Staff Correspondent
In celebration of 400 years of Dhaka city, The Bangladesh Monitor, a travel magazine, has launched a new website to promote Dhaka to tourists worldwide.
The website www.dhakacity.com.bd will feature information on how to arrive in Dhaka from various international destinations, places to visit, brief histories of the places, links to airlines, information on leading tour operators, hotels, restaurants, prime shopping locations, diplomatic missions, banks and taxicab services.
Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister GM Quader formally launched the website at Hotel Sheraton in the city yesterday. Speaking on the occasion he said visa processing would be made easier to attract more foreign tourists.
“The government is considering arrival visa for tourists from around 25 countries in order to promote Bangladesh as a tourist destination,” he said.
“Bangladesh has immense possibilities in tourism sector, but it was never explored properly. The country recently saw tremendous rise of domestic tourists but the number of foreign tourists is still very limited. Image crisis of the country is mainly to be blamed for this, and this has to be changed,” he added.
“Though Dhaka city is 400 years old, its rich heritage is not quite known to outside world. Dhaka is still known as the least liveable city in the world. The aim of the website is to change that negative image,” said Kazi Wahidul Alam, editor of The Bangladesh Monitor.
“To attract tourists, a quiz competition will be held in every three months. Winners of the competition will be awarded with trips to the destination of their choice including accommodations and other facilities,” he added.
Alam said Emirates Airlines is the premier partner of the website.
AKM Bari, general secretary of the Association of Travel Agents of Bangladesh, and Area Manager of Emirates Airlines Hanif Zakaria were also present on the occasion.
Courtesy: thedailystar.net
