Govt to declare marine drive as preserved tourist zone

The Civil Aviation and Tourism Ministry has decided to declare both sides of marine drive in Cox’s Bazar as preserved tourist zone as well as develop a special tourism area near Sundarbans with all modern amenities for attracting more both domestic and foreign tourists, reports BSS.

This was revealed on Tuesday at a workshop titled “Conservation and Preservation of Heritage Sites and its Promotion as the Tourism Attractions” organised by Bangladesh Tourism Board (BTB) at CIRDAP auditorium in the capital.

Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister AKM Shahjahan Kamal inaugurated the workshop as the chief guest while Civil Aviation and Tourism Secretary Mohibul Haque spoke as the special guest.

Haque said the government is going to declare both sides of the 80 km long marine drive from Cox’s Bazar town to Teknaf as preserved tourism zone to check installation of all kinds of illegal structure there.

“This marine drive has already grabbed the attention of both domestic and foreign tourists. We have to preserve its natural beauty to promote these sites in front of large volume of tourists around the world,” he said.

The tourism secretary also said they are planning to build a special tourism area with five star hotel and all modern facilities near Sundarbans, the largest mangrove forest of the world.

“We would like to develop the zone without hampering environment of the forest,” he said, adding that tourists would roam inside the forest with small boats and stay night at the zone.

The minister called upon all stakeholders to be sincere in conserving and preserving the rich heritage sites as those are valuable tourism products of the country.

BTB’s Acting CEO Nikhil Ranjan Ray presided over the workshop while Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation (BPC) Chairman Akhtaruzzaman Khan Kabir spoke as the special guest.

Professor of Archeology Department of Jahangirnagar University Dr AKM Shahnawaz presented the keynote paper at the workshop attended by tour operators, travel agents and owners of hotels and motels.