Neighboring India is the main destination for Bangladeshi tourists traveling abroad. In second and third place in Saudi Arabia in the Middle East and Malaysia in Southeast Asia, respectively. Behind it is Thailand.
A survey by the government agency Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) has revealed such information. According to the survey titled ‘Tourism Satellite Account’, Dhaka tourists are the most visited abroad on a divisional basis. And when traveling abroad, most tourists spend the night at the homes of friends and relatives.
This is the first BBS survey on the country’s tourism industry. The survey has been done with the data of the 2018-19 financial year. The results of the survey were released last month. According to BBS officials, the survey was conducted to find out the number of tourists in the country and the amount of travel expenditure, and the contribution of the tourism sector to the gross domestic product (GDP).Advertising
The survey began in March last year, just before the corona outbreak spread in the country. Those who have spent more than one night in the country or outside the country have been caught as tourists in the survey. The survey was conducted on 39,417 households in the country on the basis of random sampling.
According to the survey data, 29 lakh 21 thousand tourists from Bangladesh went abroad in the last 2018-19 financial year. Each tourist stays abroad for an average of six days. The largest number of tourists have visited India. This rate is 80 percent. Saudi Arabia ranks second with 8 percent of tourists. Malaysia is in third place with 5 percent tourists. Thailand ranks fourth on the list with 3 percent tourists.
According to the survey, Bangladeshi tourists spend the most money on medical services while traveling abroad. About 30 percent of their total expenditure goes to medical services. The second highest 25 percent is spent on transportation. Shopping is in third place with the highest cost, which is 23 percent.
According to the BBS survey, Tk 33,006 crore was spent on outbound tourism from Bangladesh in the 2018-19 financial year. In addition, the initial preparation before going on a trip abroad has cost another 750 crores.
December is the month of choice for Bangladeshi tourists traveling abroad. About 14 percent of tourists surveyed said they visited in December. The second highest 12 percent of tourists said they would visit in April. January is the third month of choice for tourists. 11 percent of tourists visit this month. On the other hand, the least visited in September and November.
According to the BBS, the number of tourists between the ages of 25 and 59 is the highest among the foreign tourists, which is 60 percent of the total tourists and the number is 16 lakh 36 thousand. The rate of foreign tourists aged 15 to 24 years is 13 percent, which is 3 lakh 83 thousand. 5 lakh 6 thousand under the age of 14 go abroad. This number is 16 percent of the total number of tourists. The number of foreign tourists over the age of 60 is 3 lakh 1 thousand, which is 10 percent of the total tourists.
According to the survey, 48 percent of tourists said that they travel abroad and spend the night with relatives and friends. 28 percent said they would spend the night in a standard hotel. 6 percent reported spending the night in five-star hotels.
The people of the Dhaka division are the most advanced in foreign travel on a departmental basis. The maximum is 25 percent of the total tourists in this section. In this case, the Khulna division is in the second position. 20 percent of the tourists in this section. Sylhet division is in the third position of 16 percent of the total tourists. The people of Mymensingh and Rajshahi divisions travel the least.
