Well as far as Bangladesh ecotourism is concerned very few people may be aware of its natural wealth, its flourished flora and fauna. Bangladesh ecotourism is very wide because of the fact that it is the country of huge, mostly unknown and untouched natural splendor and reserves.

Natural reserves of Bangladesh are just unique and mesmerizing. This natural world of Bangladesh ecotourism is cool, calm and collected of hills and vales, rivers, forests, lakes, sea and beaches & the evergreen landscape of Bangladesh is situated in the northeastern side of the South Asia sub-continent.

Bangladesh topography is chiefly flat. The plain is criss-crossed by the world’s 3 forceful river systems namely the Padma (which is actually the Ganges), the Meghna and the Jamuna and their innumerable tributaries. The eastern and the northeastern part of Bangladesh join India while its southeastern part is adjoining Myanmar which is primarily hilly with dense forest.

This area encompasses Chittagong and the three Hilly Districts of Rangamati, Khagrachori & Bandarban with an average elevation of 610 m running parallel to each other in the north-south direction. Also the hill slopes are generally surrounded by thick forest. Whereas along the coast of the Bay of Bengal in south and southeast of the country, lies the Sundarbans. Sundarbans are vital part of Bangladesh ecotourism and famous as a swampy tropical mangrove forest which is the home of the Royal Bengal Tiger.

Above mentioned areas are all ideal for the expansion of Bangladesh ecotourism. Bangladeshi climate comprises annual rainfall ranges from 160 to 400 cm, hot – humid summer and cool – dry winter. And the best period to enjoy Bangladesh ecotourism is November to March, when the temperature ranges between 13.3 and 26.5 Celsius

As a vacation, Bangladesh ecotourism or natural tourism is truly hard to beat. Being a small country in South Asia Bangladesh is actually covered in 144,470 square kilometers only, but there is absolutely a lot to see, enjoy and do here.

Develop technology and light pollution is considered one of the reasons why fireflies disappearing into the swamps, fields and forests around the world. To investigate this accident, the team leader Chung Hwa School East in Kampung Kuala Belait Mentire to study the causes of the disappearance of their princess Rashida Awards for young people to scientific or PRYNSA 13 of the project entitled “Lampyridae:. Conservation and education in Brunei ”

Fireflies considered charismatic insects from National Geographic. Their location choices are hot, humid and stagnant water near the ponds, smoke and rivers or shallow depressions that retain water longer than the surrounding land, but when our rivers look more development and noise pollution, natural habitat of fireflies destroyed. By choosing the field, brought together members of the team information through the Internet and chose Kampung Mentire their destination. The study focused on identifying
the predators of the fireflies to understand and conclude to a reason why the fireflies population are decreasing.
Through this study, students are convinced they will be able to prevent the extinction of the fireflies and also raise awareness and public understanding by emphasizing the importance of observation and preservation of fireflies. Beyond Brunei will also benefit from this study to promote its eco-tourism, creating more jobs and bring more revenue for the country.

Tourism can reach new heights in Oyama. Lake Country Board approved a temporary use of facilities for entertainment of a zip on 75 acres of private land Oyama Lake Road. “They have three years to try and then they may have to be rezoned, “said Mayor James Baker.

The operation may consist of four to six single or dual zip lines. Participants from rocky cliffs, platforms of trees or steel platforms. “Paths of nature will be flying a zipline to the other with signs of natural vegetation and local history,” said Peter Madsen applicant in a written statement.

“Zip lines are in and coming area, which is to go in popularity. At the same time research, we found none of the entire Okanagan Valley this type. “However, before the Council granted a provisional license, some things were handled. “There is a dirt road out there and people are concerned about the zip line would attract more traffic and there would be more dust for the residents,” says Baker, adding that dealing with dust control.

Madsen believes that traffic will be minimal, as pre-reserved only for guests on the spot. “It is already at least two other companies based tourism along the Lake Road Oyama,” he said. The Council discussed the issue of fires. “It is a draft non-smoking, so that it reduces that risk,” Baker said. “They also have a tank to fight fires. “Baker says a zip line could be economic benefits to Lake Country. “We want more things for tourists to do in our community,” he said.

If space tourism ever becomes big business, many wealthy donors hope can be a danger to society is not limited to those who book a trip to the edge of space. A strong sector manned suborbital could soot into the stratosphere enough to cause global climate change, according to a new study.

Although the study will be published in Geophysical Research Letters, no mention of specific companies and manned by name, the authors seem to have Richard Branson, Virgin Galactic and its competitors in mind. The researchers modeled the effects of climate hybrid engines used by Virgin Galactic, the launch several times from southern New Mexico; Virgin Galactic has signed a 20-year lease at Spaceport America, a space station funding commercial public.

Hybrid engines that use synthetic fuels, solid hydrocarbons and nitrous oxide as an oxidant to be injected black carbon soot into the sky, says the study’s authors, Martin Ross wins Aerospace Corporation, Michael Mills is the National Center for Atmospheric Research, and Darin Toohey of the University of Colorado at Boulder. If the space-tourism industry mature to the point that the 1000 hybrid powered suborbital flights leave every year, these trips had been dumped about 600 tons of soot annually heaven. More than a decade to launch these emissions is continuous and asymmetric shadow of the northern hemisphere, which may affect the regional atmospheric circulation and temperatures are much higher than the greenhouse gases released into the stratosphere for the same flights.

In a 40-year climate model includes soot rockets fell ozone concentrations in the tropics and increased in high latitudes. In the middle latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere, where the cloud of carbon will effectively act as a sunshade, the temperature dropped about 0.4 degrees Celsius. This may seem a welcome offset the effects of increasing concentrations of greenhouse gas emissions, which should increase the average global temperature over the next few decades if it was not the fact that soot rockets also had the effect of heat the poles of the model climate researchers, promoting temperatures of nearly a full degree Celsius in winter local.

The results based on specific climate modeling complex and a number of assumptions that must be refined, especially as regards the amount of carbon in hybrid exhaust and the interaction between climate change caused by the stratospheric soot and those caused by future increases in greenhouse gas emissions is independent of tourism launches. However, researchers warn, “rocket emissions on this scale clearly crossed a threshold to be considered an anthropogenic climate change impact of global importance.”

Everyone depend on farm as well as forest. Ecotourism is more profitable than other ventures like cattle ranching, timber logging and farming; researchers have shown for the first time for a region of Peru. The findings are likely to give local people the financial incentive to keep neighboring virgin rainforest pristine, helping to lock away carbon.

‘This justifies the maintenance of intact rainforest over all alternative uses,’ says co-author of the study, Chris Kirkby from the University of East Anglia, who’s now based in Peru. The researchers also found that setting aside vast tracts of rainforest for ecotourism hugely outweighs the carbon emissions from air, boat and bus travel by ecotourists within Peru.

‘Undeveloped rainforest on land owned by lodges locks away an amount of carbon equivalent to up to 5000 years of carbon emissions from travel by tourists going to ecolodges in Peru,’ Kirkby explains.

Ever since the word ecotourism was coined in the 1980s, it’s been touted as the best way for tourists to see fragile, pristine or protected places with minimal environmental impact.

Around US$210 billion is brought into developing countries every year for ecotourism and the numbers of visitors to protected areas in developing countries is growing. There’s little doubt this money helps to promote conservation and sustainable development. But, until now, there has been almost no research into whether or not ecotourism benefits local people – especially financially.

‘The difficulty researchers have faced is getting hold of financial data from ecotourism companies,’ says Kirkby.

So Kirkby and his co-authors from UEA, China and Peru set about sourcing commercially sensitive financial data from lodge owners in the Tambopata region of Peru. They specifically wanted to know if ecotourism is the most valuable use of land compared with schemes that destroy rainforest, like logging, ranching and Brazil nut extraction.

Another concern among conservationists is a huge trans-Amazon highway which is scheduled for completion in 2011. The road will cut through a remote part of the Peruvian Amazon, making it instantly accessible and economically viable to cut down the rainforest.

Kirkby and his co-authors were keen to arm themselves with accurate information so that they would be in a position to influence Peruvian policy-makers and minimise unnecessary degradation of the Peruvian rainforest.

They calculated the 2005 profits from 12 ecotourism lodges in Tambopata and compared them with the likely profits from agriculture, cattle ranching, timber extraction, or Brazil nut harvesting. They looked at a number of possible scenarios, such as timber logging, followed by agriculture or cattle ranching, and combining ecotourism with some of these schemes.

The researchers also calculated the carbon emissions from travel within Peru and compared this with the amount of carbon being locked away by not cutting down rainforest.

‘What we found is that ecotourism holds its own compared with ranching, timber and agriculture,’ says Kirkby. ‘And a third of the revenue from lodges is spent in the local economy.’

While timber logging can make more money, it can only do so in the first five years. After that, profits drop sharply, mainly because the industry is unsustainable. In contrast, ecotourism is profitable over the long term.

‘The good news is that ecotourism lodges make money, which locals use to buy up more land to build their businesses, thereby further protecting pristine rainforest,’ says Kirkby.

Another of the paper’s co-authors, Douglas Wu from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, points out, ‘This tourism is only profitable because it is high volume. Small scale community based ecotourism is not nearly as profitable and couldn’t compete.’

But the authors warn that as prices of timber, gold and agricultural products rise, the situation could change.

Although they add, ‘There are other more difficult-to-quantify reasons to protect forest and farm including their value as a store of carbon and biodiversity.’

CAMBODIA’S tourism sector needs to increase its focus on “responsible tourism” to persevere with foreign travellers and gain possession on growing market, according to authorities from Dutch-backed development agency SNV.

But local firms warned against relying too much on sustainable travel to fuel sector growth at the launch of SNV’s Responsible Travel Cambodia pilot project, attended by 70 tourist operators at Phnom Penh’s Intercontinental Hotel yesterday.

The SNV scheme is to provide business mentoring to six tourism companies for six months with the goal of increasing opportunities to capture the burgeoning “responsible” market.

“We don’t want to just eliminate the negative impacts [of tourism] but rather also introduce positive impacts,” said SNV Cambodia sector leader Trevor Piper yesterday.

Responsible tourism aims at maximising economic, social and environmental benefits of tourism, according to the organisation.

Although local operators at yesterday’s event welcomed a potential shift to responsible travel, some cautioned that the movement had not yet become a big player in Cambodia’s tourist market.

“Not a lot of people ask about ecotourism,” said Peau Vanchanphal, manager’s assistant at inbound tour operator Abercrombie and Kent.

“Most tourists just want cultural tourism, like Angkor Wat.”

Kan Lak, manager at domestic firm Nanco Travel, said he agreed that responsible tourism was further down the list of many international visitors’ priorities.

“Responsible tourism is something we want to look at, but at the moment the main demand is for [visits to] Siem Reap, then Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville, and then last ecotourism,” he said.

However, Alexis de Suremain, owner of Phnom Penh hotel The Pavilion, said responsible tourism encompassed more than just eco-friendly destinations, and that an increasing number of tourists prioritised sustainable practices in their travels.

“You have to be aware that this [trend] is something that is happening and it’s happening quickly,” he said, and added that overseas tour operators had asked the hotel about the origin of the timber used to make its furniture to ensure it was eco-friendly.

SNV studies showed demands from the key European and North American markets are changing, Trevor Piper said.

“[Tourists want] more meaningful connections with local people and greater understanding of the local cultural, social and environmental issues”, he said.

Seventy percent of British and North American tourists surveyed by SNV said they would be willing to pay up to $150 more for a two-week stay in a hotel that had a “responsible environmental attitude”.

Tourism is the second largest sector in Cambodia’s economy, contributing US$1.29 billion – up to 15 percent of the country’s total GDP in 2008, according to SNV.

The organisation expects tourism could be worth up to US$1.5 billion by the end of this year.

Ministry of Tourism figures also weighed in to support sustainability at yesterday’s forum. Secretary of state Kousoum Saroeuth said the World Travel Market 2009 survey found that about 71 percent of tourists thought that their travel plans should benefit the local community, and 85 percent thought that trips should have a low environmental impact.

“I would like to encourage all concerned parties, especially the private sector … to join in with responsible tourism in the context of community development, protection of ecotourism and biodiversity,” he said.

Tourism industry leaders made Portland their stomping ground last week for an annual conference featuring the best of sustainable business and green living.

The Ecotourism and Sustainable Tourism Conference kicked off Portland-style Sept. 8 with the city’s signature mix of music, politics and green-leaning ideas. Opening ceremonies were ushered in by the Japanese drum ensemble Portland Taiko, followed by remarks from Congressman Earl Blumenauer and a panel talk with Oregon business and tribal leaders.

Thursday’s affair was a preamble to a lineup of intense workshops, social events and networking opportunities for attendees. The conference drew more than 400 business leaders from 30 countries, along with industry stakeholders and local community leaders. Fun fare included a sustainable fashion show, a sustainable culinary showcase and awards ceremony.

But most events were geared at education, designed for tourism industry pros keen on promoting responsible travel and on carrying Portland’s livability ethic home. Produced by The International Ecotourism Society, the event marked the agency’s 20th year of promoting ecotourism and of using travel as a tool for conservation and sustainable development. It was hosted here by the local tourism agencies Travel Portland and Travel Oregon.

Blumenauer’s speech was the highlight of opening ceremonies at the Hilton Hotel at 921 S.W. 6th Ave., and touched on things that both result from and foster the Portland area’s sustainability ethic, noting:

• The city is 75 minutes from the coast with the largest urban forest in the United States;

• It’s encompassed by the first land-use program to protect farms and forests, promote mass transportation and protect water;

• Portland saw a 400 percent increase in bike lanes and bike parking over 20 years, built for the same cost of a one-lane freeway;

• The state directs $20 million a year in direct revenue to Oregon farmers through farmers markets;

• It’s home to the most sustainable vineyards in the world and an interest in farm to fork dinners increases emphasis on local food production;

• And Oregon boasts more local breweries than any other city in the world.

“There is a lot here we think we can share with you and we can learn from one another. The role tourism, particularly sustainable tourism, plays in our economy and helps orient how people think about who they are and relate to their communities is very, very important,” he said. “This is actually very serious business.”

Blumenauer, a nationally known bike transportation supporter, noted bicycles are a $100 million sector in Oregon, employing roughly 12,000 people. He swore he wasn’t joking when he said a bike-related event takes place every 30 seconds in Portland. Pointing to Cycle Oregon as a banner event for the state, he urged tourism leaders to “think about ways of marketing sustainability by going back to the future and simplifying,” he said.

In a town where bikes, beer and bread seem to never lose their fan base, there are lessons in the past, he said. Blumenauer pointed the nation’s long history of streetcars, adding that the first American-made streetcar in 58 years will hit Portland streets this year. The city is in its 10th year of hosting Chinese delegates that come to Portland to examine land use and planning through its lens.

“We are in the process here of trying to translate these principles of livability into the practice of how we operate, and from my vantage point ecotourism is one of the most important connections” to other parts of the world and to helping other people understand sustainability, he said.

He urged the crowd to learn from one another, strengthen their ties and continue to improve communities.

The audience included participants from countries around the globe, including Botswana, Canada, India, China, Panama, Costa Rica, and many nations in Europe.

A little over two years ago Ljuba Simic packed in his job driving trucks for a local cement factory for a new life – as a pioneer of rural tourism in Serbia’s lush Fruska Gora region.

“I told myself it would be good to profit from what we have: the Danube river, the Fruska Gora hills and their pristine nature,” the dynamic 51-year old told AFP.

Together with a business partner he turned a traditional Vojvodina farmhouse into a rural inn in the picturesque village of Cerevic, on the north side of Fruska Gora where the hills meet the banks of the Danube.

With tourism heavyweights Croatia and Montenegro and their sun-kissed Adriatic coast just next door, landlocked Serbia is bidding to turn its vast, unspoilt countryside into an asset for green tourism.

The industry is still a fledgling: last year revenues from tourism made up barely 2.5 percent of Serbia’s gross domestic product, according to the economy ministry.

But spurred on by the success of countries like Hungary, Bulgaria or Romania, Serbia has high hopes for the sector, and its trade and tourism ministry aims to establish a viable market for nature tourism by 2015.

Guests staying at Simic’s inn, which opened in 2008 with 40 beds, can go hiking, visit the area’s famous Orthodox monasteries, take a boat trip on the river or simply relax with a drink in the farmhouse’s calm gardens.

Octogenarian Ratko Tatalovic came to Cerevic to beat the summer heat in Serbia’s capital Belgrade.

“The beauty of our country deserves to be highlighted, and this kind of tourism is an excellent way to do it,” he said.

Jagoda Jovicevic, of the government’s tourism organisation TOS, says “the state is actively supporting the development of rural tourism and has been giving subsidies and loans with favourable conditions for four years now.”

She says the country is managing to transform its lack of industrial development into an economic advantage.

“We are turning something around that used to be considered a failing.”

Simic is now one of around 4,000 people working in the growing sector, which so far counts some 5,000 tourist beds.

The economic downturn gave rural tourism an added boost, since many young people were forced to move back from the big cities to their native villages – where tourism suddenly seemed a way out, Jovicevic said.

“They used what they had at their disposal. The houses – which do often have to be refurbished – and the untouched natural beauty that surrounds them,” she said.

In Indjija, a town some 40 kilometres (24 miles) outside Belgrade, the transformation kicked off almost a decade ago, after many people got laid off in the big cities in the 1990s and returned home.

A handful of the returnees saw the potential of the town, close to the capital and the Fruska Gora park, and turned a dozen of old farms known as Salasi into restaurants and guest housing, making the town and its surroundings a popular weekend outing from Belgrade.

But despite the government’s efforts to promote tourism, there is still plenty to be done in terms of “infrastructure and educating people who work in the tourism sector,” Jovicevic added.

Serbia also has something of an image problem. Despite the fact most of it was untouched by the 1990s wars, many foreigners still have images of the 1999 NATO bombing campaign against Serbia in mind when they think of the country.

In addition, economic development was stunted by years of sanctions over Belgrade’s key role in backing Serb fighters in the bloody wars in Bosnia and Croatia – sanctions that were only lifted after the fall of strongman Slobodan Milosevic in 2000.

But Serbia is determined to market itself as a hub for southeastern Europe, boasting untamed nature and famed Balkans hospitality. Its latest tourism slogan is “Life in the rhythm of the heartbeat”.

While Serbia’s neighbours across the Western Balkans share the same natural beauty, few have yet tapped their potential for rural tourism, with the sector only just emerging in Bosnia or Macedonia.

In Croatia, despite the highly developed tourism industry on the Adriatic coast, tourist nights spent in rural hotels and bed and breakfasts make up only one percent of the total in the country.

Montenegro’s tourist industry has also sprung up mainly on its coast, with rural activities such as rafting, hiking or fishing in the mountainous north making up only three percent of all tourism revenues.

Likewise Albania – still largely undiscovered by tourists after decades of isolation under communism – is also focusing mainly on its coast, with poor roads combined and an often deserted countryside hobbling the prospects for rural tourism.

The fourth Ecotourism and Sustainable Tourism Conference (ESTC) is in Portland today and Friday and this year it drew about 340 delegates from over 20 countries.  Put on by the International Ecotourism Society (TIES) — which is celebrating its 20th year —the conference this year focuses on practical ideas, according to Dr. Kelly S. Bricker, Chair of TIES.

Bricker summed up the conference well in her welcome column in the event’s marketing materials:

“The ESTC focuses on practical solutions to challenges faced at all levels of sustainable developmen —from economic and marketing issues to environmental and social impact. From voluntourism to green energy solutions to social media, we will also tap into movements that are changing the business face of tourism enterprises today. We are fortunate to welcome a host of creative thinkers who have success stories and real-world solutions to share. We are equally fortunate to have the conference in one of the most forward-thinking cities in America today, Portland, Oregon.”

At the opening plenary, this forward-thinking city is exactly what was discussed.  Rep. Earl Blumenauer (sporting his neon Bike Caucus pin, natch) addressed the audience about why ecotourism is important, and just how Portland (and Oregon in general) is leading the sustainable tourism revolution.

Blumenauer explained that the issues surrounding ecotourism are ones everyone should support because they help communities economically, physically and environmentally. He cited Forest Park, Portland’s biking community, sustainable vineyards, Hood River’s famous wind surfing, and “homestead-inspired parks and parkways” as some of Oregon’s ecotourism gems.

“Every community has a couple gems, and spectacular potential,” Blumenauer said.

After Blumenauer spoke, Todd Davidson, the CEO of Travel Oregon, moderated a panel of three Oregonians on the forefront of sustainable tourism: Christian Ettinger, owner of Hopworks Urban Brewery, Nancy Stueber, president of Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI), and Dawnielle Tehama, the marketing director of Kla-Mo-Ya Casino in Chiloquin.

“In Oregon, we feel the sustainability ethic is in our DNA,” Davidson said.  He described Oregon’s reputation as “clean, green and friendly” to tourists from other states and countries.

Portland is certainly known as green, but its reputation as Beervana got a lot of love at the Plenary since Ettinger appeared on the panel.  He touted the merits of pull marketing as important for sustainable businesses, saying that his business of mostly organic,  locally sourced beers aimed to create stories that customers would attach on to, rather than advertising and bragging about HUB’s sustainability.

“You have to be open-minded, you can’t be too proud of what you’ve done so far,” Ettinger said about sustainability.

Stueber agreed that this willingness to be humble was important.  OMSI patrons have complained about disposables in their cafes and a lack of bike parking at events.  “We like being called out on it,” Stueber said.

Tehama explained that small sustainable upgrades like adding more bike parking are important — it is necessary to grab all the low-hanging fruit.  For example, the Kla-Mo-Ya Casino recently went paperless for their drawings, a small change that saves an innumerable amount of trees. However, she said that especially for small businesses, making the change to be sustainable often required using “OPM” —other people’s money.

Ettinger agreed that it was important for businesses to grab the low-hanging fruit, but also for consumers to make those changes. “If a consumer is given two comparable price options, they will choose the greener one,” he said.

Most everyone can shell out $4 for a pint of organic beer rather than spending $3.50 on a regular brew, but “not everyone can buy a Prius,” Ettinger said.  “It’s an easy way for people to upgrade their life in hard economic times.”

“Drinking with confidence” he called it.

In 2008, worldwide international tourist arrivals increased to 924 million, up from 898 million in 2007. Industry sources estimate world travel and tourism generated in excess of $7 trillion in 2007, rising to more than $13 trillion in the coming decade.

Despite its stunning array of natural, cultural and anthropological attractions, Bangladesh is currently known as a disaster prone poor improvised nation-not as tourist destination. Failure of Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation (BPC)-the present National Tourism Organisation (NTO) and neglect by all the past governments are to blame for this situation Without wasting no more time, we should strongly believe in the tourism potentials of our country. And I think, main opportunity for Bangladesh in international tourism lies in its natural and cultural heritage or in other words-Geo and Eco tourism attractions. The country is different and its Unique Selling Point (USP) is the fairly good choice that a variety of geographical features provide. Most other countries offer one or the other choice in adventure tourism, Bangladesh on the other hand provides an unparalleled natural habitat and wild life..

Bangladesh has plenty of splendid tourism resources to be an attractive tourist destination. Tourism specialists have identified River tourism; UNESCO heritage site (Sundarbans); rare wild life; Bird life; Archeological sites, monuments and temples; Tribal tourism in Chittagong Hill Tracts and Tea gardens. In addition, relative low costs of internal (domestic) air and road travel; high quality handicrafts; warm climate during European winter months are also considered as tourism assets of Bangladesh. Generally speaking, however, their values as tourism resource have not been well recognized yet in the society

The co-existence of man and nature can best be studied in Bangladesh, which provides a great emotional and educational experience to the visitor. Added to the diversity of choice in destinations and adventure sport, Bangladesh can also offer a variety of nature viewing experience such as open air jeeps, elephants, boats, bicycles, cycle rickshaws.

The goal

Ecotourism is a pragmatic concept that mixes modern conservation theories with good old fashioned money making. Yearning for authentic travel has now lead to a new trend-the Geotourism. Visiting rural Bangladesh. Travelling to the Sundarbans to watch Otter fishing. Enjoying Monipuri dance in Sylhet. Tourists may make these trips at different times, but they have something in common: They could all be considered “geotourism,” a relatively new term for travel that focuses on a destination’s unique culture and history. The eco and geo tourists are less demanding, more cooperative and willing to adapt with and accommodate themselves with reasonable facilities. They welcome management guidelines and abide by the rule, and regulations that help to reduce negative impacts of visitors on ecology and the societies they visit.

The goal of Eco and Geo tourism development in Bangladesh should be to capture a portion of the enormous global tourism market by attracting visitors to natural areas and using the revenues, to fund local conservation and fuel economic development. ‘Geo tourism-the newest trend Geo tourism trend aims to preserve local charm and focuses on a destination’s authentic culture and history, aiming to have visitors help enrich those qualities-rather than turn the place into a typical tourist trap.

The term is so new that few tourists use it. But travel professionals describe it as a step beyond the better-known environmentally friendly ecotourism. While geotourism encourages treading lightly on nature, it’s also about authenticity and making a place better by visiting and spending money. People do tend to like things that they’re not going to experience somewhere else. They’re looking for things that are not homogenized, said an American tourism expert and added people are seeking a more experiential vacation.

Now more than ever, it’s easy to move quickly around the globe. While that can be a good thing, it also means places are “under various forms of assault,” said Jonathan B. Tourtellot, who became the National Geographic Society’s first director of sustainable destinations in 2001. Tourtellot coined the term “geo tourism,” and it first appeared in print in a 2002 study about the idea by the Travel Industry Association of America and National Geographic Traveler magazine. Tourtellot wants to bring the focus of tourism back to the character of a place. Geo tourism adds to sustainability principles by building on geographical character to create a type of tourism that emphasizes the distinctiveness of its locale, and that benefits visitor and resident alike. Geo tourism is synergistic. All the elements of geographical character together create a tourist experience that is richer than the sum of its parts, appealing to visitors with diverse interests. It involves the community. Local businesses and civic groups work together to promote and provide a distinctive, authentic visitor experience.

It informs both visitors and hosts. Residents discover their own heritage and how the ordinary and familiar may be of interest to outsiders. As local people develop pride and skill in showing off their locale, tourists get more out of their visit. It benefits residents economically. Travel businesses do their best to use the local workforce, services, and products and supplies. When the community understands the beneficial role of geo tourism, it becomes an incentive for wise destination stewardship. It supports integrity of place. Destination-savvy travellers seek out businesses that emphasize the character of the locale. Tourism revenues in turn raise local perceived value of those assets.

It means great trips. Enthusiastic visitors bring new knowledge home, telling stories that send friends and relatives off to experience the same thing-a continuing business for the destination. Both Eco and Geo fall in the category of sustainable tourism. Sustainable tourism, like a doctor’s code of ethics, means “First, do no harm.” It does not abuse its product-the destination. It seeks to avoid the “loved to death” syndrome. Businesses and other stakeholders anticipate development pressures and apply limits and management techniques that sustain natural habitats, heritage sites, scenic appeal, and local culture. It conserves resources. Environmentally aware travellers favor businesses that minimize pollution, waste, energy consumption, water usage, landscaping chemicals, and excessive nighttime lighting.

It respects local culture and tradition. Foreign visitors learn about and observe local etiquette, including using at least a few courtesy words in the local language. Residents learn how to deal with foreign expectations that may differ from their own. It aims for quality, not quantity. Communities measure tourism success not by sheer numbers of visitors, but by length of stay, distribution of money spent, and quality of experience.

The Geo tourism Charter

This global template is designed for nations but can also be adjusted for signature by provinces, states, or smaller jurisdictions, and for endorsement by international organizations.

Governments and allied organizations can sign this statement of principles as a first step in adopting a geo tourism strategy. After thus committing to a geo tourism strategy, signatories should then work with local communities to determine their geo tourism goals. The geo tourism approach is all-inclusive, focusing not only on the environment, but also on the diversity of the cultural, historic, and scenic assets of particular region;

The geo tourism approach encourages citizens and visitors to get involved rather than remain tourism spectators, and the geo tourism approach helps build a sense of national identity and pride, stressing what is authentic and unique to the region.

The signatories are parties to this Agreement of Intent commit to support these geo tourism principles, to sustain and enhance the geographical character of that particular region, its environment, culture, aesthetics, heritage, and the well-being of its residents:

Integrity of place: Enhance geographical character by developing and improving it in ways distinctive to the locale, reflective of its natural and cultural heritage, so as to encourage market differentiation and cultural pride.

Base tourism on community resources to the extent possible, encouraging local small businesses and civic groups to build partnerships to promote and provide a distinctive, honest visitor experience and market their locales effectively. Help businesses develop approaches to tourism that build on the area’s nature, history and culture, including food and drink, artisan, performance arts, etc.

Encourage micro- to medium-size enterprises and tourism business strategies that emphasize economic and social benefits to involved communities, especially poverty alleviation, with clear communication of the destination stewardship policies required to maintain those benefits.

Encourage businesses to sustain natural habitats, heritage sites, aesthetic appeal, and local culture. Prevent degradation by keeping volumes of tourists within maximum acceptable limits. Seek business models that can operate profitably within those limits. Use persuasion, incentives, and legal enforcement as needed.

Encourage businesses to minimize water pollution, solid waste, energy consumption, water usage, landscaping chemicals, and overly bright nighttime lighting. Advertise these measures in a way that attracts the large, environmentally sympathetic tourist market.

Among the foundations of the geo tourism philosophy is its benefit to the local population. When destinations highlight the things that make them special, it not only draws more tourists, it also helps the local community appreciate its own uniqueness. That, in turn, motivates them to preserve the cultural or natural resources that keep tourists coming.

Supporters of the geo tourism concept say it also creates jobs that employ local people and income for local business owners.

Now a days, people feel a growing need to get away from the pressures of their daily existence – to escape from work deadlines, phones, and e-mail-and experience life on a simpler plane. They are yearning for a journey to an exotic spot where modern human society has not displaced the indigenous lifestyle.

Bangladesh contains greater bio-diversity than that of many countries taken together. In addition, old-fashioned life style of the country can also be converted into highly attractive Eco and Geotourism products on the following lines:

Culture and traditions includes:

Food and drink, including local agricultural products and methods.

Performing arts: music, dance, theater, including street performances.

Arts and crafts, including non-franchise local shops.

Festivals, including distinctive ways of celebrating national holidays.

Nature and environment includes:

Distinctive wildlife habitat, on land or in the water; great birding sites.

Notable trees and flowers.

Links between local nature and local culture – history, cuisine, events.

Heritage sites includes:

Historic sites that provide some type of interpretation or experience.

Archaeological sites with interpretation, especially those with community involvement.

Aesthetics includes:

Areas that have nice scenery, appropriate lighting, freedom from billboards.

Areas those are most pleasing to be in.

Businesses there that deserve support.

The National Geographic Society help create the map and provides editorial guidelines for Geo tourism MapGuide of partner.

A local geo tourism alliance is the initiating partner. An alliance of local individuals and organizations representing all facets of geotourism-history, nature, culture, cuisine, artisanry, etc.-contributes local content in consultation with National Geographic Society, solicits advertising if needed, handles distribution and possibly production. The local alliance must take the initiative and so rightfully earn pride in knowing that this is their product. Both partners’ names and/or logos appear on the MapGuide.

Pragmatic concept

The Geo and Eco tourism is a brash pragmatic new concept that mixes modern conservation theories with good old fashioned money making. It is the point at which capitalism and conservation join together to fight for the same cause; wildlife preservation at a profit. As such it is being widely hailed as the best, investment for environment and business.

Successful conservation of Natural Areas can no longer be defined by simply making an area off limits to human populations.

New strategies must address the critical issues of sustainable development and economic growth while achieving conservation objectives. Eco-tourism represents one such strategy.

What distinguishes geo and eco-tourism is that it adds value to the environment. Both offer the opportunity for conservation, business and government to work together in a way that could be a model for ‘all enterprises seeking to develop natural resources.

The geo and eco-tourists are less demanding, more cooperative and willing to adapt with and accommodate themselves with reasonable facilities. They welcome management guidelines and abide by the rule, and regulations of the National Park, that help to reduce negative impacts of visitors on ecology and the societies thy visit. They are committed environmentalist and advocates of conservation and are useful for good public relations. And above all they are tax payers, future leaders and friends of the Parks. Change is a must

For the development of tourism an effective and powerful NTO is a must. Fortunately, a law in this regard is in the process of being enacted. The proposed law will provide formation of a Board with members from private-public stake to replace moribund BPC

Along with formation of an affective NTO, GM Quader, Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism has also under scored the need for a Master Plan for development of tourism in the country.

He is right. The Master Plan that Bangladesh has now was formulated more than two decades ago. So, massive revision is needed suite the need of the time as well as making the plan workable.

The revised Master Plan should suggest measures-both long and short term-to develop Geo and Eco tourism. The need is to bring country’s wealth of geo and eco-tourism attractions into well defined products and market those in tourism generating countries. While revising, the Master Plan should include (1) Cox’s Bazar and surrounding for beach activities. (2) The Subdarbans for safari and adventure tours. (3) Rangamati and Lake Kaptai as a hill station resort with water activities like, house boats, water sport equipment for skiing, craft centre and night club entertainment. (4) Creation of an arehacological vacation village with resort facilities near Jaipurhat with a tour programme for Paharpur and Mahastan and using railway connection to Rajshahi for viewing sericulture technology. (5) Creation of a tea planter’s vacation village in the Sylhet-Srimangal region with bird watching expeditions and tours of the Bangladesh Tea Research Institute. (6) Creation of a tourist village or theme park within easy reach of Dhaka to extend the range of activities for stop over, short stay visitors and local residents with components including weaving, embroidery, food preparation, and video presentation portraying the cultural life and history of the country supported by live music, a variety of restaurants and stores. (7) Making Dhaka Zoo and Botanical Gardens more interesting and attractive by better maintenance and labeling..

There are great scope to combine all aspects of tourism to make Geo and Eco tourism products of Bangladesh attractive. The urgent need now is to develop country’s tourism under an integrated development plan.

The authorities should seriously examine the question of signing of geo tourism charter of The National Geographic Society, to get expert assistance in tourism development.