Cox’s Bazar International University

Assignment On

SWOT Analysis of Tourism In Bangladesh : A Case Study on Saint Martin’s Island

Submitted By

Name Id Dept Batch

Masud Perbas 160050500041 BHTM 5th

Submitted To

Debasree bhowmik
Lecturer
Cox’s Bazar International University
 Introduction

Saint Martin Island is the marine water and coastal waters of Bangladesh are rich in the diversity and the zone is
important for sustaining marine biodiversity and characterized as mangroves, estuaries, mudflats, protected
bays, and islands. It is also vital for other marine wildlife, including migratory birds, cetaceans, turtles and coral
reefs. Saint Martin’s Island or Narikel Jinjira is located in the Bay of Bengal roughly between 20°34'N -
20°38.8'N latitude and 92°18'E - 92°20.8'E longitude. Narikel Jinjira is a small island in the Northeastern part of
the Bay of Bengal, about 9 km South of Cox's Bazar-Teknaf peninsular tip and forms the southernmost tip of
Bangladesh. This area has been declared as Ecologically Critical Area.
Bangladesh is a country in South Asia. It is bordered by India to its west, north and east Myanmar to its
southeast. To its south, it faces the Bay of Bengal. Bangladesh is the world's eighth most populous country, with
over 160 million people, and among the most densely populated countries. It forms part of the ethno-linguistic
region of Bengal, along with the neighboring Indian states of West Bengal and Tripura. Bangladesh is a
developing country. Tourism is burning sector of this country. Bangladesh is so much beautiful to look at. For
this reason Bangladesh has a good opportunity to earn a good amount of money. I am trying to show the SWOT
that means strength, weakness, opportunities and threat of this industries and I am also focusing the case study
on saint Martin’s Island.
 Objective of the study

The objective of conducting this study is of three folds, as follows:

• To understand the environmental and socio-economic situation of Bangladesh tourism and the saint
martin’s island
• To consider the present situation and address all aspects, looking into positive and negative effects.
• To produce a base document for the future coordination of partners involved in the future development
of conservation and management of Saint Martin’s Island and Bangladesh Tourism.

Tourism in Bangladesh

Tourism has considered as the world’s largest and rapid growing industry of modern business world. It has a
vital influence on economic development of a country. Bangladesh is a new tourist destination on the map of
the world. Bangladesh has enormous potential to develop tourism because of its attractive natural beauty and
rich cultural heritage. Tourism can add value in the Bangladeshi economy if proper marketing plan and strategy
can be built and implemented for this purpose. However, this industry fails to reach its destination due to
adequate marketing practices.

Bangladesh is trying to develop her tourism status to compete in local and global market. Tourism is one of the
main roots of developing the country’s economy and as well as skilled professional human resource.
Governmental and non- Governmental institutes can keep such a vital role by giving emphasis on tourism
marketing.
In the south-eastern part, which is the Chittagong division, there are natural and hilly areas like Chittagong Hill
Tracts, along with sandy sea beaches. The most notable beach, in Cox's Bazar, is a contender for the title of
longest unbroken sandy sea beach in the world.
In the south-western part, mainly the Khulna Division, there is the Sundarbans, the largest mangrove forest of
the world with Royal Bengal Tiger and spotted deer. The historically and architecturally important sixty domed
mosque in Bagerhat is a notable site. In the north-eastern part, Sylhet division, there is a green carpet of tea
plants on small hillocks. Natural reserved forests are great attractions. Migratory birds in winter, particularly in
the haor areas, are also very attractive in this area.
Ministry of Tourism and The Civil Aviation Ministry designs national policies for the development and
promotion of tourism. The Ministry also maintains the Beautiful Bangladesh campaign. Bangladesh
Government has formed Tourist Police unit to better protect local and foreign tourists as well as look after the
nature and wildlife in the tourist spots.

Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation

Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation is the pioneer of tourism development in Bangladesh. Since independence of
our beloved motherland, the father of the nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as a reflection of his
visionary leadership created this organization with Presidential Order no-143 in November 1972, which
commences its function on 1st January 1973. Since its inception, this organization has been putting in best
effort to promote and develop tourism as an industry and market the tourism products of Bangladesh. This
organization has been entrusted with dual role – ‘promotion and development’ of tourism industry as well as
‘creation and operation’ of various tourism facilities across the country since its establishment.
The foremost objectives of the corporation are to promote tourism in Bangladesh, build up positive image of the
country abroad, create tourism infrastructure, provide services to the tourists and flourish tourism resources that
exist in Bangladesh, creating employment opportunity in different sectors of this industry which is helpful to
reduce poverty.
It’s Contribute to the growth of the national GDP. With the motto of providing best services to tourists as well
as creation of standard facilities across the country, BPC always first ventured with the projects in different
tourism potential areas. It showed the path for private investment in the country.
This organization being the torch-bearer of developing tourism in the country, it is always committed to bring
about a positive change in the country through offering standard hospitality services, creating international
standard and unique tourism facilities more and more, diversifying tourism products and developing tourism
human resources. Until now this organization has established as many as 42 tourist facilities across the country
in different form like hotels, motels, restaurants, bars, picnic spots, swimming pool, tourist information Centre,
etc.
Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation always welcomes any innovative idea, suggestion, recommendation for
further improvement of its facilities and service standard from any individual or organization. We always
heartily welcome our valued domestic and foreign tourists. Please visit Bangladesh more and more and be our
guests and savor our service.

SWOT Analysis
SOWT Analysis is the technique through which managers create a well-planned overview of the organization’s
total strategic situation.
 The SWOT analysis comprises of the Organization’s internal strength and weakness and external
opportunities and threats. SWOT analysis gives an organization an insight of what they can do in future
and how they can compete with their existing competitors. This tool is very important to identify the
current position of the organization relative to others, who are playing in the same field and also used in
the strategic analysis of the organization.
  Both manufacturing and service oriented business organizations start to possess some weaknesses as
time elapses. The weaknesses of an organization can be turned into opportunities if recognized on
time. Moreover, overlooking any threat may result in loosing valuable business opportunities.

THE SWOT ANALYSIS OF TOURISM IN BANGLADESH

 assessment of every business organization is required to judge the performance from the aspects of its
strength, weakness, opportunity and threat.
 The usefulness of SWOT analysis is not limited to profit-seeking organizations. SWOT analysis may be
used in any decision-making situation when a desired objective has been defined. SWOT analysis
can also be used in pre-crisis planning, preventive crisis management, corporate planning,
marketing, and even human resource development.
SWOT Analysis of Tourism in Bangladesh
On the basis of primary and secondary data I have done the SWOT analysis. The Strength, Weakness,
Opportunity and Threat analysis of Tourism in Bangladesh is as follows:

Strengths of Tourism in Bangladesh

 Strength is a resource skill or other advantage relative to competitors and the needs of the markets a firm
serves or expects to serve.
 The strengths of Tourism Development in Bangladesh are given below-
 Bangladesh is unique for its natural resources.
 She has the largest sea beach in the world.
 Bangladesh is renowned for its archaeological and historical places.
 She has unique natural beauty and greenery.

Weaknesses of Tourism in Bangladesh

 A Weakness is the limitation of deficiency in resources skills or capabilities that seriously impedes a
organization’s effective performance. Like these, Tourism Development in Bangladesh also has some
Weaknesses.
 The weaknesses of Tourism Development in Bangladesh are given below
 Tourism sites are not properly explored, extracted and managed.
 Lack of investment.
 Low quality services.
 Lack of safety, security and hygiene.

Opportunities of Tourism in Bangladesh
 Tourism has vast opportunities in Bangladesh. The opportunities of Tourism
 Development in Bangladesh are as follows-
 Due to globalization scope for dissemination of information and communication media.
 Scope of making the tourist spots more attractive.
 Research and development to attract more tourist and making favorable tourism policy.
 Development of tourism culture.
  Arrangement of international events like World Cup Cricket, Football, etc.

Threats of Tourism in Bangladesh

 Tourism in Bangladesh also has some threats. The threats of Tourism
 Development in Bangladesh are as follows-
 Political Instability of the country.
 Harassment by the police and the broker in the airport.
 Language barrier of the people of the country.
 Conservative social and religious systems.
 Strong competition within the region, barriers to overcome the image crisis of the country.
 Lack of awareness among the mass people regarding the benefits of tourism both locally and
internationally.

Outcomes of the SWOT Analysis

 Considering the SWOT analyses, the present study attempts to outline the following suggestions
for the betterment of the tourism industry in Bangladesh.

 Positive image of our tourism industry must be expressed by our diplomats, ambassadors,
consular representing Bangladesh in different countries of the world.

 Billboard, leaflets, brochure, magazines and other promotional materials can be displayed in different
places in home and abroad.

 Local people have to be informed about the attractions rich in history, culture, and heritage.

 Different beaches, rivers and other wetlands have to be converted with various establishment activities
like river cruise, boating, beach volleyball, waterskiing, fishing, etc. along with boatel based food and
accommodation specially in Sundarbans area.
 Adventure tourism like trekking, hiking, mountaineering, hunting in different hilly areas must be
established by building up different clubs and organizations.
These are the outcomes of the SWOT Analysis of Tourism Industry in Bangladesh.

Accessibility of Saint Martin’s Island

The only connection between the island and the mainland are the cruise ships taking off from Teknaf Upazila
of Cox's Bazar District in the division of Chittagong, Bangladesh and drift along the Naf River.

Population and Culture

Most of the island's approximately 3,700 inhabitants l23l live primarily from fishing. The other staple crops
are rice and coconut. Being very common on the island, algae are collected, dried, and exported to Myanmar.
Between October and April, the fishermen from neighboring areas bring their caught fishes to the island's
temporary wholesale market. However, imports of chicken, meat and other foods come in from the mainland
Bangladesh and Myanmar. As the center and the south are mainly farmland and makeshift huts, most of the
permanent structures are around the far north.
During the monsoon period, because of the dangerous conditions on the Bay of Bengal, the inhabitants
have no scope to go to the mainland and their life can become dangerous. At this period of time without
fishing and selling coconuts they usually have no job available. Fishing in the rough sea with only a wooden
troller most of the times possesses threat to the lives of local people.

Climate and meteorological conditions

Under climatic sub division of Bangladesh, St. Martin’s falls in the Southeastern Sub Zone. If the Kleppin
system is used then this island falls in the area classified as tropical group, monsoonal which stands for tropical
monsoon climate. The mean temperature in this zone rarely goes over 32°C. The mean annual maximum and
minimum temperatures recorded at Cox’s Bazar fall within the ranges 30.3°C-33.0°C and 19.3°C-22.4°C,
respectively. Since St. Martin’s is a small island surrounded by sea and is further South than Cox’s Bazar, it is
believed that the island experiences higher minimum temperatures and lower maximum temperatures than does
Cox’s Bazar . Humidity remains high in St. Martin’s; it averages almost 79.7% of that of Cox’s Bazar .
The development of depression in the Bay of Bengal is also triggered by the Typhoons that originate in the
Southwestern Pacific Ocean which further get carried Northwest towards the Bay of Bengal. Cyclonic storms in
this region are frequent and are usually associated with storm surges. Cyclonic storms develop in the Bay of
Bengal, generally in April-May and October-November and those that make landfall cause severe damage to
human settlements and vegetation. Since 1970, 14 severe cyclones affected the Cox’s Bazar area, with four
major cyclones occurring since 1991. Moreover, climate change is expected to result in sea level rise of up to 43
cm by 2050 and more frequent and extensive cyclones and storm surges are also expected.

Temperature
The mean annual temperature of the surface water of the Bay of Bengal is about 28°C. The maximum
temperature is observed in May (30°C) and the minimum (25°C) occurs in January-February.

Salinity
The surface salinity in the coastal parts of the Bay of Bengal fluctuates from 10 to 25 parts per thousand.
Coastal seawater is significantly diluted with freshwater throughout the year, while the inflow of river water is
greatly reduced during winter. The coastal water salinity of St. Martin’s Island, as measured during the dry
season, oscillates between 26 and 35 ppt. It is expected that the salinity level goes down this level due to
increased freshwater discharge from the Naaf River during the rainy season

Ecosystem
A cross-section of the different habitats and eco-systems that make up St. Martin’s Island would show a
transition from terrestrial to marine habitats. In addition to the dry land of the Island, the key habitats are
shallow water marine habitats, including rocky and sandy inter-tidal habitats, offshore lagoons, rocky sub-tidal
habitats, coral aggregations, sea grass beds, soft coral habitats and offshore soft-bottom habitats.

Other Inter-tidal habitats

With the exception of the Northeastern corner, the Island’s entire inter-tidal zone is covered with numerous
boulders that extend for anything from a few meters to a few hundred meters into the sub-tidal zone. These
boulders, of all shapes and sizes, originate from the bedrock and provide a diverse microhabitat for numerous
marine species. The upper portion of the rocky habitat is mostly dry during low tide and contains dead coral
colonies. The lower inter-tidal area hosts a wide diversity of marine life, including corals, molluscs,
echinoderms, barnacles, crabs and algae. It also provides a huge number of rock pools of various sizes where
small reef fish forage for the duration of the tide.
 Marine habitats
The rocky sub-tidal habitat from the seaward margin of the inter-tidal zone to about 1 000 m offshore supports a
diverse coral community which can be classified as a veneering coral community. Out of the 15 reef-building
scleractinian (stony or hard) coral families, 10 are present on the Island, represented by approximately 22
genera and 66 species. Of these, 39 species have been identified alive around the Island. In addition 14 species
of soft coral have been recorded, growing in water up to a depth of 7 m. Sea grass meadows and algal flora
associated with extensive coral reefs were discovered in 1997.Yet, the surrounding inter-tidal zone, habitats,
ecosystems and life forms of the Island are relatively poorly known. Other than observation of fish catches
landed on St. Martin’s Island there has been little study and little published on the areas 1 km beyond the shore.
It is possible that these areas could host marine life of high biodiversity significance, such as deeper water
corals. Surveys of this marine zone are a research priority and in this project IUCN Bangladesh with Save Our
Sea have tried to gather baseline information.

Lagoons and wetlands

Numerous lagoons and wetlands are associated with mangrove and floodplain areas occur on the Island and this
can be easily assumed once those provided important habitats for birds. There are three lagoons on the Island.
The lagoons on Uttar Para and Dakhin Para have now become muddy swamps with shallow water. These are
only connected to the sea at high tide through shallow creeks. But the lagoon that lies between the Southern end
of Dakhin Para and the three small islands comprising Cheradia retains shallow water and is protected by
widespread boulders and stone corals. The lagoons in the North are older in origin and show a longer sequence
of evolution, while the lagoon in the South is much younger and is under active marine influence (Kabir, 2006).
Since 1960s, the two Northern lagoons have gradually been converted into paddy fields. This conversion has
eliminated most of the original wildlife found in these lagoons. The areas of some smaller wetlands located in
the southern part of the island have also been reduced.

Mudflats
Within the inter-tidal zone there is a small mudflat area located at the Southern point of the Western beach. The
marine invertebrates found here make it an important foraging area for shorebirds. High levels of human
activity in the preferred roosting areas for shorebirds in the North of the Island, have made the mudflat area
more demandingly important for birds. Mudflat is also the only habitat on the Island for the Yellow-lipped sea
krait and also supports mud crabs and a large population of fiddler crabs (Molony et al., 2006). While there are
currently no factors adversely affecting this mudflat area, it faces the threat of alteration in the future, like
construction of infrastructures for tourism

Sea water
Surface rotation in the Bay of Bengal is determined by the monsoon winds and to some extent by the
hydrological characteristics of the open part of the Indian Ocean. The prevailing winds reverse twice during the
year. They blow from the South-West during May-September and from the Northeast during November-January
with the transition taking place during the months in between. Dominated by these winds, rotation in the Indian
Ocean has a general eastward direction during the summer and westward during winter. The inflow of
freshwater from the Ganges-Brahmaputra Delta into the Bay of Bengal has a significant impact: these opposite
currents carry low salinity Bay of Bengal water into more saline Arabian Sea water and vice versa playing a
crucial role in maintaining the freshwater - saltwater balance of the North Indian. The massive inflow of
freshwater and sediment from the Ganges and Brahmaputra Rivers and locally from the Naaf River, is also an
important component to influence the flora and fauna of the Island. Coral reef development is inhibited due to
low water salinity, high turbidity and the soft substrates present.
 Coastal morphology and features
The morphological setting of Saint Martin's Island is dominated by beach plain. These sand plains on the
coastline sometimes die out against mud flat and beach rock. Mud flat is formed in region of lower wave action,
where the marine erosional processes are not strong enough to sort out the finer particles. These characteristic
region can also be termed as shale beach. As the dominant lithology of this island is Bokabil formation the
weathered rock portions settle down in between high and low tide region. The distribution pattern of these
morphological features can be apprehended from the overall geomorphological map of Saint Martin's island.
Beach slopes are different in different regions of this island. This phenomena is a clear indication of micro scale
spatial variation of beach accumulation. At the northeast comer of this island, the gentle gradient results a wide
emergence of land at low tide.
Another significant aspect of coastal region of Saint Martin is the presence of beach rock all over the island.
These well cemented sedimentary rock consist of a variable mixture of grain sizes with different kinds of shells,
coral fragments, rock fragments etc. The origin of these hard rocks along beach line can be traced to the gravel
layer of Bokabil formation.

Findings
The environment conditions that have a direct impact on the biotic and abiotic processes, ultimately determine
the productivity of Bangladesh coastal and marine waters. The factors that dominate the ecology of St. Martin's
island are surface seawater temperature, salinity, circulation, tides, cyclonic storms, earthquakes and relative sea
level. Except few studies on Mollusca, algae and sea grass, very little information is available on the
biogeography of this area due to lack of detailed scientific study of this island.

Conclusions and Recommendations

Indication from the findings of this report is somewhat detrimental from the viewpoint of environmental
pollution. All the survey procedures with the purpose of characterizing the overall Bangladesh and the St.
Martin's Island from various angle had a sole purpose to serve that is to reveal the contamination scenario of
the complete hydrogeological system. Although chemical contamination could not be considered as a
contamination indicator due to natural degradation of chemicals, all over the island is showing an unequivocal
illustration of the contamination of groundwater.
The present landscape of this structurally controlled island was formed as the consequence of Holocene marine
transgression and regression. Compressional tectonics occurring in Indo-Burman Subduction Zone is the
salient aspect dominating the overall structure of this island. Tertiary strata of Bokabil to recent deposit of beach
sand and Coquina Beds are exposed all over the island.
Geophysical results had given us a geo electric section delineating the depth range of southern aquifer system of
St. Martin's Island. Aquifer characterization through hydrogeological assessment of auger drilling with
groundwater chemistry evaluation were matched with the finding of active geophysical survey.
A holistic and open-minded approach should be adopted in the assessment of groundwater resources. With an
efficient pollution management protocol gradual steps should be started as soon as possible. Otherwise,
deviation from this hypothesized circumstance will generate an irreversible catastrophic scenario.
 References

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