Bangladesh Tourist Resort – SWOT Analysis
Cultural Background and Tourism in Bangladesh
The tourism appeal of a country largely depends on its natural beauty, history, archaeology, safety and security, cultural heritage, advancement and facilities provided to the tourists. Not only does Bangladesh have rich cultural heritage, background and history but the country is also blessed with numerous tourist attractions with great potential to appeal people from all over the world. The presence of natural beauties including lush green tropical forests, beaches, wilderness, wild life, exotic flora, hills, rivers, waterfalls, and various adventurous locations are coupled with the country’s rich culture, art, music and dance, cuisine and dressing ways to provide endless means of entertainment and relaxation to both local and foreign tourists (HCPRB).
Sylhet is one of the most developed and attractive tourist destinations around the world attracting thousands of visitors. One can find graceful tea gardens, thick tropical forests which accommodate many species of wildlife, shrines of saints, theme parks, river Surma, luxurious resorts and the largest tea gardens in the world (DiscoveryBangladesh, 2012). Nazimgarh Resorts is one such place that welcomes the rich guests from the foreign and corporate world visiting the Sylhet Division of Bangladesh. This paper will present the SWOT analysis of the Nazimgarh Resorts with special reference to the core issues facing the tourism industry of the country.
Bangladesh Tourism Industry at a Glance
The natural resources and tourist destinations of Bangladesh hold great potential for the tourism industry, but touristy has been growing at a very slow pace for the last few years. The country, despite so many tourist attractions, is unable to develop a significant share in the global tourist market. Most of the foreign visitors are the people staying for business tours. According to statistics presented in article at New Age Daily, only 300,000 foreign tourists visited Bangladesh during 2010. Moreover, contribution of tourism to GDP is less than 1% (New Age, 2012). This is because the many sectors that would otherwise compete with the best tourist locations in the world are not given appropriate attention by the concerned government authorities. This has adversely affected the overall state of the industry and also led to certain weaknesses in the private sector touristry. The rightful “Beautiful Bangladesh” motto which has been used to market the country’s tourist destinations comprises of activities that are uncompetitive and fail to meet the high standards of the highly competitive market.
Tourism industry does not have adequate reliable statistical data to make anticipate, develop expectations and conclude on the results. The tourism industry does not yet use the Tourism Satellite Accounting System introduced by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) to account for the tourist visits and earnings data. Instead the country resorts to formulate monthly reports based on the entry check points of the police department. According to the government statistics over 1.5 million people visited Bangladesh during the year 2006-2010 as a result of which the country earned US$ 413.00 million (Ahmad, 2013). This data is not considered acceptable to and reliable by many sources and cause difficulty to the local vendors and business of touristry. Hence the modernized methods of collecting statistics that are internationally acceptable should be adopted in the first place.
Despite these challenges, Nazimgarh Resorts has been emerging as one of the prime luxurious locations for the foreign tourists to Sylhet. It offers beautiful garden resorts, wilderness and nature park all built in a very eco-friendly and healthy environment. It’s survival in the emerging Bangladesh tourism industry is contingent on some strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that we shall discuss in the following part of the paper.
Strengths
Perhaps being the highest quality of nature resort that is situated close to the airport in one of the tourist favorite destinations of the country is Nazimgarh’s core strength. The high demand from local and foreign businesspersons have allowed them to set up a highly luxurious garden resort on the six acres of landscaped hillside amid lush green forests surrounded by the beautiful natural scenery. This is the main reason why tourists love Nazimgarh! It has different cafes and restaurants surrounded by the diverse sceneries offering a wide range of local and foreign cuisine prepared by highly qualified and trained chefs.
Owing to its popularity among the business class, the management has made several business arrangements aside from the living and dining facilities, including meetings rooms, small and executive conferences rooms, retreats, executive training halls. This makes Nazimgarh an ideal resort within its locality for people from the corporate and business world. In comparison to other natural resorts which are mostly situated far from the city areas, Nazimgarh saves its visitors the trouble of long way travelling by being just 35mins drive away from the city area.
On a broader and external scale, the natural treasures and attractions that lie underneath the Sylhet Valley formed by the heart-capturing pairing of rivers Surma and Kushiara can be considered as the strengths of Nazimgarh Resorts. Tourists and visitors from all over the world are attracted by these natural beauties which bring in new customers for the resorts. Apart from this, Nazimgarh offers a multitude of sightseeing and tourist activities which are not provided by many of its competitors. Most of these activities are really exciting for the tourists and are appreciated by both local and foreign visitors alike. These include:
- Nazimgarh Resorts have taken advantage of the beautiful lush forests and surrounding dense tea carpets and created a fabulous nature park with detailed walking trails where visitors that are most suitable for long adventurous leisurely walks. Nature Park also serves as the dwelling place for many beautiful species of birds. Tourists set camp fires and enjoy the nature in its purest form during these walks. The serenity and calmness of the leisurely walks with all these fun activities is a great way to divert your mind from the worldly worries and inspire from the nature.
- The Garden Resort where people stay offers a wide range of sightseeing and tour activities to the tourists. They arrange pleasure trips and visits to different outdoor areas of Sylhet as per visitor’s wishes. Tourists can therefore enjoy not only the close surrounding beauties but also be taken to inspire from the beautiful places like Lalakhal, Panthomai, Madhabkunda and Lawachara Rain Forest, nearby tea garden and rain forest.
- The gymnasium and pool area are an ideal location for massage and spa enthusiasts. There is an excellent outdoor swimming pool over the hilltop covered by a shade. Spa has separate ladies and gents massage room, sauna, steam room and Jacuzzi.
- What goes by the name of “Wilderness” is yet another specialty of Nazimgarh Resorts. It is considered by many to be one of the most unique tropical resorts one can find anywhere. It is an ideal location to have panoramic views of gushing Mountain River, emerald green waterfalls, beautiful blue sky, lush green forests and cloud-adorned mountains all at the same place. With calmness so great that the only sounds you would hear are the falling water and the chirping of the birds. (Nazimgarh Resorts, 2013)
All these specialties and facilities are among the many reasons why Nazimgarh is so much famous and considered a fabulous vacations and tour spot by its visitors.
Weaknesses
Apart from the weaknesses inherent in the system itself and the management and controls of Nazimgarh Resorts, most of the shortfalls can be clearly attributed to the Bangladesh’s tourism industry. Nazimgarh Resorts have been trying to develop an environment that caters to the needs of visitors of all types having different expectations; they even take steps to reduce the customer complaints and overcome weaknesses through continuous change and innovation process, but the current state of the industry is one of the major barriers in its way.
As stated earlier, government has not prioritized the development of tourism industry, budget allocation in this regard is not sufficient as well, and there is lack of well-trained manpower as well. Due to these reasons, the tourism industry is unable to plan its objectives and formulate appropriate strategies. The industry also lacks adequate marketing and advertisement as a result of which the highly attractive tourism spots remain out of the knowledge of potential tourists. Whilst neighboring countries resort to international electronic and print advertisements, there seems to be no effective measure taken for the purpose of effective marketing of the touristy under the slogan of “Beautiful Bangladesh”. Nazimgarh Resorts have realized the importance of branding but the same level of concentration should be displayed on the part of government as well. Without proper branding of the tourism industry, it will never be able to reach all the customers who are eager to spend on tourism. Branding is therefore the essence of any successful industry and sincere efforts are needed on the part of public and private sector to gather different firms under the brand of “Beautiful Bangladesh”. This would unleash the total potential of the industry and help it access the markets that were previously out of its reach. Indeed this branding campaign would greatly benefit the Nazimgarh’s tourism products.
Another weakness that is worth taking notice is Nazimgarh’s total attention towards the foreign tourists only. The domestic tourists should not be neglected. The products should be designed and marketed not just for the foreign tourists but should cater to the tourism needs of the domestic people alike. This is because the domestic people play a great role in the success of tourism industry as well. They take pride in exploring the beauty of their country and are also eager to protect and preserve them from the damage. So other than creating the top-class restaurants, resorts, and exploring opportunities, Nazimgarh should consider in extending its marketing campaign to local citizens as well. This is also possible through programs of public awareness and providing discounts to large groups of people and institutes. Signing of memorandums of understanding (MoU) with the local business and other institutions can also turn out to be a fruitful option.
Last but not the least; grave efforts are needed on the part of Nazimgarh Resorts’ management for improving its research and planning activities. The current affairs and results of operations of the company gives hint at the inadequate planning and lack of proper research. All decisions, enhancements and improvements should take place keeping in mind the current trends in the domestic and global tourism industry and market segments. Besides this, the management should also be aware of the versification and vulnerability of tourism. As the market flourishes, the potential for exploitation increases. Therefore, it is wise to take proactive measures to make sure that no forms of unjust, socially unacceptable, offensive or inappropriate activities take place. Code of ethics for Tourism as set by the World Tourism organization should be strictly adhered to.
Opportunities
At present the three greatest opportunities for Nazimgarh Resorts are the development of sports tourism, eco-tourism and medical tourism. Sports tourism has really good scope in Bangladesh. People like to play cricket, football, badminton and other indoor and outdoor games. There seems to be no venue for cricket ground or any other outdoor sports at Nazimgarh. Addition of some sports venues would attract the sports enthusiasts from around the country as the overall sports infrastructure in the country is very weak. Sports clubs and venues seem to be lacking in most of the luxurious gymnasiums and resorts not just in Sylhet but the surrounding areas as well including the Cox’s Bazar which is the world’s longest sea beach (DiscoveryBangladesh, 2012).
If Nazimgarh could become a favorite vacation spot of sportspersons for training and practicing it would generate good revenue and esteem for the resort. Since this is a profitable opportunity, Nazimgarh could seek domestic or foreign investment for its development. After all capitalizing on the opportunities leads to the stairway to success. Of course, this would also help reviving the backward sectors of the economy as well.
Sylhet is rich in natural and cultural areas that can serve as a paradise for eco-tourism. Sundarbans – the world’s largest mangrove forest – is situated in this region covering approximately 1 million hectares (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2007). Although the current facilities of ecotourism at the Wilderness resorts of Nazimgarh are quite attractive when compared with its competitors, there is a great room for improvements. Ecotourism that are directed towards raising public awareness to funding the ecological conservation, and educating the travellers about the cultural heritage and natural wonders should be regularly arranged. This is necessary so that the future generations can also experience the nature in its unharmed form like us (Kruger, 2003). Ecological and environmental conservation should be the utmost priority of a resort like Nazimgarh.
Finally the medical tourism is one thing that is not yet entirely seen or heard in Bangladesh. Simply stated, medical tourism is travelling for getting medical treatment. Medical tourism industry is currently one of the fastest growing industries in the global marketplace. It is swiftly expanding around the world, offering the patients and tourists the opportunity to obtain very high quality medical treatment in a variety of healthy environments all of which charge prices that are relatively lower than their home countries. Medical treatment thus offers better treatment at a lower price and is the best option where a person’s medical care is not covered by insurance (Botterill et al, 2013; Bookman et al, 2007). When tourists travel to countries far from their home they now expect special health care benefits, and Nazimgarh should take steps in familiarizing its visitors and the Bangladesh population with this aspect of the tourism.
Threats
The current threats include Nazimgarh’s competitors in the Sylhet locality which include Hotel Roseview and Hotel Supreme. In addition to other facilities similar to that of Nazimgarh’s, these resorts offer unique cuisines of all types to their customers. Several restaurants are setup for the same purpose. If someone was to compare the dining facilities of Nazimgarh with its rivals, the picture wouldn’t be that good for Nazimgarh Resorts.
Moreover, the national infrastructure is not tourism friendly which is a threat to sustainable tourism development. Development of international standard transport and communication system in these tourist destinations should be given crucial importance in this regard. Visa policy of Bangladesh should be amended to be tourism friendly. Foreign tourists should be saved from the worries of immigration formalities and the whole travelling process should be a lot simplified for them. Until the Visa on Arrival system is introduced, the country will keep losing its share of the market to neighboring countries like Nepal.
Security and safety is also a threat to tourist destinations including that of Nazimgarh’s. Special task tourism police force should be given sufficient rights and people-oriented approach to counter all acts of security disturbances. Security and safety are considered utmost important in flourishing the tourism industry of any country (Kôvári & Zimányi). Once the corrective measures are taken and opportunities are given due consideration, Nazimgarh Resorts would stand out to be the best luxurious resort in Northern Bangladesh.
References
Ahmad, S. (2013, March 19). Tourism industry in Bangladesh. Retrieved October 2013, 3, from The Daily Star: http://www.thedailystar.net/beta2/news/tourism-industry-in-bangladesh/
Bookman, M. Z., & Bookman, K. R. (2007). Medical Tourism in Developing Countries (1st ed.). Palgrave Macmillan.
Botterill, D., Pennings, G., & Mainil, T. (2013). Medical Tourism and Transnational Health Care. Macmillan.
DiscoveryBangladesh. (2012). Meet Bangladesh – Sylhet. Retrieved October 3, 2013, from DiscoveryBangladesh.com: http://www.discoverybangladesh.com/meetbangladesh/sylhet.html
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (2007). The World’s Mangroves 1980-2005. Food & Agriculture Org.
HCPRB. (n.d.). Cultural Heritage of Bangladesh. Retrieved October 4, 2013, from High Comission of People Republic of Bangladesh (HCPRB): http://www.bangladesh-highcomkl.com/cultural_heritage.htm
Kôvári, I., & Zimányi, K. (n.d.). Safety and Security in the Age of Global Tourism. Scientific Papers .
Kruger, O. (2003). The Role of Ecotourism in Conservation: panacea or Pandora’s Box? Biodiversity and Conservation (14), 579-600.
Nazimgarh Resorts. (2013). Nazimgarh Resorts. Retrieved October 3, 2013, from nazimgarh.com: http://www.nazimgarh.com/
New Age. (2012). Tourism in Bangladesh: Problems and Prospects. Retrieved October 3, 2013, from New Age: The Outspoken Daily: http://newagebd.com/newspaper1/archive_details.php?date=2012-01-03&nid=45765
