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| Sunday, 18 January 2004 |
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ADB to promote tourism in SASEC countries In a bid to promote and develop tourism among South Asia Subregional Economic Co-operation (SASEC) countries the ADB has approved a Technical Assistance (TA) grant worth US$450,000. The TA will prepare a tourism development plan for 2004 to 2014 that will help promote economic growth and reduce rural poverty in the four SASEC countries-Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, and Nepal. With a participatory approach, the TA will involve the tourism industry's public and private sectors and other stakeholders in developing a framework program and project concepts. National workshops will be later held in each of the countries hosted by the respective national tourism organisations. "The ADB's experience in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) has illustrated tourism's great potential as a sector for subregional co-operation," said Snimer Sahni, an ADB Senior Project Economist. "The subregion can offer activities such as overland cultural tours and mountain trekking. Apart from bringing in foreign exchange, creating jobs, and contributing to overall economic growth, this kind of tourism promotes rural development," she said. Since SASEC was established in 2001 with ADB support to promote subregional co-operation, tourism development has been identified as a priority. Geographically, ecologically, and culturally diverse, SASEC could prove attractive to international tourists, offering vast physical and cultural diversity, including the world's tallest mountains, the longest sea beach, and largest mangrove forest. The four countries had an influx of more than three million international visitors each year, generating combined revenues of US$3.5 billion in 2000. The SASEC Tourism Working Group (TWG) has identified the need for a subregional tourism masterplan, with ecotourism and Buddhist circuits as common themes on which it should revolve. "Until now, none of the SASEC countries has looked beyond national boundaries to examine tourism patterns and ways to enhance them," Sahni said. |
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