City Desk :
Foreign Affairs Adviser Md Touhid Hossain on Monday laid special emphasis on simplifying the visa procedure for foreign tourists as part of a broader strategy to enhance the country’s tourism sector.
“The key is to ease the visa system and make it fully online. Waiving visa fees would further attract more foreign tourists in Bangladesh,” he said, reports BSS.
The foreign adviser was speaking at a seminar on “Tourism for Attaining SDGs: Challenges and Prospects for Bangladesh,” organized by the Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS) at its auditorium in the capital.
Touhid emphasized the need for developing an online system that would allow foreigners to easily obtain visas for Bangladesh. “There is lot to do … we need a coordinated effort to advance tourism development,” he added.
The foreign adviser said political will and commitment from the private sector are needed to advance the tourism contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The seminar featured a range of high-level participants, including civil aviation and tourism secretary Nasreen Jahan, who attended it as the special guest.
BIIS Chairman Ambassador AFM Gousal Azam Sarker chaired the seminar while its Director General Major General Iftekhar Anis delivered the welcome speech.
In her speech, Civil Aviation and Tourism Secretary Nasreen Jahan outlined her ministry’s plans to implement short-term, mid-term, and long-term strategies to bolster the tourism industry.
“As an immediate priority, we are focusing on ensuring the safety and security of both domestic and international tourists nationwide,” Jahan stated.
She further announced that a decision has been made to form a committee tasked with identifying the necessary short-term measures to strengthen the sector.