Chapter 2

Tourism through the ages

Objectives of this chapter
1. The students will be able to learn about :
2. Historical Evolution of Tourism
3. Four stages of Tourism Development
4. Important World Historical Tourism Events
5. Bangladesh Tourism Development at glance

Development of Travel
History is useful in a study of tourism, not simply because there may be lessons to learn, but
rather because the seeds of future growth are to be found in the past. There is a vast legacy of
infrastructure and superstructure from earlier development. Indeed much of the heritage,
especially in landscaping and resort architecture, is highly prized.
Tourism has the history of 2000 years with the different perspective like the travel, visit,
business, pilgrimage, festival, medication and many more. Tourism, in the present form, is
however, a recent invention. The word was unknown in the English language until the last
century. Tourism has now become one of the most popular industry around the world. For the
accomplishment of the objectives of the tourists, different tools like attractions (natural,
manmade, culture, tradition), entertainment, accommodation (inn, hotel, motel), transportation
(road, train, sea, air); are modified with the passage of time.

Early Beginnings of Tourism (Development of Travel)

Early Travel

Since time immemorial, the human race used to travel a lot in search of food or to escape from
danger. Gradually they settled in the areas where a source of water body was available. With the
passage of time, new civilizations started booming up in different parts of the globe. Trade and
business also started among different civilizations mainly on foot.
Sumerians (Babylonians)

The Sumerians (Babylonians, approximately 4000 BC) were early traders, bringing goods from
Egypt and India and have been credited with major contributions to civilization (writing, the
working wheel, money and the concept of a travel guide), all of which were useful to early
tourism development.

Egyptian

The Egyptians travelled mainly for trade and military purposes, but their pleasure cruises along
the Nile River and into the sea influenced tourism in general and coastal visitations in particular.
They travelled on the Nile to participate in religious festivals and cultural events. The walls of
the temple of Deir el-Bahri in Luxor, Egypt hold bas-reliefs and text describing Queen
Hatshepsut’s journey around 1480 BC to the land of Punt, an ancient kingdom. Punt was a
trading partner of Egypt, it was known for producing and exporting gold, aromatic resins,
blackwood, ebony, ivory, and wild animals(wikipedia.org) . The building of the great pyramids
and the Sphinx led to travel for pleasurable pursuits. While we know the Egyptians enjoyed
tourism related activities, their tourism policy and planning was mainly confined to the
identification of festivals and planning the organization of such events.

A second recognizable tourist trait was the urge to acquire souvenirs. Harkhuf, an envoy of the
pharaoh to the Sudan, brought home a Pygmy trained in native dances to present to his ruler!
Early Egyptians also purchased bargains or specialties abroad for their friends and relatives.

Romans

The Romans started building roads in about 150 BC. These were quite elaborate in construction.
Soldiers and laborers dug the roadbed, and then stones and concrete were evenly placed. Paving
stones were then laid on top, and the highway was edged with curbstones and contoured to a
sloping crown to shed the rain. Some of these roads are still in use.

The Roman roads comprised a network of some 50,000 miles. They girdled the Roman Empire,
extending from near Scotland and Germany in the north to well within Egypt in the south and
along the southern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. To the east, roads extended to the Persian
Gulf in what is now Iraq and Kuwait. The Romans could travel as much as 100 miles a day
using relays of horses furnished from rest posts five to six miles apart. Romans also journeyed to
see famous temples in the Mediterranean area, particularly the pyramids and monuments of
Egypt. Greece and Asia Minor were popular destinations, offering the Olympic Games,
medicinal baths and seaside resorts, theatrical productions, festivals, athletic competitions, and
other forms of amusement and entertainment. The Roman combination of empire, roads, the
need for overseeing the empire, wealth, leisure, tourist attractions, and the desire for travel
created a demand for accommodations and other tourist services that came into being as an early
form of tourism. Roman tourists went about sightseeing much as we do today. They used
guidebooks, employed guides, left graffiti everywhere, and bought souvenirs. The examples are
diverse and often amusing.

Greeks

The Greeks were one of the first societies to understand and write about tourism as we think of it
today. Homer, writing in The Odyssey in the ninth century BC, said: ‘A guest never forgets the
host who had treated him kindly’. This quotation is an antecedent to the modern definition of
‘quality tourism’.

The lands of the Mediterranean Sea (2000 BC to 500 CE.) produced a remarkable evolution in
travel. In the cradle of Western civilization, travel for trade, commerce, religious purposes,
festivals, medical treatment, or education developed at an early date. There are numerous
references to caravans and traders in the Old Testament.

Beginning in 776 BC, Greeks from the city-states came together every four years to honor Zeus
through athletic competition. Eventually, four of these national festivals emerged: Olympic
Games, Pythian Games, Isthmian Games, and Nemean Games. Each festival included sacrifice
and prayer to a single god. The games honored the deity by offering up a superlative athletic or
artistic performance:

Greek inns provided little more than a night’s shelter. A guest who wanted to wash had to carry
his own towel down the street to the nearest public bath. Once there, he took off his clothes in a
dressing room and put them in someone’s care, lest they be stolen while he bathed. ‘‘The bath
itself was a big basin over which he leaned while an attendant splashed water over him.
The Greeks recognized rest and diversion as important elements in treatment of the sick. People
also traveled to seek advice of the oracles, especially those at Dodona and Delphi. Statesmen,
generals, and other powerful figures sought advice before taking an important action. Socrates’
disciple inquired about his master’s wisdom at the temple of Delphi.

Greece’s Herodotus, the Father of History, travelled a lot. He, in addition to traveling all over
Greece and the Aegean Islands, sailed to Cyrene in North Africa, explored southern Italy and
Sicily, and sailed from Ephesus on the west coast of Asia Minor to Sardis. He got as far east as
Babylon by sailing to Syria, then striking east to the Euphrates and following a caravan track for
weeks. There he looked upon the ancient city of Babylon:

Athens developed into a tourist attraction from the second half of the fifth century on, as people
went to see the Parthenon and other new buildings atop the Acropolis.

The Phoenicians

The Phoenicians were master shipwrights, building tubby wooden craft with a single square sail.
By 800 BC, they had built a network of trading posts around the Mediterranean emanating from
their own thriving cities along the coast in what is now Lebanon. Acting as middlemen for their
neighbors, they supplied raw materials and also finished goods, such as linen and papyrus from
Egypt, ivory and gold from Nubia (Nubia is a region along the Nile river encompassing the area
between Aswan in southern Egypt and Khartoum in central Sudan), grain and copper from Sardinia,
olive oil and wine from Sicily, cedar timbers from their homeland, and perfume and spices from
the East. Presumably, these early ships also occasionally carried a few passengers. They were the
first creators of a maritime empire. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nubia).

The Greeks followed the Phoenicians in becoming great sea traders. Improved ships accelerated
flourishing Mediterranean trade. Greek merchant ships also carried passengers, brought their
servants, food, and wine. Widely varying accommodations aboard, stormy seas, and pirate
attacks were worrisome realities.
Chinese
The emperors of China had ministers for travel 4,000 years ago—well before imperial Rome and
Herodotus. In ancient times, travel was far from vacation and leisure. People traveled to different
places for exchanging goods and business. Some most-trekked trading routes were famed, like
the Silk Road, Spice Road, and Salt Road. Later, travel became an entertainment, but before 20th
century, it was only a lifestyle of royal families and upper classes.
Fa-Hien was first Chinese pilgrim-traveler to visit India. He visited India in the beginning of the
5th century AD when the Imperial Guptas were ruling in India, including parts of Bengal. He left
China in 399 AD and after an absence of 14 years returned to China. Towards the end of his
travels he entered Bengal through the bordering kingdom of Champa, his destination being
tamralipti (Tamluk, in modern Midnapore district, West Bengal), the famous international port of
the time, from where he ultimately intended to go to Sri Lanka, the other Buddhist land, by the
sea-route.
Xuanzang (Huen Tsang, 602–664) was a Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler, and
translator who travelled to India in the seventh century and described the interaction between
Chinese Buddhism and Indian Buddhism. He was born in what is now Henan province around
602. Huen-Tsang , the next pilgrim whose records have come down to us gives us slightly more
detailed information about Bengal in the second quarter of the 7th century AD when
Harsavardhana was ruling in north India, shashanka in Bengal and Bhaskaravarmana in Asam.
Huen Tsang came to Bengal around 638 AD.
I-tsing : about 672 AD another Chinese pilgrim I-tsing visited Bengal. He resided at Tamralipti
for three years and learned Sanskrit. I-tsing saw the ruins of an establishment, with only its
foundations remaining, called the China Temple which should fall somewhere in the north
Bengal region (Varendra) following the direction and distance from the Mahabodhi temple as
given by him. I-tsing heard the tradition that some 500 years ago from the time of his visit a
Maharaja called Shri Gupta built the temple for the use of Chinese priests (banglapedia. org)

Polynesians

Polynesians from the Society Islands, in the South Pacific Ocean ( known as French Polynesia)
traveled to Hawaii, a distance of over 2,000 miles. Navigation was accomplished by observing
the position of the sun and stars, ocean swells, clouds, and bird flights. Considering the problems
of fresh water and food supplies, such sea travel was astonishing.

Later, navigation by the early explorers was facilitated by using a sand glass to measure time, a
‘‘log’’ line trailed behind the ship to measure distance, and a compass to gauge direction. Small
dugout canoes not over 40 feet in length were used for voyages from Southeast Asia southward
and eastward.

Europeans

During the Dark Ages (from the fall of the Western Roman Empire, 476 CE, to the beginning of
the modern era, 1450 CE), only the most adventurous Europeans would travelled. A trip during
this period in history was dangerous; no one associated travel with pleasure.

By the end of the Dark Ages, large numbers of pilgrims were traveling to popular shrines.
Beginning in 1388, England’s King Richard II required pilgrims to carry permits, the forerunner
of the modern passport.

A fourteenth-century travelers’ guide gave pilgrims detailed directions about the regions through
which they would pass and the types of inns they would encounter in hospitable routes. Inn
keeping had nearly disappeared except for local taverns, and a few inns were scattered
throughout Europe.

Eventually, providing hospitality services for increasing numbers became burdensome to the
religious houses. They could not turn the poor away, because Christian charity was an important
element in the church’s mission; nor could they turn away the nobles, who made generous
financial contributions. But they could, and increasingly did, refer the middle classes to taverns,
inns, and wine shops. Thus, the church played an important role in the development of the
hospitality industry during this period (Charles R. Goeldner).

The Grand Tour

The Grand Tour of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries was made by diplomats, business
people, and scholars who traveled to Europe, mainly to the cities of France and Italy. It became
fashionable for scholars to study in Paris, Rome, Florence, and other cultural centers. Although
making the Grand Tour began as an educational experience, it has been criticized as eventually
degenerating into the simple quest of pleasure.

The term Grand Tour persists today, and the trip to Europe—the Continent—can be traced back
to the early Grand Tour. However, today’s concept is far different .
Early Tourist Attractions

Sightseeing has always been a major activity of tourists; this has been true since ancient times.
Most of us have heard of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, but few could win a trivia
contest by naming them:

1. The Great Pyramids of Egypt, including the Sphinx : The Great Pyramid at Giza was
constructed between 2584 and 2561 BC for the Egyptian Pharaoh Khufu (known in Greek as
`Cheops') and was the tallest man-made structure in the world for almost 4,000 years.
2. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon : The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, if they existed as
described, were built by Nebuchadnezzar II between 605-562 BC as a gift to his wife.
3. The Tomb of Mausolus at Halicarnassus, now in Turkey : The Mausoleum of Halicarnassus
was the tomb of the Persian Satrap Mauslos, built in 351 BC.
4. The Statue of Zeus at Olympia in Greece : The Statue of Zeus at Olympia was created by
the great Greek sculptor Phidias (known as the finest sculptor of the ancient world in the 5th
century BC).
5. The Colossus of Rhodes in the Harbor at Rhodes, an island belonging to Greece : The
Colossus of Rhodes was a statue of the god Helios (the patron god of the island of Rhodes)
constructed between 292 and 280 BCE. It stood over 110 feet (just over 33 m) high
overlooking the harbor of Rhodes.
6. The Great Lighthouse (Pharos) in Alexandria, Egypt : The Lighthouse at Alexandria, built
on the island of Pharos, stood close to 440 feet (134 m) in height and was commissioned by
Ptolemy I Soter. Construction was completed sometime around 280 BC.
7. The Temple of Artemis (also called the Temple of Diana) at Ephesus : The Temple of
Artemis was a part of Greece, however now in Turkey. It took over 120 years to build and
only one night to destroy. Completed in 550 BC, the temple was 425 feet (about 129 m) high,
225 feet (almost 69 m) wide, supported by 127 60 foot (about 18 m) high columns.

In addition, just as tourists in ancient times traveled to see these wonders, modern tourists travel
to see such natural wonders as the Grand Canyon, Yosemite National Park, Yellowstone,
Niagara Falls, the oceans, the Great Lakes, and human-built wonders such as great cities,
museums, dams, and monuments (The Seven Wonders)
Four stages of Tourism Development

1. Prehistory tourism

The first of the four stages covers the long period of what might be called prehistory tourism.
Since time immemorial, the human race used to travel a lot in search of food or to escape from
danger. Gradually they settled in the areas where a source of water body was available. This
stage may also cover the medieval times and into the early seventeenth century when the first
signs of industrial growth began to affect the way of life which had been established over the
centuries. Gradual increase in wealth and the extension of the merchant and professional classes,
the effects of the Reformation and the secularization of education stimulated interest in other
countries, and the acceptance of travel itself as an educational force.

2. Transport

The railway age represented the second stage when steam trains and steamships transformed
travel opportunities. Rapid growth of population and wealth created an enormous new market in
a short span of time. Mass travel was invented and with it resort development and the
introduction of the travel trade of agents and tour operators with new marketing methods
such as organized tours, travel packages and posters and brochures. These remain as key
marketing tools today. Although transport was a major factor in growth, there were other
essential elements and also some problems because, as today, the coordination of transport plans
and tourism policies or projects was limited or inadequate. They are distinct but evidently related
areas of mutually dependent activity. Development of accommodation and resort infrastructure
generally followed expansion of transport capacity and traffic movement with some delay and
uncertainty.

3. The interwar period

The third stage is represented by the interwar period between 1918 and 1939. The full flowering
of the age of railways and steam was halted abruptly by the First World War in 1914. The war
gave a great impetus to some forms of technical development very helpful in the longer term,
notably the expansion of road transport and considerable investment in aviation.
However, it was above all the age of the motor car. New fashions were introduced; in what might
be called social tourism, through the extension of holidays with pay; an extension in a variety of
recreational and specialist leisure activities; camping and caravanning; the spread of youth
hostels; cheap transport and tours by motor coach. A substantial growth in foreign travel
occurred. Many of the organizing interests were run by noncommercial or voluntary bodies.
Once again expansion and experimentation was hindered by the great depression of 1930 and
finally brought to a halt by the Second World War in 1939–45.

4. Tourism take-off

The period from 1945, through the postwar years up to the present time, represents the fourth or
‘take-off’ stage. It has been an era of revolution in technology, massive industrial development
and change, which resulted in related acceleration in wealth creation and escalation of disposable
incomes. Far-reaching changes in individual lifestyle and in personal and group communication
have proved to be new factors in moulding society.

Furthermore, the speed and scale of change has greatly increased. Determinants of demand have
never been more favorable for spending on travel and leisure. A continuous increase in gross
domestic product (GDP), of 3 per cent or more per annum in the prosperous years, for
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries, stimulated travel
growth of 6 per cent or more each year. Tourism has proved to be highly income elastic. After a
certain income threshold, when all necessities in life have been met, discretionary income in the
richer countries tends to be spent on what were formerly regarded as luxuries and services. In
these countries, travel spending has increased at almost double, or even more, than the rate of
growth in national income (or GDP). This is not a law of nature, because demand trends and
fashions can change dramatically and quickly, but in the tourism take-off period, with
few exceptions, the rule seemed to apply.

However, massive growth was concentrated in the industrialized countries (the member countries
of the OECD), some 25 in number, principally in Europe. According to the WTO, world tourism
flows increased by an average annual rate of 7.32 per cent from 1950 to 1991. These countries,
with less than one-quarter of the world population, accounted for nearly 85 percent of world
tourist arrivals and over 80 per cent of world expenditures in1991. Technical advancement in
transport and other forms of communication strongly reinforced the economic factors favoring
tourism expansion. Television in particular provided continuous reminders of the interest and
variety of foreign countries’ attractions. Gradually the appeal of foreign destinations overtook
the interest in the domestic product or staying at home. The richer world was on the move.

During this period, in the industrialized countries the population became mobile through mass
car ownership which changed lifestyles fundamentally. Trains and buses, the mainstay of public
transport, lost their prime importance although remaining important carriers. In the USA,
however, rail passenger travel was reduced to a minor position. The most revolutionary transport
development took place in air travel. Before the war, airlines provided minimal services.
Transatlantic airlines were no more than a dream. After 1945 greatly helped by engineering
advances spurred on by wartime pressures, aviation embarked on rapid massive expansion,
providing fast and safe longer distant transport, at increasingly cheaper prices in real terms. New
tourism destinations were created, taking over from the railway age resorts. Long-distance travel
gradually became a popular attraction and towards the later years of the period the fastest
growing travel ‘segment’. A business travel network between principal cities in Europe, North
America, and linking continents, transformed business travel. Indeed it created new forms of
such travel in the widespread expansion of conferences, trade shows and incentive trips. Cheap
holiday transport in Europe, through charter traffic controlled to a substantial extent by tour
operators, stimulated mass movement from Northern Europe to the Mediterranean. Private car
travel by the newly mobile urban dwellers supported the revolution in holiday taking and related
tourism investment.

The rapid rise in tourism movement continued over the period year by year, with few
interruptions, but the reappearance of cyclical factors or recessions, and towards the end of the
period structural changes and some political instability, began to cast a shadow over expectations
of never ending growth.

Tourism had never enjoyed the status of a senior industry deserving national priorities. Indeed
much of this massive growth was left to market forces, with modest and at times decreasing
government intervention in regulation or encouragement. Towards the end of the period signs of
change, of uncertainties and criticism, and doubts about economic and social cost benefits, began
to emerge. One might almost sense a turning of the tide by 1990, since when the Gulf crisis,
recession and structural change has led to reviews of tourism’s place, a marked decline in some
major traffic flows, limitations in investment and changes in commercial organization.

The fourth stage in modern tourism, the postwar years from 1945 until the present time, has been
a period of technological revolution; in fact, a second industrial revolution. This resulted in a
massive increase in wealth and disposable income, together with equally far-reaching changes in
lifestyles and behaviour. The speed as well as the scale of change has been greater than never
before.

Accordingly, it has been a period of massive growth in travel in the industrialized and richer
countries of the world. Transport and other forms of communication, notably television, strongly
reinforced the economic factors favouring tourism expansion, with constant reminders of the
interest and variety of foreign countries’ attractions. Gradually the appeal of foreign places
overtook the interest in the domestic product or staying at home. In the richer countries the
population became mobile.

Car ownership expanded dramatically. Air travel increased at an even faster rate. Aviation was a
minor force in passenger transport before the Second World War. Transatlantic travel was
exclusively by sea. The rapid and large scale development of air passenger transport after the war
was greatly assisted by the revolutionary introduction of wide-bodied jet aircraft, and greater
efficiency in equipment, which led to a substantial reduction in travel time and a continuing
reduction in real price. Charter services used extensively by tour operators, especially in Europe,
expanded to meet the enormous growth in demand.

The world was on the move, at least in the richer industrialized countries. The scale of expansion
was unparalleled. According to the WTO, total world tourist arrivals grew from 25 million in
1950 continuously with rare interruptions, to 1.3 billion in 2017(Leonard J. Lickorish, Carson L.
Jenkins. 1997)

Important World Historical Tourism Events

Year Historical Tourism Events

 The First International Congress of National Tourism Bodies, meeting in London, decides

1946 to create a new international non-governmental organization to replace the International

Union of Official Tourist Propaganda Organizations (IUOTPO), established in 1934.

The First Constitutive Assembly of the International Union of Official Travel

1947 Organisations (IUOTO) is held in The Hague. The temporary IUOTO headquarters are
established in London.
Creation of the European Travel Commission (ETC), the first Regional Commission within

1948 IUOTO. It is followed by those for Africa (1949), Middle East (1951), Central Asia (1956)
and the Americas (1957).

1951 IUOTO transfers its headquarters to Geneva, Switzerland, where it remains until1975.

IUOTO takes part in the United Nations Conference on Customs Formalities for the
Temporary Importation of Private Road Motor Vehicles and for Tourism held in New
1954 York, which adopts two key multilateral instruments to facilitate travel and tourism
promotion activities.

Following an IUOTO initiative, the United Nations Conference on Tourism and

International Travel meets in Rome. This conference adopts a series of recommendations
on the definition of the terms ‘visitor’ and ‘tourist’ regarding international statistics; the
1963 simplification of international travel formalities, and a general resolution on tourism
development, including technical co-operation, freedom of movement and absence of
discrimination.

IUOTO takes an active part in the work of the International Conference on Facilitation of
Travel and Maritime Traffic, organized by the International Maritime Organization (IMO)
1965 in London. The Conference adopts the Convention on Facilitation of International
Maritime Traffic.

The United Nations, following an IUOTO initiative, declares 1967 International Tourist
1967 Year(ITY) ,with the slogan Tourism ,Passport to Peace.

On 27 September, the IUOTO Special General Assembly meeting in Mexico City adopts

1970 the Statutes of the World Tourism Organization (WTO). From 1980 onwards, this day will
be celebrated as “World Tourism Day”.

1975 First WTO General Assembly meets in May in Madrid at the invitation of the Spanish
 Government. Robert Lonati is voted in as the first WTO Secretary-General and the
Assembly decides to establish its headquarters in Madrid.

➢ The WTO General Secretariat is set up in Madrid on 1 January.

➢ The agreement is signed for WTO to become an executing agency of the United
1976 Nations Development Programme (UNDP), carrying out technical co-operation
with Governments.

The VI WTO General Assembly, held in Sofia (Bulgaria), adopts the Tourism Bill of
1985 Rights and Tourist Code.

➢ Joint WTO and UNESCO meeting on the Silk Road, held in Samarkand,
Uzbekistan, adopts the Samarkand Declaration on Silk Road Tourism.
1994 ➢ XI WTO General Assembly in Cairo (Egypt) adopts the WTO Declaration on the
Prevention of Organized Sex Tourism.

➢ The World Conference on the Measurement of the Economic Impact of Tourism,

held in Nice (France), approves the Tourism Satellite Account.
1999 ➢ XIII WTO General Assembly in Santiago (Chile) adopts the Global Code of Ethics
for Tourism.

The United Nations Statistics Commission approves the international standards included in
2000 the Tourism Satellite Account(TSA).

2002 2002is declared International Year of Ecotourism.

➢ First International Conference on Climate Change and Tourism, Djerba (Tunisia).

➢ XV WTO General Assembly, Beijing (China), approves the composition of the
World Committee on Tourism Ethics and unanimously supports the program

2003 Sustainable Tourism – Eliminating Poverty (ST-EP).

➢ The Assembly approves the transformation of WTO into a United Nations
specialized body UNWTO by resolution 453(XV). The transformation is ratified
at the United Nations General Assembly by resolution A/RES/58/232.

Following the Asian tsunami catastrophe in December 2004, UNWTO Secretary- General

2005 summoned an emergency meeting of the UNWTO Executive Council which adopts the
Phuket Action Plan.
 First International Conference on Tourism and Handicrafts, Teheran (Islamic Republic of
2006
Iran).
First International Conference on Tourism, Religions and Dialogue of Cultures, Cordoba
2007
(Spain)
➢ UNWTO and other UN agencies present the Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria
at the World Conservation Congress, Barcelona (Spain)
2008
➢ Permanent Secretariat of World Committee on Tourism Ethics inaugurated, Rome
(Italy)
First T.20 Ministers’ Meeting underscores tourism’s contribution to global economic
2010
recovery and the long-term ‘green’ transformation.
Source : http://www2.unwto.org/content/history-0

Bangladesh Tourism Development at glance

 In ancient time, tourists visited this land of Bengal through the silk route for business,
religion (Buddhism) and studying on emperors.

 FaXien (Fa-hien), Xuan Zang from China visited Bengal during the 5-7 century AD.
Then came HuenTsnag in 602 AD. Ibn Battuta came in 1346 AD.

 Barnier from France came 11thcentury.

 Before liberation of Bangladesh i.e. during the then Pakistan time, there was a
Department of Tourism at the centre (West Pakistan) which was responsible for
promotional and regulatory works for the development of tourism. But the task of
creation of tourist facilities was left with the private sector except for some areas where
private investment was inadequate or nil. However, finding private sectors performance
not satisfactory enough, the Government towards the end of 1970, had set up a
Corporation in the Department of Tourism (later called Tourism Cell) and the corporation
had small offices in erstwhile East Pakistan. After liberation, this system continued in
Bangladesh for about a year. During this period an appraisal of the situation regarding
tourism development was made by the government and it was decided to combine the
activities of both the Tourism Cell and the Corporation into one organization with an aim
to promote and develop tourism and tourist infrastructural facilities in the country under
governmental responsibility.
 Accordingly, Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation (BPC) was set up under the Presidential
order No 143 November 27, 1972 for the “purpose of promotion, better operation and
development of tourism in Bangladesh”(Hasan S.R 1992)
 The corporation came into being on 1st January 1973 with an appointed Chairman by the
government. The board of Directors was constituted on 31st March, 1973 since when the
baby corporation started its new life in a sovereign state.

 During the period of 1972-80 tourism primarily was concentrated on beach (Cox’s Bazar)
and independence war memories;

 Rich and celebrated personalities used to make tourism

 Amusement tourism was based on sports (soccer) in urban and rural areas were religion
and local traditions boat race and folk songs, etc.

 After the 80 decades tourism got momentum as a sector. This decade tourism witnessed
development of some facilities like hotels, motels, restaurants, bars, Children parks in
Cox’s Bazar, Chittagong, Dhaka.

 Military ruler had some fascination for tourism activities. They started to create some
bungalows and facilities for soldiers specially in the Chittagong, Khulna and CHT.

 MoCAT was established in 1975.

 Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism was a ministry under central government before
independence.

 After independence of Bangladesh in 1971 matters relating to communication and

tourism were vested with the Ministry of Commerce.

 In 1972, Civil Aviation Division was created and brought under the Ministry of Shipping,
Inland Water Transport and Civil Aviation. However, an independent Ministry of Civil
Aviation and Tourism was created in August 1975.

 This again became a Division under the Ministry of Communication in January 1976.

 A separate Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism was created again in December 1977.

 On 24th March 1982 the ministry was abolished and Civil Aviation and tourism Division
became a new Division under the Ministry of Defense. In 1986, Ministry of Civil
 Aviation and Tourism was re-established as a ministry and has been continuing as such
since then.

 1992 tourism policy was framed

 In 1995 tourism was declared as an industry (Howlader,Z.H).

References :
Charles R. Goeldner. TOURISM Principles, Practices, Philosophies (12th Edition), Amazon.com

Hasan S.R. Problems and Prospect of Bangladdesh Tourism Industry. Bureau of Business
Research, University of Dhaka. 1992.
Leonard J. Lickorish, Carson L. Jenkins. An Introduction to Tourism by Routledge, 1997

Ziaul Haque Howlader, Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation (BPC)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_of_Punt)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nubia).

http://en.banglapedia. org/index.php?title =Chinese_Accounts).

https://www.ancient.eu/The_Seven_Wonders
http://www2.unwto.org/content/history-0