In terms of number, antiquity, and size, there are many Buddhist heritage sites in Bangladesh. At present, a significant part of the excavations carried out by the Department of Archeology are some traces of Buddhism. Although there are so many places of these traditions in the country, there is no publicity for it. However, a study has revealed that the tourism of Buddhist heritage places in this country can have a business of about Tk 700 crore.
Professor Santosh Kumar Deb of the Department of Tourism and Hospitality of Dhaka University (DU) recently did a study on tourism in Buddhist heritage sites. According to his calculations, the country now earns around Tk 200 crore from Buddhist tourism. But it is possible to earn Tk 700 crore from this.
Professor Santosh Kumar Deb claimed this in an interview with a national daily. He said that although there is a big market for Buddhist heritage tourism in Bangladesh, it is almost neglected. There is no branding, and no promotions are made for it. Now it is customary to use QR codes in tourist places. There is no such thing in this country.
One of the Buddhist heritage sites in the country is Paharpur or Sompur Bihar in Badalgachi Upazila of Naogaon. More than 250,000 tourists have come here from July last year to March this year. More than 1500 of them were foreign tourists. In the previous financial year (2022-23), the number of tourists here was around 5 lakh. More than 1,100 of them were foreigners.
Fazlul Karim, Custodian of Paharpur Buddha Bihar Museum, told the media that most of the foreign tourists who come here are Japanese tourists. They came here as a Buddhist place. But many tourists from Sri Lanka and Vietnam can also come here. It would have been possible if there had been publicity.
Naogaon, Chapainawabganj, and Joypurhat districts are under Fazlul Karim. He said that most of the excavations in this area are related to Buddhist traditions. The major heritage sites of this region are also a sign of Buddhist heritage.
It should be noted that the discussion about the tourism of Buddhist places in the country started about 10 years ago. The Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism said to take initiatives in this regard. The then Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Rashed Khan Menon said to be proactive in the development of this tourism. But the matter did not progress further.
In 2015, a study titled 'Bangladesh Buddhist Heritage Sites Development and Marketing' was done by Masud Hossain, then director of the Tour Operators Association of Bangladesh (TOAB). Studies have shown that the average tourist spend on Buddhist sites in Bangladesh is about $80 to $100. That is, the total cost is $500 or Tk 40 thousand. If one and a half lakh tourists get to Bangladesh, Bangladesh's income will be around Tk 600 from this tourism alone.
Abu Taher Md Jaber, Chief Executive Officer of the Tourism Board, said that we do not have a massive investment in tourism development. In that case, the development of Buddhist tradition also needs such investment. But many people don't want to understand that.
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