Int’l tourism conference to explore Cox’s Bazar potentiality

Bangladesh is set to host a two-day International Tourism Conference which gathers the top minds in destination travel for inspiring and insightful discussions, especially marketing and managing tourism growth to lesser-known destinations, reports BSS.
The conference dubbed “Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) New Tourism Frontiers Forum-2016 (NTFF16)” is scheduled to take place on December 24-25 at world longest unbroken sea beach Cox’s Bazar.
Bangladesh Tourism Board (BTB) under the supervision of the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism is organising the event with the theme “Designing a sustainable tourism brand- an integrative approach to building a responsible coastal destination” at Royal Tulip Sea Pearl Beach Resort & Spa.
“The event is significantly important for us as it would send message to world community that Bangladesh is a safe country for tourism and it has enough skill and efficiency of hospitality,” said Tourism Minister Rashed Khan Menon while announcing the event at a press conference at the BTB yesterday.
“We would formulate a master plan compiling the recommendations and suggestions of experts, academics, policy makers and stakeholders attending the conference,” he said reiterating the government’s firm commitment to turn Bangladesh into a “Tourist Destination”.
PATA Board of Directors in April 2015 selected Cox’s Bazar as the venue for the event following the bid from Bangladesh.
BTB Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Akhtaruz Zaman Khan Kabir said nearly 200 guests especially policy makers, tourism experts, 
academics, representatives from international organisations, students and stakeholders from home and 16 countries are taking part in the conference.
He said, in the first day, the participants through technical tour and tourism marketing treasure haunt would try to explore potentialities of discovered and undiscovered attraction of Cox’s Bazar while in the second day they would share their experiences accumulated from the first day.
“They (participants) would also formulate a strategy to way out to brand Cox’s Bazar as sustainable and responsible coastal tourism destination,” added the BTB CEO.
Upon the success of the conference, Kabir said, Bangladesh would bid to organise “PATA Travel Mart” the biggest event of PATA.
Director of Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation (BPC) Mohammad Maududur Rashid Safdar, PATA Bangladesh Chapter General Secretary Toufiq Rahman and The Bengal Tours Limited Managing Director Masud Hossain, among others, also spoke on the occasion.
They said the tourism industry received a blow after the Gulshan terrorist attack on July 1 at Holey Artisan Bakery where 22 people, mostly foreigners, were brutally killed by the extremists.
“The upcoming event will definitely give a positive message to the foreigners that Bangladesh is now a safe tourist destination,” they added.
Founded in 1951, PATA is a non-profit association that is internationally acclaimed for acting as a catalyst for the responsible development 
of travel and tourism to and from within the Asia Pacific region.

Intl tourism conference to explore Coxs Bazar potentiality

Bangladesh is set to host a two-day International Tourism Conference which gathers the top minds in destination travel for inspiring and insightful discussions, especially marketing and managing tourism growth to lesser-known destinations, reports BSS. The conference dubbed Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) New Tourism Frontiers Forum-2016 (NTFF16) is scheduled to take place on December 24-25 at world longest unbroken sea beach Coxs Bazar. Bangladesh Tourism Board (BTB) under the supervision of the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism is organising the event with the theme Designing a sustainable tourism brand- anintegrative approach to building a responsible coastal destination at Royal Tulip Sea Pearl Beach Resort Spa. The event is significantly important for us as it would send message to world community that Bangladesh is a safe country for tourism and it has enough skill and efficiency of hospitality, said Tourism Minister Rashed Khan Menon while announcing the event at a press conference at the BTB yesterday. We would formulate a master plan compiling the recommendations and suggestions of experts, academics, policy makers and stakeholders attending the conference, he said reiterating the governments firm commitment to turn Bangladesh into a Tourist Destination. PATA Board of Directors in April 2015 selected Coxs Bazar as the venue for the event following the bid from Bangladesh. BTB Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Akhtaruz Zaman Khan Kabir said nearly 200 guestsespecially policy makers, tourism experts, academics, representatives from international organisations, students and stakeholdersfrom home and 16 countries are taking part in the conference. He said, in the first day, the participants through technical tour and tourism marketingtreasure haunt would try to explore potentialities of discovered and undiscovered attractionof Coxs Bazar while in the second day theywould share their experiences accumulated from the first day. They (participants) would also formulate a strategy to way out to brand Coxs Bazar as sustainable and responsible coastal tourism destination, added the BTB CEO. Upon the success of the conference, Kabir said, Bangladesh would bid to organise PATA Travel Mart the biggest event of PATA. Director of Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation (BPC) Mohammad Maududur Rashid Safdar, PATA Bangladesh Chapter General Secretary Toufiq Rahman and The Bengal Tours Limited Managing Director Masud Hossain, among others, also spoke on the occasion. They said the tourism industry received a blow after the Gulshan terrorist attack on July 1 at Holey Artisan Bakery where 22 people, mostly foreigners, were brutally killed by the extremists. The upcoming event will definitely give a positive message to the foreigners that Bangladesh is now a safe tourist destination, they added. Founded in 1951, PATA is a non-profit association that is internationally acclaimed for acting as a catalyst for the responsible development of travel and tourism to and from within the Asia Pacific region.