Dhaka, Dec 1, 2022 (BSS) - State Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism M Mahbub Ali today said the government gives top priority to creating a positive brand image of Bangladesh highlighting the country's huge tourism potentials.

"Creating a positive tourism brand image of Bangladesh is the top priority now towards development of the country's tourism potentials," he said while inaugurating a three-day international tourism fair in the capital.

Association of Travel Agents of Bangladesh (ATAB), an apex body of travel agents of the country, organized the fair titled "Bangladesh International Travel and Tourism Expo (BITTE)" at Bangabandhu International Conference Center (BICC), Dhaka scheduled 1-3 December.

The state minister hoped that the expo would play a significant role in creating a favorable country branding by showcasing various wonderful tourist attractions as well as available facilities all around the country.

Mahbub said the tourism and hospitality sector is expanding in line with the Bangladesh development pace despite the impact of Covid-19 pandemic as the current government has taken various measures to boost the travel and leisure industry.

"A 'Tourism Recovery Plan' has already been prepared to deal with the challenges of the tourism industry in Bangladesh due to the impact of Covid-19, ways to overcome the crisis and gain advantage in the competitive tourism market in the future," he said.

Besides, Mahbub said, the work of formulating a tourism master plan for ensuring planned and comprehensive development of the tourism industry is near to completion.

The country's tourism industry will enter a new era through a tourism master plan that is scheduled to be completed by this month, he added. 
 
The state minister said in addition to the development of domestic tourism in the country, the work of creating new areas of regional cooperation is ongoing, emphasis is given to tourism product development, and another plan is being prepared to create more employment in the tourism industry.

"I believe that the tourism industry will play an important role in economic prosperity to make Bangladesh a developed country by the year 2041 by utilizing the immense tourism potential of Bangladesh through creativity, innovation and diversification of tourism products," Mahbub said. 

Expecting more cooperation and dynamic role from the travel agencies, the state minister hoped that all the stakeholders of tourism along with the government will work sincerely to build the "Golden Bengal" which is the dream of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, by developing tourism of the country.

Civil aviation and tourism Secretary Md. Mokammel Hossain, Religious Affairs Secretary Kazi Enamul Hassan, Nepal Ambassador to Bangladesh Ghanshyam Bhandari, Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) Chairman Air vice Marshal M Mofidur Rahman, ATAB President Manzoor Morshed (Mahbub) and Secretary General Abdus Salam Aref were present, among others, at the opening juncture.

Different airlines, hospitals, tourism boards from more than 15 countries including India, Malaysia, Bhutan, Nepal, Maldives, Oman, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Azerbaijan, South Korea, Vietnam, Singapore, and United Arab Emirates (UAE) are participating in the fair.

A seminar titled "Investment opportunity in Bangladesh Tourism Sector" was held at the fair today while two more seminars "Aviation and Tourism opportunity, Connecting Bangladesh to the world" and "The impact of 4th Industrial Revolution in Tourism Industry", are scheduled to be held during the fair.