Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister AKM Shahjahan Kamal on Thursday called for maintaining the country's ecological balance to boost its tourism.
"Maintaining the biodiversity and ecological balance to boost the tourism industry is very important," he said.
The minister said this while inaugurating a workshop titled 'Capacity Building Workshops for Public Officials on Wildlife Conservation and Sustainable Tourism in Bangladesh' organised by Bangladesh Tourism Board at its head office in the city.
Identifying tourism as the country's rapidly growing economic sector, Shahjahan Kamal said the 2016-17 fiscal year was a successful year for Bangladesh tourism.
"According to World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) annual report 2017, the direct contribution of tourism to the country's GDP was Tk421.4billon, which is 2.2 percent of the total GDP in 2016, while the total contribution of tourism was Tk 840.2 billion, which is 4.3 per cent of the GDP," he said.
The minister also stressed the importance of the due role of the authorities concerned and stakeholders in preserving the country's ecological balance and biodiversity to boost the tourism industry.
UNB says a total of 30 officials joined the workshop, arranged with support from United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and Guangdong Chimelong Group Co Ltd, aiming to achieve sustainable development goals through sustainable tourism.