Social, Economic and Environmental Sustainability: The Implications to Develop Sustainable Tourism in Bangladesh

Abstract

Bangladesh is a country with both natural and cultural resources that can be developed as tourist destinations. The country has enormous prospects in tourism industry, but this industry is not well managed. This study aimed to analyze the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) of tourism industry in Bangladesh from a sustainability perspective to explore the potential implications of developing sustainable tourism. A qualitative case study design was undertaken for this paper. This study applied the core concept of sustainability for the data analysis. Data were collected by conducting semi-structured interviews with 20 tourism- related key professionals and tourists. Using a qualitative content analysis technique, we find that the country has immense opportunities to create jobs for youths, promote local culture, encourage local entrepreneurships, and above all increase economic benefits through developing sustainable tourism, which can also contribute to achieving the targets of Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.