Lack Of Responsible Behaviour: Tourism industry failing to thrive

Staff Reporter :

Despite the immense potential of the country’s tourism industry, it has failed to perform well due to a lack of responsible behavior, said Syeda Rizwana Hasan, an adviser to the interim government.

She made the remarks on Thursday evening while speaking at the Bangladesh Travel, Tourism and Hospitality Award ceremony. The event was jointly organised by The Bangladesh Monitor and Galaxy Group at a hotel in the capital.

Information Adviser Rizwana Hasan said, “Despite tourism’s enormous potential, we have not been able to do well in this sector. What is needed is responsible behavior. This responsibility applies not only to us as tourists, but also to those who are engaged in tourism business.

If entrepreneurs in the tourism sector had spoken up during the widespread misinformation surrounding St Martin’s Island, there would not have been so much uproar. We want to extract all the eggs at once from the goose that lays golden eggs. The same thing has happened in Sylhet’s Sada Pathor and in the haor regions.”

At the ceremony, 35 individuals and organisations were honoured for their special contributions to the country’s travel, tourism and hospitality sectors. In total, 27 organisations and eight individuals received awards across 29 categories this year.

The organisers said the main objective of the awards is to encourage tourism sector stakeholders to improve service quality and professionalism.

This year’s Lifetime Achievement Award, recognising more than five decades of outstanding contribution to the hospitality sector, was presented to Shahid Hamid, Chairman of the Bangladesh Chapter of the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA).

Galaxy Bangladesh President and CEO Ahmed Yusuf Walid said the jury board selected 27 organisations and eight individuals as winners from more than 150 nominations.

The award-winning institutions include Radisson Blu Water Garden Dhaka, The Peninsula Chittagong, Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel, Grand Palace Hotel and Resort Rangpur, Hotel Grand Park Barishal, One Paradise Hotel Cox’s Bazar, InterContinental Dhaka, Sea Pearl Beach Resort & Spa Cox’s Bazar, Simon Beach Resort Cox’s Bazar, Hotel Sarina, and Dusai Resort.