May
17
Eco-tourism - here it comes….
May 17, 2009 |
Bangladesh is a little behind the rest of the world in eco-tourism: it’s a little behind the rest of the world in tourism - full stop. But all that may be about to change. I’m really excited about a new socially and environmentally responsible boutique resort due to open in Jessore in late 2010 called Panigram. www.panigram.com
It represents the vision, patience and perseverance of Kristin Boekhoff, an American social entrepreneur who sees real opportunity in the hospitality industry in Bangladesh. The resort will have mud / bamboo construction, with bungalows and a wellness spa and also aims to improve the lives of the host community with peripheral business opportunities for the locals.
The imagery is powerful and anyone living in Dhaka for any length of time knows just how desperately needed this type of venture is.
On meeting Kristin, I was really impressed with her enthusiasm, not just for the project but also for Bangladesh. Bangladesh is a really beautiful country with so many tourist opportunities and yet we haven’t been able to project it beyond the stereotypical view of floods and poverty. I really hope that Panigram will show the world a different side. So many countries and islands in the world have been put on the tourist map simply by one wonderful resort: Panigram may do that for Bangladesh.
Jessore is in the south of the country; just 70km from the Sunderbans, the largest mangrove forest in the world and home to the Royal Bengal tiger. Other areas of Bangladesh are just as beautiful and diverse; think of the tea gardens in Sylhet, the Chittagong Hill Tracts, St. Martins Island.
While visitor numbers to Bangladesh are increasing, I’ve never actually met a tourist who came to Bangladesh just as a tourist. That’s something I’d really like to see change.
Samantha
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Thank you for the lovely article on my resort. I agree that there is a lot of potential for eco tourism in Bangladesh; in fact I would love it if Bangladesh focused EXCLUSIVELY on eco tourism! It fits in well with the beautiful scenery and natural lifestyle of the local people.
Bangladesh is the world’s largest river delta and there are some amazing sites and local cultures that have developed along these magnificent waterways. As you mentioned, Bangladesh is as yet “untouched” by tourism, so guests can come and really still have an authentic cultural experience. I would love it to stay this way as long as possible! At Panigram we will not only be educating the villagers about how they can create businesses to cater to the resort and the incoming foreign market, but we will also educate our guests to respect the local people and culture.
As part of our missions to give discerning travelers authentic experiences and to help improve the lives of the local community, we will be offering several activities at the resort where the guests can directly interact with the villagers (and the villagers will receive revenue from these activities). Examples include fishing trips and pottery classes in the nearby pottery village.
I think that there are many ways that a hospitality operator in Bangladesh can create a socially and environmentally responsible resort. Some of the things that we are doing at Panigram include:
- Building with renewable, local materials
- Training local people on the new construction techniques
- Powering our resort with solar and wind power
- Organically growing fruits and vegetables on the site
- Employing and training local people
- Holding entrepreneurship seminars for the villagers on how they can build businesses to cater to the incoming tourist industry
- Environmental education program in a local school
- Purchasing the bedspreads, dishes, and glassware from local artists and craftsmen
- Including villagers in resort activities
I would like Panigram Resort to be a showcase of what Bangladesh is capable of: modern design, innovative construction, environmental sustainability, and social inclusion. I am hoping that Panigram will be the first in a collection of sustainable boutique resorts both here in Bangladesh and in other developing countries around the world…
The article is nice and potential for the country scenerio. Eco-tourism is a potential resort of the country.
It will not be an overstatement to say that the assessment of economic growth has not taken into consideration environmental issues for a long time although the environment and the economy are interlinked. Environmental degradation ultimately slows down the pace of economic growth. Since degradation entails costs to the economy, its accountability is a prerequisite for any proper assessment of growth. Traditional national accounting practices fail to take into account many aspects of the economy, and until now there has been no serious attempt at relating the impact of economic activities on the environment to the calculation national accounts.
Environmental accounting bids fair to play an important role in introducing environmental impacts in the form of costs and benefits into the national accounts. The Eco-tourism is such type of concept.
Thanks Samantha.
Well, if we can arrange a colorful program on a special International occasion, say at the Cox’s Bazaar or the Saint Martin’s Island, and let the world know about it though the net, we can have some good number of tourists visiting the countryside, and this may start the change. The New Seven Wonders have already promoted the Cox’s Bazaar and the Sundarbans, so, it shouldn’t be that much tough. Some joint initiatives may be?? Bringing in the big players to do so??
Shafiq, thank you for your comment.
I’d be the first to agree that Bangladesh has a wonderful choice of locations for tourism but I think that tourism is lacking here for a number of reasons. One of the main reasons is a shortage of resorts where tourists might stay. When an international traveller comes to a beautiful, remote, unspoilt place, the last thing they want is to stay in a concrete box - which is what most of the choices represent. Maybe they are clean and relatively new and even some are well maintained but they are on the whole soulless and do not sit in with the environment. I think this is where Panigram will really create a change in attitudes and I hope that it will be the start of many eco-resorts in this beautiful and largely undiscovered country.
Shafiq and Samantha,
I totally agree with you. There are many different locations in Bangladesh that are great candidates for the development of quality resorts.
While Panigram will initially be targeting the foreigners and high net worth Bangladeshis who live in Bangladesh, I hope that eventually we can start to attract more foreigners for the purpose of tourism. It is my intention to develop 3-5 resorts in Bangladesh. After there is a “critical mass” of quality resorts here, I think that it will be easier to conduct an international marketing campaign…
Hi Samantha,
i have been waiting so long for this day, because i am building a Resort with the same vision, but i thought i am alone but today i find you.i am really excited in writing how i share my feelings with you.but in a short just to inform you i am building a Resort name “Chitra Resort”.only 30 KM away from jessore, this is located at Narail and in the Bank of one of most beautiful river name”Chitra”, i am confidend everybody will be amazed to see the place, this is in a turning place of chitra.This is now halfly done,peoples are visiting there,it is already open for day program only. now i am looking for a partner who can complete the accomodatation facility. i am only 34 years old, i am a computer engineer, working at desktop computer connection Ltd Dhaka. my resort is located just other side of river from small town narail. here i am giving my contact details in dhaka. i hope somebody will contact me.
Tarikul islam Anik
director, Desktop Computer
Owner, Chitra Resort.
mobile-88-01713063610