INCREASE INVESTMENT AND IMPROVE MARKET ACCESS
According to the World Travel and Tourism Council, travel and tourism before the pandemic accounted for 2.7% of GDP in Bangladesh and 2.9% of jobs. The overall success of the USAID Ecotourism Activity will depend on the ability to attract more high-value visitors to the Sundarbans. This will be achieved through improving the capacity of existing businesses to provide services to visitors while increasing tourism demand and attracting more tourism investments within the region to expand the product offering.
For local tourism Micro, Small, and Medium-Sized Enterprises (MSME) to be successful, they need to be connected to the larger tourism supply chain that can begin as far away as international “outbound” tour operators that are sending clients to Bangladesh, and continues with national partners such as airlines that deliver visitors to the SRF region, and also includes regional tourism businesses such as hotels and restaurants in “gateway” cities like Khulna. All these tourism businesses are involved in connecting both domestic and international visitors to the “Destination Sundarbans” region, which eventually results in tourism contributing to local MSMEs and other beneficiaries as well.
To improve the overall performance and profitability of these critical supply chain partners, the project will assess and determine their training and technical assistance needs – from business planning and staff training to marketing and sales. To reach this larger, regional audience, the project will also develop an “e-learning” platform on the BECA website through which training and technical assistance can be more effectively delivered.
This will be achieved through two key intermediate results:
