Reza Mahmud :
Under water tourism in the Bay of Bengal can bring revolution in the tourism sector of Bangladesh, experts said.
World’s longest sea beach, Cox’s Bazar has mammoth resource for tourists, while another tourism source St. Martin is at a short distance.
Experts said, Introducing Scuba diving and facilitating artificial aquariums for tourists could make ways to earn huge revenue from tourism.
They said, regaining lost biodiversities and trained and skilled people for starting Scuba diving under the seawater is a great way of boosting tourism.
“Scuba diving in sea can be explored. Many countries have boosted their economy using Scuba diving a way of attracting huge foreign tourists showing them beauty of underwater,” SM Atiqur Rahman, Ocean Explorer and Director of Save Our Sea, told The New Nation.
He said, proper training could make human resources in Scuba diving as well under sea tourism.
When contacted, Jabed Ahmed, Chief Executive Officer (Additional Secretary) of Tourism Board told The New Nation, “We have huge potentials in ocean based tourism. All of those prospects can make our country rich by earning lots from tourism.” He said the BTB has made a plan to facilitate under sea water tourism soon.
When contacted, Professor Dr. Mohammad Muslem Uddin, Chairman of Oceanography Department of Chattogram University said, “All the lost biodiversities of Bay of Bengal can be regained by taking proper measures of scientific directives.”
He said, many countries have regained lost biodiversities under sea using technology. So, Bangladesh can do so easily.
Besides, Cox’s Bazar, many more beautiful beaches including Kuakata also have untold beauty and enormous prospects of attracting tourists from home and abroad. Meanwhile, as per the views of experts, only lack of taking initiatives kept the huge potential tourism sector unexplored.
The experts said, if the prospects of sea tourism, especially under water tourism can be explored, the whole appearances of the economy might be changed positively.
Bangladesh has been bestowed with 720 kilometer coastline including huge prospects of exploring beauty of ocean, experts said. The tourism sector of the country has depended on surface view even in the beach areas for long.
Sources said, about three to four lakh foreign tourists visit Bangladesh annually. By facilitating the prospects of tourism underneath world of sea, can make it many times higher than this. Meanwhile, countries, like Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and others have attracted huge foreign tourists using their beauty of underwater world.
They earn revenues from the tourism even much more than their industrial sector using the prospects of beneath of sea surface. As per the experts, there are very fastidious corals, seaweeds, octopuses, and various kinds of colourful and beautiful fishes, turtles, lobsters, crabs inside the sea.
If facilities of visiting underwater world for tourists can be created, unthinkable earnings can be possible from tourism sector. Meanwhile, Bay of Bengal has lost huge species of saltwater fishes, weeds, corals, octopuses and many beautiful biodiversities due to making devastations of ecological sites indiscriminatingly.
Running ships, even tourist carrying ships through valuable maritime ecological sites, constructing installations in close areas of beaches and coral islands like St Martin is responsible for destroying the biodiversities and beauties of sea of Bangladesh, experts said.
Meanwhile, experts said the damage of the ecologies can be regained as well the lost species of biodiversities like fishes and others can bring back taking effective scientific measures.
