Almost everyone will tell you that tourism is a big and growing industry, but almost none will be able to tell exactly how big it is and how fast it is growing for that matter. Outbound travel is on the rise in Bangladesh. An increasing number of Bangladeshis are now travelling abroad and spending generously, shows data from Bangladesh Bank.
At the same time, local tourism has increased in recent years due to the emergence of a new middle class and influence of globalization. However, it is hard to gauge the number. We have tried to find a couple of things that might help you to get a hold on how tourism industry is doing and what you may expect going forward.
1. The direct contribution of Bangladesh's travel and tourism industry to its GDP stands at BDT 296.6 billion which amounts to 1.9% of total GDP. The report published by World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) also says that based on the current data the amount is projected to grow as much as BDT 556.3 billion which will be almost 2% of total GDP.
2. Total contribution of the industry to the country's GDP growth is BDT 627.9Bn (4.1% of GDP) in 2014 which is forecasted to grow to BDT 1252 billion (4.4% of total GDP) by 2025.
3. Recent statistics suggest that travel and tourism industry has been contributing a lot to reducing unemployment in Bangladesh. This industry facilitated a total of 1980,000 jobs (3.6% of total employment) in 2014 which is expected to rise by 3.5% (2,492,000 total jobs) within 2025.
4. Bangladesh has ranked 68th among 184 countries in terms of the absolute size of the industry and 168th in terms of relative size.
5. Visitor export or money spent by foreign visitors is considered to be a major contribution of the travel and tourism industry. Bangladesh earned 10.2 bn dollar in visitors export in 2014.
6. Research indicates that the number of visitors from abroad may amount to as much as 652,000 within 2025.
7. Bangladesh travel and tourism industry was a market of approximately BDT 460.3 Bn in 2014.
8. According to Bangladesh tourism board data, among the visits made by foreigners to the country, 46% had tourism purpose, 41% had business, 2.4% study and 3.4% had religious causes.
9. The investment made in travel and tourism industry in 2014 was 64.9 billion taka which 1.4% of the total investment. The investment would rise by 7.8% over the next ten years to 132.1 billion taka, WTTC predicts.
Sources:
1. World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) Report-2015
2. Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report-2015, Background Report on Tourism Sector-2015)
