Opinion: How to kill tourism

It is extremely sad that the natural forest of Jaflong is disappearing fast due to dumping of stone illegally excavated from the Dawki and Sari rivers by a group of unscrupulous traders. As a result, tourism in this scenic hill station, home to subtropical mountains, rainforests, tea gardens and the Khasia ethnic group is on the decline. This is a classic example of how mismanagement, lack of a strategy and enforcement of law are killing the tourism sector in Bangladesh.

Jaflong is not the only place where such man-made problems are hindering the growth of tourism. In Kuakata, the panoramic sea beach in the south-eastern part of Bangladesh, a man set up eighteen sea-facing stores and leased them out to several businesses for a hefty fee. Who wants to go to a beach to be greeted by a series of ugly looking, shoddily constructed low-lying structures? Will you want to a go to forest to see a pile of stones instead of flora and fauna and hear the sound of stone crushing instead of a bird singing or the murmur of a river?

Read More: Jaflong Ravaged

The land on which these shops were erected or the rivers from which stones were excavated belong to the republic, not individuals who put a price tag on everything from a mountain to a river. To these purveyors of bottom-line thinking these are mere items on a spread sheet. They are not concerned about the disastrous impacts of destroying nature. The local administration has occasionally seized stone crushing equipment but it is not known if anyone has been punished.  Forest department complain that it does not have enough manpower to keep an eye on such illegal activities. That may be true. But the harsh reality is that illegal excavation of stone or sand often takes place, allegedly, with the blessings of locally influential people.

Despite all these constraints—inadequate and poor quality public transports, high-priced but low quality accommodation, lack of recreational facilities—the number of domestic tourists has gone up significantly over the years, now estimated to be about eight million annually. During the long holidays of Eid al Azha alone at least one million people reportedly journeyed to various destinations around the country.  What kind of services do they receive for the money they spend? For example, there is only one safari park close to Cox's Bazaar, the most popular destination among tourists, which is 28 kilometres away in Dulhazari. How many good restaurants, cafes and entertainment centres are there? Then there’s the issue of safety. There government has introduced Tourist Police. But there is no Tourism Law. Reports of harassment of tourists are not uncommon in the media. 

What if the tourists decided that the best way to dodge all these hurdles is to head elsewhere? In a way, they already are. During the Eid ul Azha an estimated 1-1.5 lakh people went abroad to spend their holiday. Nowadays, people who can afford to spend more than 50,000 Taka prefer to go to countries such as Thailand, Malaysia and Nepal. Tour operators of these countries offer attractive package deals. We are losing out to them.

If tourism has to be sustainable, both the authorities and the tourists will have to be more responsible. Community based tourism is the only way. It is our constitutional duty to protect and conserve the environment and biodiversity. Mass tourism comes at a high cost. In many places such as the Sundarbans, people go, cook, eat, and play music on loudspeakers and leave behind huge amount of garbage without the slightest care for the environment or local communities. Is that tourism? 

The writer is a member of the Editorial Team.