Tourism in Bangladesh

Tourism in Bangladesh include tourism to World Heritage Site, historical monuments, resorts, beaches, picnic spots, forests and tribal people, wildlife of various species. Activities for tourists include angling, water skiing, river cruising, hiking, rowing, yachting, and sea bathing.

In the northern part, comprising the Rajshahi division, there are archaeological sites, including the temple city Puthia in Rajshahi; the largest and most ancient archaeological site, Mahasthangarh in Bogra; the single largest Buddhist monastery, Paharpur in Naogaon; the most ornamental terracota Hindu temple, Kantaji Temple, and many rajbaris or palaces of old zamindars.

In the south-eastern part, which is the Chittagong Division, there are natural and hilly areas like Chittagong Hill Tracts, along with sandy sea beaches. The most notable beach, in Cox's Bazar, is a contender for the title of longest unbroken sandy sea beach in the world.

In the south-western part, mainly the Khulna Division, there is the Sundarbans, the largest mangrove forest of the world with royal Bengal tiger and spotted deer. The historically and architecturally important sixty domed mosque in Bagerhat is a notable site.
In the north-eastern part, Sylhet division, there is a green carpet of tea plants on small hillocks. Natural reserved forests are great attractions. Migratory birds in winter, particularly in the haor areas, are also very attractive in this area.

Ministry of Tourism and The Civil Aviation Ministry designs national policies for the development and promotion of tourism. The Ministry also maintains the Beautiful Bangladesh campaign. Bangladesh Government has formed Tourist Police unit to better protect local and foreign tourists as well as look after the nature and wildlife in the tourist spots.

Economic impact

The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) reported in 2013 that the travel and tourism industry in Bangladesh directly generated 1,281,500 jobs in 2012 or 1.8 percent of the country's total employment, which ranked Bangladesh 157 out of 178 countries worldwide. Direct and indirect employment in the industry totalled 2,714,500 jobs, or 3.7 percent of the country's total employment. The WTTC predicted that by 2023, travel and tourism will directly generate 1,785,000 jobs and support an overall total of 3,891,000 jobs, or 4.2 percent of the country's total employment. This would represent an annual growth rate in direct jobs of 2.9 percent. Domestic spending generated 97.7 percent of direct travel and tourism gross domestic product (GDP) in 2012. Bangladesh's world ranking in 2012 for travel and tourism's direct contribution to GDP, as a percentage of GDP, was 142 out of 176.
* in 2014 125,000 tourists visited Bangladesh. This number is extremely low relative to total population. As of 22 May 2019 the total local population numbering 166,594,000 inhabitants. This gives a ratio of 1 tourist for every 1,333 locals.

Chittagong Division

Cox's Bazar

''Cox's Bazar'' is a seaside town, a fishing port and district headquarters in Bangladesh. It is known for its wide and long sandy beach, which is considered by many as the world's longest natural sandy sea beach. The beach in Cox's Bazar is an unbroken sandy sea beach with a gentle slope. It is south of the Chittagong Seaport. Cox's Bazar is also known by the name ''Panowa,'' whose literal translation means "yellow flower". Its other old name was "Palongkee".

St. Martin's Island

''St. Martin's Island'' is a small island (area only 8 km2) in the northeastern part of the Bay of Bengal, about 9 km south of the tip of the Cox's Bazar-Teknaf peninsula, and forming the southernmost part of Bangladesh. There is a small adjoining island that is separated at high tide, called Chhera island. It is about 8 km west of the northwest coast of Myanmar, at the mouth of the Naf River. The first settlement started just 250 years ago by some Arabian sailors who named the island 'Zajira'. During British occupation the island was named St. Martin Island. The local names of the island are "Narical Gingira", also spelled "Narikel Jinjira/Jinjera", which means 'Coconut Island' in Bengali, and "Daruchini Dip". It is the only coral island in Bangladesh.

The city of Chittagong has many high end, private hotels such as the Hotel Agrabad, the Hotel Well Park Residence, The Peninsula Chittagong, the Hotel Harbour View, the Hotel Meridian, and Avenue Hotels and Suites.

The JW Marriott, Westin and Radisson Blu are among the upcoming five-star hotels in Chittagong city.

Sajek Valley

Sajek Valley is an emerging tourist spot in Bangladesh situated among the hills of the Kasalong range of mountains in Sajek union, Baghaichhari Upazila in Rangamati District. The valley is 1,476 feet (450 m) above sea level. Sajek valley is known as the Queen of Hills & Roof of Rangamati. The name of Sajek Valley came from the Sajek River that originates from Karnafuli river. The Sajek river works as a border between Bangladesh and India.

Bandarban District

''Bandarban'' is a district in South-Eastern Bangladesh, and a part of the Chittagong Division and Chittagong Hill Tracts. Bandarban is regarded by many tourists to be one of the most attractive travel destinations in Bangladesh. Bandarban (meaning ''the dam of monkeys''), or in Marma or Arakanese language as "Rwa-daw Mro" is also known as Arvumi or the Bohmong Circle (of the rest of the three hill districts Rangamati is the Chakma Circle, Raja Devasish Roy and Khagrachari is the Mong Circle, Raja Sachingprue Marma). Bandarban town is the hometown of the Bohmong Circle Chief (currently King, or Raja, U Cho Prue Marma) who is the head of the Marma population. It also is the administrative headquarters of Bandarban district, which has turned into one of the most exotic tourist attractions in Bangladesh.

Rangamati

''Rangamati'' is the administrative headquarters of Rangamati Hill District in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. Kaptai lake, the hanging bridge and Pablakhali reserve forest are some of the notable locations to visit in Rangamati.

Khagrachari District

Khagrachari is a district in south-eastern Bangladesh. It is a part of the Chittagong Division and the Chittagong Hill Tracts. Its local name is "Chengmi". Khagrachari is also known as Phalang Htaung (ဖလံေထာင္) or the Mong Circle (of the rest of the three hill districts Rangamati is the Chakma Circle (သက္ေထာင္) and Bandarban (ဗိုလ္မင္းေထာင္) is the Bohmong Circle).
There are many tourist places in Khagrachari like Alutila Cave, Alutila Tourists spot, Richhang waterfall, Yonged Buddha Bihar, Dighinala Touduchhori Waterfall and others.

Patenga beach

Patenga is a sea beach located 14 kilometres south of the port city of Chittagong, Bangladesh. It is near the mouth of the Karnaphuli River. Patenga is a popular tourist spot. The beach is very close to the Bangladesh Naval Academy of the Bangladesh Navy and Shah Amanat International Airport. Its width is narrow and swimming in the seas is not recommended. Part of the seashore is built-up with concrete walls, and large blocks of stones have been laid to prevent erosion. During the 1990s, a host of restaurants and kiosks sprouted out around the beach area. Lighting of the area has enhanced the security aspect of visiting at night. It is guarded by large stones to protect it from tsunamis.

A tourist attraction near Patenga beach is the Butterfly Park.

Foy's Lake

Foy's Lake is a human-made lake in Chittagong, Bangladesh. The lake was once just a lake and spillway constructed by Assam-Bengal Railway engineer. It was dug in 1924 and was named after the English engineer Mr. Foy. The lake is next to Batali Hill, the highest hill in Chittagong Metropolitan area. An amusement park, managed by the Concord Group, is located here.

Heritage Park

There is a heritage park called Shaheed Zia Memorial Complex and Mini Bangladesh at Chandgaon which reflects the most notable structures and instances of Bangladesh. This 71-metre tower in Mini Bangladesh in Chittagong has a restaurant on the top that rotates once every 90 minutes. The museum includes a revolving restaurant. One can perceive of the country's architectural beauty, ethnic traditions and archaeological inheritance through having a glimpse of the heritage park. Replicas of major structures of the country include Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban (parliament building), National Memorial of Savar, Ahsan Manzil, Curzon Hall of Dhaka University, Paharpur Monastery, Kantajew Temple of Dinajpur, Lalbagh Fort and Sona Masjid. The park also has different rides for children.

Ethnological Museum of Chittagong

The Ethnological Museum of Chittagong located in Agrabad, established in 1965, is the only ethnological museum in the country, and presents the lifestyles and heritage of various ethnic groups of the country. The museum authority collected rare elements used in everyday lives of different ethnic groups, of which some had already become extinct while others were on the verge of extinction. The museum contains four galleries and a small hall. Three galleries of the museum feature diverse elements of twenty nine ethnic groups in Bangladesh, while the rest of the gallery displays the lifestyles of some ethnic groups of India, Pakistan and Australia.

WWII cemetery and Circuit House

The War Cemetery on Badshah Mia Road contains the graves of 755 soldiers, and is protected and maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. There are a number of museums in Chittagong. The most prominent is the Zia Memorial Museum which is housed in the old circuit house building. President Ziaur Rahman was assassinated there on 30 May 1981. This commemorative museum houses the late President Ziaur Rahman's mementos and personal belongings. It was established in 1993 with 12 galleries.

Sylhet Division

Bichnakandi

Bichnakandi is a village in Rustompur Union in Gowainghat Upazila of Sylhet District. In recent years there has been an influx of tourists to its river.

Jaflong

Jaflong is a hill station and popular tourist destination in the Division of Sylhet, Bangladesh. It is located in Gowainghat Upazila of Sylhet District and situated at the border between Bangladesh and the Indian state of Meghalaya, overshadowed by subtropical mountains and rainforests. Jaflong is famous for its stone collections and is home of the Khasi tribe.

Madhobpur Lake

Madhobpur Lake is a lake of Srimangal in Maulvi Bazar District of Bangladesh. It is one of the popular tourist spot in Bangladesh.

Ratargul Swamp Forest

Ratargul Swamp Forest is a freshwater swamp forest located in Gowainghat, Sylhet. It is the only swamp forest located in Bangladesh and one of the few freshwater swamp forest in the world. The forest is naturally conserved under the Department of Forestry, Govt. of Bangladesh.

The evergreen forest is situated by the river ''Goain'' and linked with the channel ''Chengir Khal''. Most of the trees growing here are the Millettia pinnata (করচ গাছ "Koroch tree"). The forest is submerged under 20–30 feet water in the rainy season. For the rest of the year, the water level is about 10 feet deep.

Dhaka Division

Dhaka Division is an administrative division in Bangladesh. Dhaka (formerly "Dacca") is the largest and capital city of Bangladesh.

Lalbagh Fort

Lalbagh Fort is an incomplete 17th century Mughal fort complex in Dhaka, Bangladesh. This fort (also known as Fort Aurangabad)stands proudly before the Buriganga River in the southwestern part of Dhaka, Bangladesh. The construction was started in 1678 AD by Mughal Subahdar Muhammad Azam Shah. For long the fort was considered to be a combination of three buildings (the mosque, the tomb of Bibi Pari and the Diwan-i-Aam), with two gateways and a portion of the partly damaged fortification wall. Recent excavations carried out by the Department of Archaeology have revealed the existence of other structures.

Ahsan Manzil

Ahsan Manzil is a wonderful ancient building, located on the bank of the river Buriganga, in old Dhaka at Kumartoli, Islampur area. It was a residential palace for Dhaka Nawab Family. The structure of this palace was started in the year 1859 and was finished in 1869. It is constructed in the Indo-Saracenic Revival architecture. To preserve the cultural and history of the area, the palace became the Bangladesh National Museum on 20 September 1992.

Shaheed Minar

The Shaheed Minar (English: Martyr Monument) is a national monument in Dhaka, Bangladesh, established to commemorate those killed during the Bengali Language Movement demonstrations of 1952. On 21 February 1952, dozens of students and political activists were killed when the Pakistani police force opened fire on Bengali protesters who were demanding equal status for their native tongue, Bengali. The massacre occurred near Dhaka Medical College and Ramna Park in Dhaka. A makeshift monument was erected on 23 February by students of University of Dhaka and other educational institutions, but demolished on 26 February by the Pakistani police force. The Language Movement gained momentum, and after a long struggle, Bengali was given equal status with Urdu

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