ADBI Working Paper 1293 Islam and Sarker

6.3 Climate Change

The coastal area of Bangladesh is especially vulnerable to the effects of climate
change. According to the influential Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC), a 1 m sea-level rise would flood 17% of Bangladesh and create 20 million
refugees by 2050 (Sarwar 2005; Szczepanski, Sedlar, and Shalant 2018).
Consequently, such a situation would adversely affect the entire coastal zone of
Bangladesh and CMT.

6.4 Domestic Tourism and COVID-19

Domestic tourism is the main source (97%) of earnings in tourism, indicating that
Bangladesh is not a popular destination among foreign tourists (World Travel and
Tourism Council 2020a). The COVID-19 pandemic situation will aggravate the situation
for inbound tourism in Bangladesh. There will be more pressure on domestic tourists in
the coastal and marine destinations, which will create more of the above-mentioned
anthropogenic challenges.

6.5 Other Challenges

Insufficiently trained and competent manpower, lacking innovative and creative thinking
abilities; the knowledge gap; inadequate infrastructure for tourism facilities; the lack of
CMT branding; insufficient coordination and partnerships among the concerned
ministries, departments, and private sectors; poor promotional activities; the lack of
certification guidelines for tourism products and services; the lack of a best practice-
sharing culture; the poor tourism budget; and insufficient research and links between
research and development as well as policy formulation are some of the other
challenges that warrant attention in developing and promoting CMT in Bangladesh.

7. PROSPECTS OF CMT IN BANGLADESH

7.1 Institutional Arrangements and CMT
Despite the absence of any specific and dedicated policy/act/plan, the national,
regional, and global institutional arrangements that relate directly and indirectly to CMT
are somehow supportive of the development and promotion of this specific form of
tourism in Bangladesh (see section 3 for the details). The current government has
already made special considerations to promote the blue economy of Bangladesh,
emphasizing CMT as one of the crucial sub-sectors. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs
established a “Blue Economy Cell” in 2017 with the authorization to synchronize blue
economy initiatives across different sectoral ministries. The Seventh Five Year Plan
(7FYP) of Bangladesh declared a competitive tourism industry, including ecotourism
and marine cruises, as one of the 12 activities to create and maintain a prosperous
and sustainable blue economy. The ongoing Eighth Five Year Plan (8FYP) also
emphasizes coastal tourism under the blue economy, which includes several activities
aiming to develop the sector.
The CMT sector depends strongly on maintaining the marine ecosystems (Roy
and Roy 2015). Considering the sensitivity of the ecosystems, the Government of
Bangladesh has already declared Saint Martin’s Island (a coral island), Cox’s
Bazar–Teknaf sea beach, and the Sundarbans as ecologically critical areas (ECAs) to
protect their biodiversity. These ECAs, along with other coastal and marine areas, are

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also potential CMT destinations for the greater welfare of the local community as well
as the environment. Scuba diving, recreational fishing, water skiing, windsurfing, cruise
tourism, and tours to marine protected areas are some examples of potential activities
under CMT. However, various tourism activities exert significant negative impacts,
causing coastal and marine pollution, as different studies have reported (like
Department of Environment (DoE) 2006; Business Standard 2020).
The natural resources below sea level (particularly biodiversity) and the beauty of
Bangladesh remain unexplored as a new horizon for maritime tourism. There are two
marine protected areas (MPAs) in Bangladesh. The first MPA is the Swatch of No
Ground (consisting of an area of 1,738 km 2) and Nijhum Dwip Marine Reserve/Marine
Protected Area (an area of 3,188 km2) in the South Bay of Bengal. There is an intention
to propose another 1,743 km 2 area adjacent to St. Martin’s Island as an MPA to
conserve its extraordinary biodiversity. All these MPAs offer substantial potential for
maritime tourism. Tourists have the unique opportunity to enjoy endangered marine
dolphins, whales, and sharks and facilitate their conservation through awareness
creation and fund generation. Various actions are undergoing implementation there to
foster the conservation of marine biodiversity, including dolphins and turtles.

7.2 Cruise Ships and CMT

Recently, the maritime tourism history of Bangladesh has reached some new
milestones. International luxury cruise ships started to travel to Bangladesh in 2017,
and the number increased in 2019. Moreover, the introduction of the first domestic
luxury cruise ship (MV Bay-One) in Bangladesh took place in December 2020, with the
capacity to accommodate more than 2000 guests. The ship started its operation on the
Cox’s Bazar–Saint Martin’s–Cox’s Bazar route. Very recently, it has introduced a new
route (Chattogram–Cox’s Bazar–Saint Martin), and other routes to adjacent islands
are likely to commence in the near future to develop CMT further in Bangladesh.
Nonetheless, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has caused the cancellation or delay of
many such endeavors. Therefore, CMT has good prospects for developing and
promoting all types (domestic, inbound, and outbound) of tourism in Bangladesh.

7.3 Natural Attractions and CMT

The culture, tradition, and trades of Bangladesh are intimately concomitant with the
Bay of Bengal—part of the Indian Ocean. The Bay of Bengal and the entire coastal
zone (47,201 km2, i.e., 32% of the country under 19 coastal districts) of Bangladesh are
rich in natural resources, which play crucial roles in the national economy; contribute
profoundly to protecting against natural disasters through the natural green belt,
particularly the Sundarbans; conserve important biodiversity of the coastal and marine
environment; and protect the special culture of the region, among others. The potential
for the development of CMT in Bangladesh is unique due to the presence of many
glorious natural resources, including the world’s longest unbroken sandy sea beach
(Cox’s Bazar), the largest single tract of mangrove forest (the Sundarbans), the
magnificent Teknaf peninsula, the marvelous St. Martin, and long coastal and maritime
areas and their unique forest and aquatic biodiversity. Though Bangladesh is a
small country, it contains some amazing and alluring islands. Most of these islands lie
in the Bay of Bengal, although some of them are in the Padma River (Travel Mate
2019). Travel Mate (2019) identified the 15 most beautiful islands in Bangladesh
and suggested that tourists visit these islands to experience their pristine nature,
biodiversity, unique culture, and traditions. Since 2007, 29 new islands (with a total
area of 507 km2) have emerged in the Bay of Bengal, and these are potential tourism

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destinations, particularly for adventure travel tourists (France-Presse 2017). However,

very few studies have been conducted on such tourism potential on these islands.

7.4 CMT to Contribute to the National GDP

Despite the small contributions of the tourism sector to the national GDP of
Bangladesh, various studies have reported that Bangladesh is a prospective country
for tourism development (Islam 2010; Islam et al. 2011; Uddin 2019; Arif 2020),
particularly for CMT (Department of Environment (DoE) 2015; Nobi and Majumder
2019; Business Standard 2020). The international visitor impact is still very low in
Bangladesh (spent US$333.5 million), accounting for only 0.7% of the total exports in
2019. International visitors contribute only 4% of the total spending on travel and
tourism. However, this is likely to grow by 7.1% per year or 4.7% of the country’s GDP
by 2027 (World Travel and Tourism Council 2020b). The strong backward and forward
linkages of ecotourism are its strength in supporting the local and national economy of
Bangladesh through its significant contributions to the livelihood and well-being of the
destinations (Department of Environment (DoE) 2015). Considering the current status
of the territory that Bangladesh owns, it is possible to earn as much as US$250 million
every year from oil–gas exploration, fishing, and the expansion of seaport facilities and
CMT (Rana 2019).
The contribution of the travel and tourism sector to Bangladesh’s GDP was 3% in 2019
(6.8% growth over 2018), and it generated 2.9% of the total employment. Moreover,
there is an expectation that the number of international visitors will increase by
6.1% per year with growth in the total tourism GDP of 6.2% per year and employment
growth of 1.8% per year (World Travel and Tourism Council 2020b). All these statistics
indicate that there are immense opportunities for inbound tourism growth in
Bangladesh, which will increase the overall impacts of CMT in Bangladesh.

7.5 Tourism Growth Potential and CMT

Bangladesh is among the top 25 countries in the world for tourism growth. Estimations
have indicated that the overall tourism sector will grow at an annual rate of 6.1% from
2017 to 2027. Though not all the activities are part of the blue economy (WTTC 2017),
CMT is likely to play an important role in such growth considering its current
contributions and potential.
According to a World Bank study, the population growth rate of Bangladesh will
approach zero after 2050. This population growth pattern will affect the future of the
blue economy, including increased CMT tourism demands (Patil et al. 2018). The
OECD (2016) projected the global growth of CMT in the future, which also applies to
Bangladesh, where the growth of investment in the tourism sector is likely to be 9.3%
per year from 2018 to 2027. Additionally, urban areas will experience considerable
growth during this period, which will ultimately lead to CMT development on various
beaches, like Patenga, Cox’s Bazar, Himchori, Inani, St. Martin, Moheshkhai, the
Sundarbans, Kuakata, Bhola, and Monpura (Hussain, Failler, Karim, and Alam 2017).

7.6 Application of Different Forms of Tourism in CMT

Different forms of tourism may have potential in the context of the coastal environment
of Bangladesh. Considering the above-mentioned natural attractions and CMT, the
principles of ecotourism (The International Ecotourism Society (TIES) 2019) and
sustainable tourism (United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) 2020b) are

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crucial to consider when selecting a specific form of CMT. Consequently, community-

based ecotourism, pro-poor tourism-based rural tourism, beach/sand tourism, cultural
and heritage tourism and tribal/ethnic tourism are some of the possible forms to adopt
in such a coastal environment.
The Government of Bangladesh has prescribed controlled ecotourism as a protective
form of tourism, especially for the key biodiversity areas and protected areas, including
the coastal and maritime areas. Consequently, various formal documents have
recognized controlled/managed ecotourism, including several legal documents (e.g.,
the National Tourism Policy, 2010; Coastal Development Strategy, 2006; Vision 2041;
Seventh and Eighth Five Year Plans; National Forestry Policy, 1994 and 2016 (draft);
National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan of Bangladesh, 2016–2021, and so on).
Ecotourism with a controlled entry of tourists is permissible anywhere that the
government has declared as a protected area and restricted for general uses. It has
suggested following successful sustainable models of ecotourism from countries in the
Asia and the Pacific region (Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) 2012).
Tourism scholars posit that competent human resource development and good
management of such forms of tourism to generate positive socio-cultural, economic,
environmental, and institutional impacts and control various negative impacts to
facilitate sustainable CMT practice. Moreover, the feasibility analysis, demand, and
supply of these forms of tourism will help to identify a specific form of CMT. The theme
of “tourism and rural development” of “World Tourism Day 2020” needs exploration in
this regard to strengthen the selection of a specific form of tourism.

7.7 Sustainable CMT to Promote Sustainable Development

Sustainable CMT is one of the ways to foster sustainable development, which is still an
unexplored sector in Bangladesh. Sustainable CMT has the potential to contribute to
natural resource conservation and management and natural disaster risk reduction. It
can also offer better living standards by improving people’s livelihoods (i.e., sustainable
livelihoods) and is capable of earning millions in foreign exchanges and preserving the
culture and traditions. Generally, the people of Bangladesh are not environmentally
aware and educated. Sustainable CMT practice can improve environmental awareness
and education, which can control the various forms of environmental pollution that
constitute one of the important challenges facing Bangladesh.

7.8 CMT and SDGs

As mentioned earlier, the forecasted investment in the CMT sector will grow to more
than 9% annually (Patil et al. 2018). Therefore, the expansion of various forms of the
CMT industry is likely to facilitate the blue economy in achieving the SDG 2030 by
creating more opportunities, especially for women, including tribal and other minorities,
reducing poverty through new livelihoods and job creation, enhancing environmental
awareness and education, promoting biodiversity conservation both in water and on
land, improving governance, promoting the sustainable use of coastal and maritime
natural resources and social and cultural sustainability, and so on. The expectation is
that the implementation of the Tourism Master Plan (SDG 8) will create more than
6 million jobs by 2030 once ADB has financed the “South Asia Tourism Infrastructure
Development Project (Bangladesh Portion),” aiming to improve culture-based tourism
and to strengthen linkages between tourism and local people by building the capacity
of communities to obtain greater benefits from the tourism sector (SDG 11).

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Addressing sustainable consumption (SDG 12), the government has considered

sustainable tourism. The Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism (MoCAT) is responsible
for developing and implementing tools to monitor the impacts of tourism related to the
socio-cultural, economic, and environmental perspectives. MoCAT has prepared short-
term, medium-term, and long-term action plans to achieve the objectives of sustainable
tourism through which it will promote sustainable development. In 2013, the
Government of Bangladesh established the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
Maritime University, which is the third maritime university in South Asia and the twelfth
maritime university in the world. This university focuses particularly on SDG 14 and
plans to conduct both undergraduate and postgraduate academic and research
courses in various coastal and maritime fields, including CMT. Currently, the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs (MoFA) is formulating the legal framework according to the instruments
of UNCLOS to ensure the protection and conservation of the coastal and maritime
environment and its biodiversity. Tourism development needs an integrated plan to
conserve and preserve the life below the water of such sensitive coastal and marine
ecosystems, which will also accelerate the blue economy.
The Bangladesh Government is taking various initiatives to address the effects of
climate change. It is also investing in clean energy sectors, which can contribute to
reducing greenhouse gases (SDG 13). However, it has not yet included tourism
extensively in such interventions. The recently formed Global Centre on Adaptation
(GCA) for South Asia established a regional office in Dhaka. The expectation is that
this will function as a “Centre of Excellence” for climate change adaptation measures in
the region.
CMT can directly influence life below water (SDG 14) due to its operational nature.
It can promote the conservation of coastal and marine biodiversity by controlling
environmental pollution, which it will achieve by providing environmental education
and awareness, creating new jobs and livelihoods, and improving governance and
multi-stakeholder collaboration. According to Mojibul et al. (2018); Hussain, Failler, and
Sarker (2019); and Bhuiyan, Darda, and Habib (2020), coastal and marine fisheries
activities, including recreational fishing, are one of the attractions of CMT that can
generate considerable economic benefits, employment opportunities, and livelihoods
for the local coastal communities of Bangladesh. Various stakeholders have perceived
CMT as a facilitator of the coastal and marine fishery sub-sector. Furthermore, CMT
has a strong impact on the generation of various livelihoods for coastal communities
by introducing different service-oriented economic activities, like providing diversified
accommodation, restaurant facilities, handicraft manufacturing and marketing,
transportation services, tour guiding, and amusement facilities, among others.
However, there is a specific research gap on the impacts of CMT on the fishery sector
as well as other livelihood-generating sectors in Bangladesh. Moreover, terrestrial
ecosystems and their biodiversity are important tourist attractions. Such attractions can
generate sustainable revenue and create alternative livelihoods for the local people,
which can eventually promote the conservation of life on land (SDG 15) as well as the
cultural heritage of the destinations.

7.9 Upcoming Institutional Development and CMT

The Bangladesh Tourism Board (BTB) is currently preparing a tourism master plan,
and the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) has identified tourism
as a potential sector for the overall development of Bangladesh. Moreover, the
development of the Bangladesh Tour Operators and Tour Guides (Registration and
Operation) Act 2021, the Community-Based Tourism Policy, and the Ecotourism Policy,

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the upgrading of the National Tourism Policy 2010, and the review of the master plan
for airports are among the significant examples of ongoing activities to promote
sustainable tourism in Bangladesh, which will also enhance the sustainability of CMT.
MoCAT has also taken initiatives to construct a “Marine Aquarium” in Cox’s Bazar from
2017–18 to 2020–21. In a nutshell, considering the existing situation, there is a
substantial opportunity for developing and promoting CMT in Bangladesh, which can
facilitate the country’s achievement of “developed country” status by 2041.

7.10 Impacts of COVID-19 and CMT

Tourism is one of the economic sectors that the COVID-19 pandemic has strongly
affected, and it might face a decline of 58% to 78% in international tourist arrivals
during 2020, putting 100 to 120 million direct tourism jobs at risk (United Nations World
Tourism Organization 2020a). There are many additional impacts that are still difficult
to quantify, such as threats to the conservation of species and biodiversity, all with a
direct link to tourism. Moreover, the pandemic has hit coastal communities the hardest,
with an estimated $7.4 billion fall in GDP across small island developing states (SIDS)
due to the decline in tourism (Northrop et al. 2020).
Considering the post-COVID-19 situation, people in Bangladesh are likely to visit its
CMT destinations. A good number of people already started to visit these destinations
just after the lifting of tourism restrictions in some CMT destinations after the first
wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. The government has already taken the decision to
open tourism at the Sundarbans from 1 November 2020. However, currently, there
are restrictions on visits to all these destinations due to the second wave of the
COVID-19 pandemic (until July 2021). According to newspapers, social media, and
personal communications, it is evident that the demand for these destinations will be
high in the coming few months as people will require refreshment after the long and
unprecedented lockdown. This tourism demand will create numerous benefits along
with its negative impacts.

8. CONCLUSIONS AND POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS

The study clearly shows that CMT has immense potential in the blue economy, which
may be one of the biggest sources of revenue (including foreign exchange) in
Bangladesh’s tourism sector. Thus, it may contribute significantly to improving the
socio-cultural, economic, environmental, and institutional dimensions of the concerned
areas.
Bangladesh ranked seventh in the “top 10 best value” travel destinations for 2019
according to Lonely Planet, a global leader in publishing travel guidebooks (Uddin
2019). Therefore, Bangladesh is gradually gaining popularity among international
tourists, for whom CMT occupies a significant position. Therefore, the development and
promotion of CMT warrant a critical analysis to maximize its positive impacts and to
reduce its negative impacts. This study aimed to focus on determining how sustainable
CMT can influence the blue economy, reduce poverty through new job creation,
conserve biodiversity, control environmental pollution, promote the sustainable use of
coastal and marine natural resources, promote good governance, provide recreation
facilities, and promote responsible (eco-friendly) tourism or ecotourism. It identified the
challenges of CMT development in Bangladesh. It will be possible to resolve or at least
reduce many of these challenges through the proper and judicious application of
existing legal institutions, like various national acts and rules, as well as international
institutional arrangements (see Figure 2) to turn those challenges into CMT potentials.

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