The government is working to identify tourism-potential sites across all 64 districts and develop Bangladesh as an international tourism destination, Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Afroza Khanam said on Wednesday, 12 August.

She said the government was also considering developing tourism spots around several villages selected under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) initiative as part of efforts to expand eco-tourism.

“We want to establish Bangladesh as a tourism hub in line with the commitments made in the election manifesto,” Khanam said at a seminar organised by the Bangladesh Tourism Board at Tourism Bhaban in Agargaon.She said the government had taken several initiatives for the development of the tourism sector within its first five months in office, but achieving the goal of making Bangladesh a tourism hub would require cooperation from all stakeholders.

“We need the support of all stakeholders in this journey,” she said.

The minister said the government would hold monthly meetings with private-sector stakeholders to assess priorities and address information gaps between government agencies and businesses.

Khanam said the government was considering developing tourism destinations around SDG villages, including Mitingachhari in Rangamati’s Kaptai, Pankhali in Khulna’s Dacope and Nafanagar in Dinajpur’s Bochaganj.

“We want to identify tourism-potential sites across all 64 districts and move forward with the work of establishing the country as an international-standard tourism destination,” she said.

Tourism Secretary Fahmida Akhtar said the government had already started work on a Tourism Satellite Account (TSA) to address information gaps in the tourism sector.

Work is also underway to formulate an eco-tourism policy, she said.

“Due to a lack of coordination in the past, progress in this sector was limited. With your cooperation, we will be able to overcome this lack of coordination and take the tourism sector forward,” Akhtar said.

The seminar, titled “Public-private partnership and awareness building for promoting eco-tourism”, discussed the importance and current state of eco-tourism in Bangladesh, challenges to its development, action plans and measures needed to expand the sector.

Khulna University Forestry and Wood Technology Professor Dr Md Wasiul Islam presented the keynote paper.

Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation Chairman Md Shamimuzzaman attended the seminar as a special guest, while Bangladesh Tourism Board Chief Executive Officer (additional charge) Md Abdur Rauf NDC chaired the event.