Challenges of Marine Tourism in Bangladesh

Author: P. M. K Hassan Siddique, Kaniz Fatima, Faisal Azim, Md. Mostofa Sadik
DOI: doi.org/10.70279/bmj-v6-i1-1062
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Marine tourism is different from the conventional tourism concept which is based on ocean, sea, or coastal regions of a country. Demand for marine tourism is increasing throughout the world. Bangladesh has great potential to thrive in this sector. Bangladesh has the world's longest unbroken sea beach at cox's bazaar and many other natural resources. Every year millions of domestic and foreign tourists visit the coastal and marine areas of Bangladesh including Cox's Bazaar, Kuakata, and beautiful islands such as St. Martin's island, Moheshkhali, Sonadia, etc. Yet the full potential of this sector remains untapped due to various challenges. In this paper, efforts have been made to explore the challenges of the marine tourism sector in Bangladesh. This study analyzed the existing marine tourism industry of Bangladesh. It was mainly an exploratory research. Data were collected from primary and secondary sources. Primary data were collected through a questionnaire survey. Secondary data were sourced from published books, documents, reports, articles, and the internet. The collected data were analyzed with qualitative approaches. The study revealed that there are some potential barriers to gaining success in the good development of marine tourism. Lack of skilled manpower, safety and security issues, lack of infrastructures, and inadequate funding are some remarkable challenges. Based on the findings the paper suggested several recommendations for the developments of marine tourism activities in Bangladesh. This study is expected to help the policymaker, maritime educational institutes, and researchers in this domain.