State Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism M Mahbub Ali today said the government will formulate much awaited tourism master plan for taking a holistic effort to exploit the due potential of the country’s travel and leisure sector, reports BSS.
“We have almost completed procedure of appointing consultant to formulate the master plan …. we are hopeful to carry out the task from January 2020 from June 2021,” he said while speaking at a seminar in the capital.
The tourism master plan project has been awaiting to get final node from cabinet while the government allocated more than Taka 28 crore to involve an international consultancy firm to formulate the plan for first time in the country’s tourism history.
Tourism Resort Industries Association of Bangladesh (TRIAB) organized the seminar titled, “Tourism and Employment” at Dhaka Club here in this evening.
The state minister said the government will take short, medium and long terms planning as per the master plan recommendations plan for carry out proper branding of Bangladesh in home and abroad to increase both domestic and international tourists in the country. Noting that the current government has taken various initiatives for further development of the tourism sector under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Mahbub said the ministry is working to build ‘exclusive tourist zone’ adjacent to the world’s largest mangrove forest Sundarbans and close to beach town Cox’s Bazar. The state minister said currently 23 lakh people are being employed directly and indirectly in the tourism sector and numbers is increasing day by day as private sector keeps continuous investment in the industry.
Terming the tourism industry as a ‘labour intensive’ arena, Mahbub urged the private entrepreneurs for making more contribution in the country’s economic growth by ensuring ‘fair employment’ in line with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the sector.