Momen suggests attracting Bangladeshi diaspora as inbound tourists

Foreign Minister Dr. AK Abdul Momen has suggested attracting Bangladeshi diaspora living abroad for a long time, to visit here as inbound tourists while the country’s huge tourism potential is still almost untapped by the global explorers.        

“A well-calibrated action agenda for the tourism sector can serve as a great tool to diversify not only the foreign currency earning capability of the country – but also the productive capability of the economy of Bangladesh,” he said. The foreign minister made the remarks while speaking at a seminar titled “Explore Mujib’s Bangladesh: A Hidden Gem of Tourism in South Asia” held at the Bangladesh Pavilion of EXPO 2020, Dubai on Saturday, a foreign ministry press release said Sunday.  

Momen mentioned the importance of transforming tourism’s immense potential into a unique brand of the country’s enchanting natural beauty that has been unexplored and unknown by the global tourists as according to World Economic Forum (WEF), only three percent of annual tourists in Bangladesh are foreigners.    

“We can twin tourism with the tenets of solid economic relocation for innovative and entrepreneurial initiatives from around the globe to Bangladesh,” he said at the seminar, organized by Bangladesh Tourism Board (BTB), the country’s National Tourism Organization (NTO), under the civil aviation and tourism ministry.

Dr Momen said several factors including prolific biodiversity and ecosystem, cultural, religious and ethnic diversity, a basket of spiritual places with fascinating history and stories and unabated political stability make Bangladesh a staunch competitor in the world’s arena. The foreign minister also promoted the distinct Bangladeshi tea brand as tourist products while emphasizing environment friendly tourism industry for its sustainability.

Civil Aviation and Tourism Secretary Md. Mokammel Hossain said that successful implementation of ongoing mega projects would bring new doorway to the tourism sector of the country. He also revealed the plan of constructing exclusive tourism zone, ocean tourism and theme park to attract foreign tourists to Bangladesh.

Secretary (East) of Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mashfee Binte Shams, Bangladesh Ambassador to UAE Mohammed Abu Zafar were also present along with local and foreign businessmen in the seminar. The foreign minister is now leading a 10- member Bangladesh delegation to the UAE on a bilateral visit from 10-13 February 2022.