Bangladesh, with its diverse landscapes including mountains, seas, lakes, and waterfalls, holds immense potential for adventure tourism.
Despite the abundance of natural blessings, it has not fully exploited the potential to create adventure tourism destinations.
While Cox’s Bazar boasts of being the longest natural sea beach, it has limited adventure tourism offerings, with only one parasailing point and a few kayaking opportunities.
Bandarban, known for its majestic mountains, lacks adequate adventure tourism infrastructure, with only a manually operated cable car at the Meghla tourism spot.
For example, Cox’s Bazar has only one parasailing point, while there are a few kayaking spots there. But the beach itself can promote beach surfing, kiteboarding, jet skiing, and many more.
On the other hand, Bandarban has the most mountains, but there is only a cable car that is also operated manually at the Meghla tourism spot. It can offer more eco-tourism, trekking, hiking, rock climbing, rafting, tree hopping, zip line and many more.
Although there is growing momentum in tourism activities through houseboats in various lake areas in the Haor areas and
Sunamganj, the overall adventure tourism offerings remain limited.
However, industry insiders believe that with a proper plan and investment, adventure tourism could flourish in the country. The country’s diverse geography, including hills in Chattogram Hill Tracts, Cumilla, Mymensingh, and Sylhet, offers ample opportunities for activities such as hiking, trekking, climbing, mountaineering, cave exploration, hunting, archery, and backpacking.
Secretary General of Bangladesh Adventure Tourism Association Moshiur Khandaker said, ‘Despite having lots of potential across our country, we have left behind developing our tourism sector. We will work to uplift the Adventure Tourism of our country’.
Few inspired Facebook-based groups have emerged as pioneers in exploring and promoting new adventure tourism sites across the country. Their enthusiasm has attracted many adventure lovers to discover hidden tourist attractions like Khaiyachara falls and other lesser-known waterfalls. To witness the unique beauty of the waterfalls, there is no man made road, travelers have to trek through the trails.
Despite Chattogram’s hilly district covering 40 percent of its land with high and low hills, the government’s efforts to develop adventure tourism infrastructure are inadequate.
The Bangladesh Tourism Board (BTB) has identified numerous prospects for adventure tourism in the hill regions, but visible development is yet to materialize due to various challenges.
Director of Bangladesh Tourism Board Abu Taher Muhammad Jaber said, Bangladesh has hills, mountains and forests. Apart from this, there are some artificial arrangements for adventure around the world. It is also possible in Bangladesh. For this, Bangladesh Tourism Board is working separately on adventure tourism.
According to businessmen, limited infrastructure, lack of coordination among authorities, security concerns, transportation limitations, unplanned development, and bureaucratic hurdles hinder the progress of adventure tourism.
They sought government support for the development of adventure tourism in the country.
Meanwhile, industry insiders have formed ‘Bangladesh Adventure Tourism Association’ (BATA) recently. President of BATA Khabir Uddin Ahmed said, “We have all put our efforts to popularize adventure tourism through our newly formed organisation.”
