddoha, 2004). Since tourism is an important sector for local
development, it is necessary to establish a sustainable management structure in order to ensure
that local people and all stakeholders participate in tourism-related planning, decision-making
and implementation processes, and coordinate all these factors. The protection of the
environment and natural-cultural resources is necessary for all economic activities carried out
by these resources. The same is true for the sustainability of tourism activities. In the world, it
is known that many tourism activities consume, pollute and even destroy natural resources.
Air, water and soil pollution are observed in the natural areas used for tourism purposes.

Ecotourism and sustainability

Tourism is a sector closely related to the level of development and economic prosperity of
nations and countries. World countries, which are aware of the inputs that tourism provides to
the economy, have started to invest more in this area. However, it is important to continue or
complete the development of the tourism sector without harming the environment. In this
respect, the concept of sustainability gains importance (Salunkhe and Kumar, 2018). With the
development of alternative tourism types, virgin natural beauties have begun to be offered to

9|Page
tourism and to people's interest. However, the rapid depletion of these resources in this process
has brought the danger of loss of values to the agenda. Sustainability stands out as an important
and vital concept at this point.

Sustainability or sustainable development is a concept that has become widespread since it was
used in the 1987 "Our Common Future" report prepared by the United Nations World
Commission on Environment and Development. According to the report, also known as the
Brundtland Report, sustainable development represents a development or process that meets
today's needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs (Page
and Dowling, 2007). Sustainable development requires the establishment and operation of a
balance between economic, social and environmental policy and objectives. However, it
requires that the demands and needs of the present generations be met without narrowing the
demands and needs of future generations. The ecotourism is one of the key sustainability
concepts at the point of conservation and transfer of resources to future generations such as
economic activities, development, urbanization, agriculture, tourism, and environment.
Tourism is also a sector that develops and contributes to the development of the country thanks
to its natural resources and cultural values, and of course, it needs the preservation of these
resources and values. These natural and cultural resources are the most important elements of
tourism activities (Mozumder et al., 2018). By protecting these resources and transferring them
to future generations, tourism activities can be sustained and can continue to contribute to
economic development. Countries in this consciousness adopt the concept of sustainable
tourism and implement the appropriate policies. The conscious use of natural and cultural
resources will help to minimize the negative effects arising from the general structure of the
tourism sector, to increase the level of benefit from tourism activities and to sustain
development.

Sustainability concept in tourism is expressed with sustainable tourism concept. The United
Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) defines sustainable tourism as "tourism that
takes full account of current and future economic, social and environmental impacts that meet
the needs of visitors, sector, host communities, and environment" (United Nations World
Tourism Organization, 2019). Sustainable tourism certainly stands out as a new understanding
in the economy. This is because the continuous consumption of natural resources is the main
source of revenue for touristic regions. Sustainable tourism is not a separate or special form of
tourism. On the contrary, all types of tourism should try to be more sustainable. Making tourism
more sustainable is not just about controlling and managing the negative impacts of the

10 | P a g e
industry. The tourism industry is in a very special position to provide economic and social
benefits to local communities and to raise awareness and support for the protection of the
environment (Islam et al., 2013). In the tourism sector, economic development and
environmental protection should not be seen as opposing forces. On the contrary, these two
forces must support each other and be strengthened by this purpose. Policies and actions should
aim to increase tourism benefits and reduce costs.

When the concepts of environment, tourism and sustainability are mentioned together, the
concept of eco-tourism comes to mind. However, there is a very important distinction between
eco-tourism and sustainable tourism: Eco-tourism is a relatively small part of the tourism
industry, although it is widely defined as an alternative nature-based tourism type. It is also one
of the fastest growing tourism segments and is expected to grow faster in the future
(Mehmetoglu, 2007). Sustainable tourism requires commitment to sustainability principles for
all stakeholders in all types of tourism and the tourism sector. Sustainable tourism refers to the
preservation of natural and cultural values, which are the basic elements of tourism for all types
of tourism, and the realization of tourism activities with a sense of responsibility towards the
environment. It means that the efforts of tourism to contribute to economic development and
to protect environmental values must be carried out in harmony with each other (Hunt and
Stronza, 2009). Of course, achieving this requires a mutually supportive relationship between
economic interests and the protection of environmental values. Because the interests for
increasing the revenues are based on the use of natural and cultural values and even
exploitation, the plans, policies and programs in this area should aim to minimize the harm that
these environmental values will suffer.

Benefits from water-based ecotourism

Water resources are well-known as high value to the local communities. In Bangladesh, water
resources give big contributions to generate natural resources and food elements. This could
help Bangladesh by generating revenue about RM 35 million per day. Besides that, different
water resources also provide multitude uses for human settlement and habitation including
drinking and public water supply, commercial and recreational fisheries, body contact
recreation and other aesthetic tourism uses (Gössling, 2015).

Unfortunately, nowadays there are several reputable water resources are not heard anymore
and some are even forgotten. This is due to neglection on management issues such as facing
problem of poor visitor rates which gradually leads to annual loss and further contributes to its

11 | P a g e
closing down. Other causes which lead to this setback is because our lakes are lacking of
national policy including appropriate plans and management on river, lake, canal swamps and
other water resource development, lacking of awareness and commitment from local residents
and be short of thorough knowledge and understanding in water Ecosystem. Therefore,
sustainable water management is very important in order to restore the glory of Bangladesh’s
water resources (Fleischer, 2010). The development and management of large water resources
like rivers, canals, lakes can only be brought through political commitment and involvement
from highest levels of governments to the smallest communities. In order to sensitize the public
on the ecological values of rivers, government had launched nation-wide community awareness
campaign.

In Bangladesh, the Sundarbans mangrove swamp is an important natural resource for coastal
communities. The mangrove aquatic ecosystems provide resources such as fishes, shells and
other seafood for the anglers while productive forests provide fuel-wood, poles and other
building materials for local constructions. In addition, mangrove swamps are the principle
source of primary productivity in such areas providing food, as well as shelter and nursery
areas for varieties of marine fauna (Erfurt-Cooper and Cooper, 2009). Unfortunately, this
valuable resource is under increasing pressure from overexploitation, development, and
pollution. Loss of mangrove swamps worldwide has been drastic such as in Thailand,
Philippines, and Vietnam. One of the crucial factors that make mangrove swamps deteriorate
is water pollution. It is well-known that rivers have been the sinks for all kind of sludge and
sullage from local sources or factories that are built near the rivers in inland areas. The wastes
that flow together with the water has severely affected the mangroves resources.

Managing mangrove forest has been very challenging. Government has taken steps to designate
mangrove forest reserves to ensure they are efficiently and sustainably managed. Mangrove
forest reserves are managed with the overall goal of conserving and managing the sustainability
of forest through sustainable management, and maintaining its important roles in the national
economy and environmental stability (Chen, 2015). In another hand, World Bank recently
introduced a voluntary Code of Conduct for Sustainable Management of Mangrove Forest
Ecosystems, with the objectives to arrest the recent and rapid destruction of coastal mangroves,
to improve their management, and to conserve their biodiversity. The Code identifies key
linkages and coordination needs among government departments, NGOs, local communities
and other stakeholders, and recommends key legislation and enforcement mechanisms required
for sustainable mangrove uses and management. The Code provides guidance on the

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improvement of legal and institutional frameworks for sustainable management, and the
promotion of food security, sustainable livelihoods of depending coastal communities, trade of
mangrove products in conformity with local and international rules, and research on mangrove
genetics, biodiversity and environment (Chandra Roy and Roy, 2015). In conclusion, this
water-based ecotourism systems are inextricably linked to elements of both land and sea,
holistic and integrated management is very necessary in order to resolve conflicts that occur to
our rivers, lakes, and swamps. Sustainable ecotourism development on this water-based
tourism is very essential to ensure the glory of Bangladesh continuously.

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Chapter 4
Methodology
Research methodology refers the framework of processes of conducting the research which
includes the specific procedures or techniques used to identify, select, process, and analyse
information about a topic. It comprises the theoretical analysis of the body of methods and
principles associated with a branch of knowledge (Imms and Ereaut, 2002). In a research paper,
the methodology section allows the reader to critically evaluate a study's overall validity and
reliability. Qualitative research method is used for this research and other methodological
phenomenon of this research are following.

Research philosophy
Research philosophy define the researcher’s perspectives about what type of analysis or
findings are needed to gain the research outcome. Different research philosophy carries
different views of choosing the relative facts and issues to create integrated relation between
them. And research philosophies are naturally differ based on research types and purposes of
research.

This following research project will be conducted based on interpretive philosophy, supported
with different qualitative and quantitative research methods which are used to investigate and
interpret the necessary data and information. Moreover, there have influence of other
philosophy in this following research to provide the existing nature and assumptions of the
knowledge of this research area. And also, the positive and negative aspects in this research
area will be addressed and enlightened through this research project. As this research will be
based on interpretive philosophy, mainly qualitative methods of research will be focused to
provide coherent analysis and interpretation of data and findings (Imms and Ereaut, 2002). But
using both qualitative and quantitative data and information will enable this research to gain
an integrated outcome from the findings.

Research approach
Research approaches are the way of choosing the research process or in which way the research
will be conducted. Throughout following different approach, researchers determine or plan the
procedures of data collection, analysis and interpretation (Wilkinson, 2015). Using the
appropriate research approach is needed to create effective research framework which requires
potential source identification, reflective and conceptual research ideologies. Generally, three

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types of research approaches are used which are deductive approach, inductive approach and
abductive approach.

This following research will be conducted using the inductive research approach. Inductive
research approach doesn’t generate research hypothesis and specific research questions are
built to attain research objectives (Johnson and Duberley, 2015). This research project will be
based on findings of the research questions and theoretical and conceptual measures will be
used to ensure the coherent relationship among research questions and findings. Moreover, the
inductive approach includes the establishment of connectivity of specific issue with general
issues to create an untested conclusion.

Research design
Research design can be referred as the set of the methods used for collecting and analysing the
data and the processes of research to meet the aim and objectives. To create effective research
design, the consistency and relevancy among ‘research questions’ and ‘research methods and
processes’ is potentially needed. Because the steps of research designing are structured
coherently to find the answers of the research questions (Morse, 2010). This research project
is designed as a non-experimental and exploratory research and some facts are concerned as
using non-manipulated research data, signifying different potentialities in research areas and
creating relationship between them for integrated research outcome, adopting interventionary
strategies to provide self-understanding about the research findings and analyzation. The
research designing stages of this research project are provided below:

Data collection
The data collection process is significant because researchers conduct their research based on
the data and information they collect from different sources. Different data collection methods
are used for collecting the required data to serve the purposes of different research project
(Quinlan, 2015). Using the effective data collection method is needed to be synchronized with
the potential and related data sources to collect the reliable and valid data. Generally, two types
of data collection methods are used in research projects which are primary data collection
method and secondary data collection method. Primary data collection method requires direct
involvement of researcher in collection processes like questionnaire, survey, interview,
observations and others. And secondary data collection method is indirect data collection
processes from various data sources like publications, researches, journals, statistics and others.

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In this research project, secondary data collection method is used collect the necessary data and
information from different secondary sources are journals, books, articles, researches, official
reports, and various statistical and historical information (Johnson and Duberley, 2015). And
the research project is conducted using the secondary data and information. The collected data
and information will enable this research project to meet the research objectives and find the
answers of research questions.

Data analysis
To conduct a research project, researcher need to sue different data analysis tools and
techniques to convert the raw data and information as research materials. The collected data
and information are analysed to evaluated and processed to transform into research outcome.
Through appropriate data analysis procedures, researchers can be able to effectively address
the research aim and objectives. Different approaches are used in researches based on
qualitative and quantitative research instincts (Rupp, 2011). Generally, for quantitative
research type, different calculation and scientific methods are used to process collected data,
to create research evidence using different types of variable and samples. And through
qualitative research, researchers gather data and information from different sources to establish
an in-depth understanding through naturalistic inquiry.

In this research project, the collected data will be analysed based on phenomenological
approach of data analysis. The collected qualitative and quantitative data and information about
water-based tourism, ecotourism and sustainability will be analysed through theoretical and
conceptual explorations to create in-depth understanding. And the exploratory analyzation of
areas of research topic will lead the research outcome toward gaining of research objectives.
Information flow of the analytical findings will be synchronized in a way to find the answers
of research questions.

Data reliability and validity

For conducting this research project, the data and information used in research are tried to be
made relevant to the research topic and also tried to be qualified and logical in accordance with
research objectives and outcomes. Ensuring the data reliability and validity is a significant part
of research project cause without reliable and validate data, conducting an effective research is
not possible as there is no valid research outcome from misleading and irrelevant data
(Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, 2016). Data reliability and validity is significant to create a

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consistent and effective data flow of the research. Data sampling is potential approach to ensure
the reliability and validity of data used in research project.

Through the data sampling, different subsets of the overall data sources are tested to ensure the
reliability and validity. This research project is conducted based on reliable and valid data
which are collected from authentic and trusted data sources related to water-based tourism as
referenced bottom of the research paper, and the data and information is collected in assemble
of measurements and standards established by renowned and legally trusted individuals and
organizations.

Research scopes
Research scope defines the extents of the areas and matters that are needed to deal with to
conduct the research. Determining appropriate and potential scopes for the research ensure the
viability of coherent relationship with the research topic and research objectives (Sekaran and
Bougie, 2016). Moreover, researcher find out the suitable and effective research scopes to
determine the processes and procedures needed to conduct the research. And also determine
how the research outcomes can be aligned with the research topic. The scope of the research is
covering the overall facts and issues of water-based tourism and ecotourism. And this research
also will be managed to find out the extent in which developing ecotourism trends toward the
sustainable tourism development.

Ethical issues
Ethical issues and considerations are part of every kind of human activities and interactions as
well as that, research project also have to considered about different ethical issues and
considerations. The basic ethical considerations of research are honesty, integrity, objectivity,
affiliation of intellectual property, legality, privacy and others (Sekaran and Bougie, 2016).
This research project is tried to be managed to meet the ethical facts and issues. This research
is aimed to provide the integrated information for synchronizing with research objectives. The
data and information provided in this research are collected from authentic information sources
which are legally permitted to use. Tools and techniques are used to evaluate and affiliate
intellectual properties in an integrated manner. This research project is based on a legal
business topic and honestly tried to be presented by using realistic views and situations under
the research topic.

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Chapter 5
Findings and discussions
The findings and discussions are made based on the gathered data and information from
different research articles and studies based on this research topic areas.

Principles of ecotourism
The word ecotourism, basically originates from two words that are Ecology and tourism. The
eco-part of the word implies a tie with ecology-relations between living organism and their
environment, thus forming a linkage between tourism development and the environment
(Wearing., 2005). The Ecotourism Society defines ecotourism as:

“Decisive travel to nature areas to understand the culture and history of the environment such
as taking care not to alter the integrity of the ecosystem and producing economic opportunities
that make natural resources beneficial to the local people.” (Singh, 2010)

Historically, in 1981, Ceballos-Lascurain (1987) was the first person who formulated the term
ecotourism. He was promoting ecological tourism as a way of maintaining the integrity of the
forests and as a means for conservation. Hector Ceballos-Lascurain (1988) defined ecotourism
as:

“(1) Traveling to relatively undisturbed or uncontaminated natural areas with (2) specific
objective of studying, admiring, enjoying the scenery and its wild plants and animals, as well
as any existing cultural manifestations found in these areas, (3) through a process which
promotes conservation, has a low impact on the environment and on culture and favours the
active and socioeconomically beneficial involvement of local communities" (Shamsuddoha,
2004). These principles are discussed more deeply in the context of different water resources
like rivers, swamps, lakes and others.

1. Travelling to undisturbed areas or uncontaminated natural areas

Travelling is relatively undisturbed areas or uncontaminated natural areas. It includes,

travelling in relatively primitive and rural circumstances, rustic accommodations, muddy trails,
and with basic amenities. Ecotourists are more interested to visit relatively undeveloped areas
in the spirit of appreciation, participation, and sensitivity (Salunkhe and Kumar, 2018).
Ecotourists are relatively affluent, well educated, mature and environmentally-focused. In
addition, the ecotourist generally expresses a strong desire to learn about nature on their trips.
Mangrove swamp is one of the uncontaminated natural areas that are preferred by tourists who

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love pastoral accommodation and pock environment. Despite facing with uncomfortable
surroundings, tourists will be entertained by excitement, educational and most of all, safe
excursion activities such as peaceful boat swamp tours, where tourists exposed to exotic flora
and fauna of this spectacular ecosystem (Www2.unwto.org, 2019). Besides that, tourists also
can explore the bayou and its wildlife close up. For example, Sundarbans Swamps provides
both striking flora and fauna, Grey Heron, Smooth Otter and a variety of bats, squirrels, civets,
mongooses, pangolins and wild boars. Underwater Mangroves’ wildlife is equally rich;
scientists have identified different species of fish, prawns and crabs. And Sundarbans possesses
a nature-cum-recreational park where destructive activities are prohibited (Page and Dowling,
2007). The park has a lot of visitors annually. Ecotourism is seen as an alternative way to draw
public support for conservation and sustainable utilization. This travel opportunities are
designated to help people to be more in touch with the beauty, wonder, and value of the
environment and to educate travellers and to enhance the spiritual experience in nature that
fosters respect and stewardship. It also gives travellers a greater awareness of environmental
systems and the pay-off being a stronger appreciation and close contact with local culture and
resource conservation issues.

2. Nature based activities

Among ecotourism activities, nature-based activity is one the activities that ecotourists most
fascinated. One of the main reasons for tourists to get pleasure from ecotourism is to enjoy its
nature and wildlife (Mozumder et al., 2018). For example, on Kaptai lake, the largest man-
made lake in Bangladesh, specifically developed to generate electricity is famous for its
fishing-related activities, where tourists are allowed to come into contact with endangered fish,
as well as other nature-based activities, such as rain forest tracking, caving, canoeing and
picnicking near waterfalls (Mehmetoglu, 2007). Nature based activities contributes positively
to the destination ‘s economic social and ecological conditions. It helps the economic well-
being of the areas and stimulates the economy and at the same time establishes and maintains
a system of protected areas. Nature based activities respect the integrity of host communities,
and at the same time enlightening nature travel experiences that contribute to the conservation
of the ecosystem. Moreover, nature-based activities provide direct financial benefits for
conservation through park entrance fees, tourist taxes and levies, and not forgetting the
conservation donations. Thus, tourism has been seen to be able to fund environmental
protection, education and research.

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3. Study, admire, and enjoy the scenery and its wild plants and animals

Ecotourism activities has the specific objective of studying, admiring, and enjoying the scenery
and its wild plants and animals, as well as any existing cultural manifestations (both past and
present) found in these areas. Besides, ecotourism is also characterized by a primary desire to
study specific elements of nature in sensitive environments, fulfilled by activities such as bird
watching, whale viewing and wild-flower photography. Wildlife viewing includes animals;
such as birds, sea turtles, and marine mammals, learning about coastal ecology (especially
wetlands ecology), SCUBA diving or snorkelling in undisturbed areas, or to experience nature
in its broadest sense (Islam et al., 2013). As a result, ecotourists will be deeply connected with
wild plants and animals and also reawakening from their everyday lives, reawakening the spirit,
allowing for those ever-seeking, enjoying, escaping, relating, discovering, fulfilling and self-
discovering feelings—all within the confines of carefully chosen experience. Besides that,
ecotourists will be more educated and matured about wild plants and animals.

Impact of ecotourism
There are numerous water-based destinations scattered across the riverine country Bangladesh.
They have various impacts on the society and environment which are mostly positive. The rest
of this paper will first address the ecological impacts of ecotourism and afterwards, the social
impacts.

The first ecological impact to look at is the protection of fauna (animal life) and flora
(plant life) in the biosphere (Hunt and Stronza, 2009). There’s a diversity of species living in
these sites and as people visit and study about them, they learn of their uniqueness, beauty and
role in the ecosystem, therefore learn to respect life regardless of what form and find means to
protect them. Again, it serves as means to conserve the environment. Ecotourism destinations
are made attractive to visitors and measures are placed to sustain them. Some include,
reforestation, halting the spread of agricultural and settlement lands and halting of mineral
mining. Also, ecotourism promotes the continuous production of biomass in the ecosystem so
as the energy cycle and resultant food webs and chains are not disturbed. Plants are the basic
producers of energy in an ecosystem so their protection and study ensure biomass production
within this trophic level. Wildlife conservation that is animals and plants living in their natural
habitats (Gössling, 2015). This ensures the maximum reproduction of various species and
increase in the population of a system with corresponding increasing carrying capacity of the
ecosystem. Finally, it encourages learning and innovation as man devises new methods of

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improving the environment, obtaining maximum benefits like food, the use of renewable
energy, discovery of medicinal herbs, tracing sources of pathogenic diseases etc.

Social impacts include promoting development of peripheral regions. Since most of

these ecotourism destinations are found in areas far from big cities, it helps recognize the need
for their development and resource allocation. It also serves as employment opportunities such
as tour guides, teachers and lodge operators (Islam et al., 2013). For example, most of the
people living in Saint Martin island earn their livelihood from tourism. Again, it provides
market for local goods and crafts. Locally manufactured jewellery, clothes and accessories gain
ready market from tourists. For instance, ethnic people around different water-based
destinations has a market for small scale locally designed and crafted fashion accessories and
impacts the socio-economic lives of both the local people and the visitors. It serves as a
platform for knowing more about cultures and of peripheral regions. As one visits and interacts
with the local residents, acquire valuable information about such places such as history,
development, tradition and features. This helps demonstrate to the global community the
plights of the local people. Finally, ecotourism affects the development of the entire planet
(Fleischer, 2010). As places are visited and knowledge is acquired, it reflects in our social lives.
Governments acquire revenue through taxes to develop themselves, people acquire new
information for their respective studies and research, relationships are established and people
impart positive values upon one another. All these factors converge towards the development
of the people in the world and the earth as a whole. To conclude, ecotourism is very necessary
to our development, both individual and globally and as a result should be given the required
attention in order to maximize these benefits derived from it.

Potential challenges and opportunities to develop water-based ecotourism

The fast-growing water-based tourism industry faces many challenges in Bangladesh. Those
challenges need to be address in order to achieve them. It is more complicated process
analysing tourism sector as it differs from many other economic activities (Erfurt-Cooper and
Cooper, 2009). Further, tourism industry makes use of facilities across other industrial sectors.
Comprehensive and reliable statistics are essential to support tourism development. Data
relating tourism need to be perfect, but there are number of shortcomings in the available data.

The question was arisen among the tourist to understand the need of skilled and trained
employees in the tourism industry (Chen, 2015). Most of the researches stated that there is
room for employing more trained and skilled workers in the tourism industry in different water-

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based destinations, but some of the researches find satisfaction with the available workers
force. And very few researches didn’t mention about that.

Health care facilities are very important at tourist accommodation and destination. Based on
this, tourists were asked about the availability of the healthcare facility at their visit’s areas.
Most articles pointed out that most of the water-based tourist’s sites in Bangladesh lacks with
proper health care facilities (Chandra Roy and Roy, 2015). However, some researches
mentioned that the destinations got good healthcare facilities over there. And a few researches
showed no idea about health care facilities.

In different research articles tourists were asked about the available road facility to reach
destinations where the respondents said that the road network is a problem to visit tourist
destinations in Bangladesh. However, some respondents mentioned that road network in
Bangladesh is good enough to visit destination and some of them were neutral (Wilkinson,
2015). The convenience of road travel was also tested in different researches. Majority of the
researches stated that road infrastructure facilities in this region is not quite good to compare
with other Asian countries like Singapore or Thailand but few researches sated that road
infrastructure facility is quite up to the standard. Therefore, this study clarifies that poor road
infrastructure makes difficulties on accessing tourist destinations in Bangladesh.

Different research paper confirmed that available transport system (Train, buss, Airplane, Ship,
Water vehicles) to reach tourist destination is insufficient. The above finding concludes that
the transport systems to visit destination are not good (Wearing., 2005). The respondents in
different researches were asked about the alternative means of transportation to visit tourist
destination. For that question, majority of the participants confirmed that alternative means of
transportation is not sufficient to reach destination but some among them agreed that there is
enough alternative means of transportation whom have tried to provide manipulated data.
Responses to these two questions affirmed that existing alternative means of transportation in
Bangladesh is not as it is expected. Some of the other interviews were also confirmed that
Bangladesh’s tourism does not have many alternatives to see tourist destination.

Internet and mobile network facilities were assessed among the tourists in for different research
purposes and most of the respondents brought up that internet and mobile network are available
at the destination wherever they visited, however some of the tourists negatively expressed
their view in this regard (Singh, 2010). Based on the above result, conclusion can be given that
internet and mobile network facilities are available at the entire tourist destination. However,

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some interviews revealed that mobile network facilities are available all over Bangladesh, but
internet facilities are lacking in some remote destinations.

Accommodation is very important in the tourism industry and should be maintained with
international standard. Most of the data and information collected mentioned that there have
lacking of good hotel or accommodation facilities in water-based tourist destinations in
Bangladesh whereas, some research agreed on good accommodation facilities (Shamsuddoha,
2004). It can be concluded that tourist don’t get good hotels accommodation in both water-
based and other visiting destinations. In addition to this, tour operators and hotels owners
mentioned that almost all tourists are satisfied with available hotel accommodation in
Bangladesh. There are some star hotels in the Bangladesh which satisfy tourist’s expectation.
Further, the enough facilities are given to tourists to reserve as they demand.

Most of the researcher confirmed that there are security issues in the Bangladesh and visiting
different local and water-based tourist destination right now. Very few researchers stated that
there is little or less security problem in Bangladesh (Salunkhe and Kumar, 2018). The above
analysis shows that there are different security issues for tourists in the Bangladesh. Some
tourism operators said that there were security issues before 2009 but now it come to normal
and no threat at all on tourist and tourism industry.

The image of the destination is an important factor to attract tourist. Tourist perception on
Bangladesh’s tourism was researched. Majority of the researches had positive view on
Bangladesh’s tourism (Shamsuddoha, 2004). However, some researches had short of negative
view on it. And also, some researches stated nothing about it. Perception regarding image of
Bangladesh’s tourism was also sought in different researches. Some research expressed that
tourists have a good image about tourism in Bangladesh and that perception level goes up after
travelling across the country and it promises to comeback for the second time. The image of
Bangladesh in the international arena went down during the conflict. However, since 2010 this
negative perception disappeared and image of Bangladesh’s tourism boomed up among the
international tourists and Bangladesh received over millions of tourists in since then
(Mozumder et al., 2018).

Some researchers said that Bangladesh tourism development Authority provides detail
information about tourist destination while most of them motioned that promotion and publicity
is insufficient (Page and Dowling, 2007). It is clear from this analyse that the Bangladeshi
government and responsible body for tourism development have been working on a right way

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and there is still room for doing things to promote tourism in the Bangladesh. Most of the
researches mentioned that other Asian countries like India, Thailand, Indonesia, and Maldives
are better in tourism promotion than Bangladesh. Whereas, some researches were opposed to
this view and said that Bangladesh’s tourism have better promotional way compared to other
Asian countries. This result shows that Bangladesh’s tourism is gradually doing better in
promotional advertising. Most researches pointed out that tourists experienced here what it
already promoted (Mehmetoglu, 2007). On the other hand, some research shows that tourists
said that actual status of the destination and what is was in the promotion is quite different. The
tour and travel companies mentioned that Bangladesh’s tourism made enough steps to promote
tourism in the Bangladesh but there is a gap to promote tourism among domestic visitors. It is
expressed in some interviews that there were some shortcomings in the tourism promotional
activity in the past but now shorted it out.

Bangladesh tourism industry is booming and government has introduced “Tourism

Development Strategy” to get economic growth. Number of challenges has been identified in
terms of developing tourism in the Bangladesh (Islam et al., 2013). It is clear that existing
accommodation facilities in the Bangladesh is not adequate to accommodate the expected
tourist arrivals. Therefore, high quality hotels and accommodation facilities are to be built in
the respective region. Number of hotels development project has been approved by the
government to meet the challenge in the Bangladesh to promote the water-based destinations.

Transportation facilities need to be improved to cope with anticipated high number of tourist
arrivals. Massive infrastructure development has been taken place in Bangladesh in recent
years but Bangladesh got less development compare to other Asian countries (Hunt and
Stronza, 2009). However, it is not sufficient to compete with other Asian tourism destination
like Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia. Bangladesh tourism industry requires a large number
of trained workforces. Presently available tourism and hospitality related education and
training program is not adequate to train such a large quantity.

The Bangladesh tourism institutes and governing bodies established by the Bangladesh
government to train labour forces for tourism industry. Some government departments provide
short course to educate employees in tourism sector. Bangladesh tourism industry moves away
from low cots destination to high end tourist destination (Gössling, 2015). The accommodation
cost is not competitive and is over paid for its qualities compared with other Asian destinations
like Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia. Bangladesh government has introduced comprehensive

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policy framework for tourism development in the Bangladesh in order to attract tourists more
and more (for instance, developing fish world in Cox’s Bazar). It is obvious that tourism
industry in the Bangladesh will be a sustainable sector within the next few years. It is very
important to implement marketing and management strategy to rebuild the image of
Bangladesh tourism sector as an attractive, safe destination in South Asia.

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Chapter 6
Conclusions and recommendations
The objective of the study was to identify the role that water-based ecotourism initiatives can
play as a strategic tool to achieve more responsible and sustainable use, conservation, and
protection of water ecosystems and the dissemination of a greater awareness about the value of
this resource, which is a necessity for wellbeing, human activities, and the conservation of the
environments that sustain our societies and economies (Fleischer, 2010). The contribution of
this research is the identification of water-based tourism activities as a suitable vehicle for
achieving the proper management and safeguarding of unique water ecosystems. The results
of a qualitative and quantitative study carried out in different researches shows the water
surrounded regions of Bangladesh show that tourism is an industry that can make a great
contribution to this goal. New tourism trends emphasize the importance of offering experiences
rather than functional products and the interest of consumers in achieving a better quality of
life and wellbeing as a result of a trip or holiday. This was made clear by the intentions of the
local managers to modernize the current business models of their water-based tourism
establishments in order to attract new tourist populations, such as young people and families
with children. Similarly, the quantitative data showed the positive evaluation made by tourists
about the water-based tourism experience, focusing on the fact that it provides aspects of escape
and entertainment. These findings highlight the new mindset that can be promoted regarding
water-based tourism experiences, which is not necessarily linked to the therapeutic or medical
value of water. Contact with water during holidays can be fun as much as it can be relaxing. In
addition, even though the educational dimension of the water-based tourism experiences was
the lowest rated by the tourists, it still received a high rating, which demonstrates the beginning
of a new trend in the tourism–water relationship (Erfurt-Cooper and Cooper, 2009). Tourism
proposals based on natural water resources, in addition to encouraging local development, have
the potential to encourage the dissemination of a new cultural mindset regarding water that
considers this element to be a unique resource with plenty of tangible and intangible values.
Due to its properties, water can turn a traditional tourist destination into a multidimensional
experience, emphasizing the beauty of its landscapes, the relaxation it provides, its hypnotic
sounds, and its irreplaceable value to achieving balance in and sustainability of local
environments. Considering the above, it could be argued that water provides tangible and
intangible wealth to human beings and that its value from a tourism perspective has the
potential to drive new strategies for development that are capable of encouraging economic

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innovation, environmental sustainability, and social wellbeing for both tourists and local
communities. This is made particularly clear by different researches obtained both tourists’
satisfaction and loyalty. Based on the findings of this study, it is possible to conclude that
water-based tourism experiences can promote the development of quality tourism, practiced by
consumers who are sensitive to environmental issues and interested in getting in contact with
thriving and well-preserved natural settings due to the positive effects that such environments
can have on their perceived happiness (Chen, 2015). Indeed, this research shows that water-
based tourism experiences are perceived by consumers to be highly beneficial for their general
wellbeing, as the respondents perceived some enhancements in their personal quality of life
after coming into contact with these natural resources during their holidays. The results also
reflect some useful managerial insights for tourism companies and the natural enclaves linked
with hydrographic resources. Tourism companies and destination managers can utilize water
resources as a strategic tool for innovation and competitiveness. New products and experiences,
beyond the traditional thermal/medical treatments, can be outlined (e.g., yoga and mindfulness)
in order to attract a younger and larger consumer base. Moreover, the practical implications of
this research can be seen in the significance of these new tourist practices for the proper and
sustained conservation of water ecosystems. The renewed value of hydrographic resources
from a tourist perspective favours their protection due to the economic benefits that the tourism
industry can generate for local communities in terms of employment, entrepreneurial
opportunities, and social reinforcements (Chandra Roy and Roy, 2015). One of the main
limitations of this work is its exploratory nature, which provides only an initial approach to this
topic. On the basis of these limitations, future works should try to address these issues by
carrying out more detailed studies aimed at confirming, with stronger statistical analysis, the
causal relationships that link together water-based tourism experiences, the consumer-
perceived enhancement in personal quality of life, and the improved conservation of water
resources and ecosystems as a result of responsible, touristic use.

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Chapter 7
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