Thesis

Tourism marketing in developing countries : a study of Bangladesh

Creator
Awarding institution
  • University of Strathclyde
Date of award
  • 2012
Thesis identifier
  • T12998
Qualification Level
Qualification Name
Department, School or Faculty
Abstract
  • Tourism is a branch of the service sector which can bring a substantial influx of foreign visitors to both developed and developing countries. Bangladesh is an example of a developing country which can become an important destination for international tourists with its unique attractions. To make tourism successful, Bangladesh has to take advantage of the opportunities for tourism development, using marketing and promotional activities. The purpose of this study is to analyse the issues and challenges of tourism marketing in Bangladesh, with a key objective being to evaluate the effectiveness of this practice. This study has identified problems and limitations of tourism marketing activities undertaken by the tourism sectors in Bangladesh. Bangladesh tourism organisations lag far behind regional competitors in attracting a significant number of foreign tourists, mainly due to inadequate and ineffective promotional activities in domestic and overseas markets. Concepts of tourism marketing promotion, as well as developments in this area and its policy and planning for tourism in developing countries are used to provide a theoretical basis for the investigation. The study concludes that the promotional activities of the tourism industry in Bangladesh are seriously hindered because of a lack of financial support together with an insufficient marketing budget, low quality promotional literature, improper distribution of sales literature, a bad image of Bangladesh tourism, and improper and inappropriate marketing strategies for the potential promotion of Bangladesh. The study findings identify that, tourism stakeholders in Bangladesh need to use appropriate techniques to measure the effectiveness of their tourism marketing and promotional activities in order to attract a significant number of foreign tourists to visit Bangladesh. In addition, stakeholders may consider improving and developing their tourism promotional policies and adopting more effective promotional strategies to develop the tourism sector in Bangladesh. Only then may tourism in Bangladesh enter into a new era, with a solid footing and real sense of direction, in which case, the government of Bangladesh has to support effective marketing promotional activities through different media advertising to ensure the previously unsuccessful attempts to develop this sector will not be repeated. This study concludes with an assessment of the practical implications of the research and consequent recommendations which have been identified for the tourism organisations in Bangladesh.
Resource Type
DOI
EThOS ID
  • uk.bl.ethos.570516
Date Created
  • 2012
Former identifier
  • 940136

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