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MOVE TO ENCOURAGE ECO TOURISM
Action plan taken to save
Royal Bengal Tigers
Holiday Report
The Bangladesh Tiger Action Plan (BTAP) marks the beginning of a structured approach to achieving long-term conservation of tigers in Bangladesh. The BTAP is a policy level document that provides a vision, goals, and objectives to guide an integrated and focused tiger conservation programme.
The vision is to ensure protected tiger landscapes in Bangladesh, where wild tiger thrive at optimum carrying capacities and which continue to provide essential ecological services to mankind.
The main goal for the next years is to stabilise or increase the Sundarbans tiger population. The Bangladesh Forest Department, under the ministry of environment and forests, is the custodian of the forest and its wildlife, but one of the most important aspects of the BTAP is the recognition of the immense task of tiger conservation necessitates support and expertise outside the normal remit of forest management. Therefore, the establishment of a forest department led platform that facilitates collaboration for the implementation of conservation activities will be fundamental to its success.
The Tiger Action Plan response from Sundarban Tiger project, a Bangladesh Forest Department initiative that effectively started its field activities in February 2005.
The Sundarban Tiger project is administered by the Forest Department and it utilizes wildlife consultants from the University of Minnesota and the Zoological Society of London to advise on project strategies and train staff. At the field level, there is a small core team made up of Forest Department personnel and Sundarbans Tiger Project staff.
The Forest Department of Bangladesh has approved the first ever Bangladesh Tiger Action Plan. The plan was created by the Forest Department with support from The Wildlife Trust of Bangladesh, Zoological Society of London, United States Fish and Wildlife Service, and University of Minnesota. The plan outlines the threats to tigers, prey, and habitat. The plan also described the challenges that must be overcome to achieve tiger conservation objectives. The plan then gets into the nuts and bolts of what we have to do to secure the tiger population for the coming years.
As can be seen from the plan, saving tigers in Bangladesh is going to need everyone's help; from local people living near the Sundarbans to the media, general public, academic institutions, and policy makers. also, it seems clear from the plan that he only way to save our tigers is to work together; there is simply far too much work for one group to carry out.
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Bahrain Air to serve Dhaka, Ctg
Holiday Report
Bahrain Air, budget carrier of Bahrain,will start flight operations from Bangladesh on March 16, officials said.
"To start with, the airline will operate three flights from Dhaka and four from Chittagong to Bahrain every week," said Abdul Kader, chairman of Flight Link, GSA of Bahrain Air in Bangladesh.
A privately owned airline Bahrain Air, is starting flights to two destinations in Bangladesh as "part of its move to fly one million passengers by reaching new destinations this year," he said.
With the entry of the airline, the number of low-cost carriers will reach four in Bangladesh after Air AsiaX, Air India Express and Air Arabia.
"Tickets will be priced at least 25 per cent less than other carriers," sources said.
Sources added, Bahrain Air was incorporated in Bahrain in July 2007 and offers affordable fares in both premium and economy classes, and operates from Bahrain to several destinations, using a modern fleet of eight Airbuses.
The airline carried some 750,000 passengers in 2009, around 200,000 less than its initial forecast, said Ibrahim Alhamer, Bahrain Air's Managing Director.
"Though there is growth, there is a lot of capacity being offered in the markets by start-ups and existing airlines adding more frequencies to protect their market share," Alhamer said. Bahrain Air plans to add Dhaka and Chittagong in Bangladesh, and Istanbul in Turkey as new destinations this year, which would help the airline reach its one-million-passenger target. Bahrain is an important destination for country's expatriate workers, sources added.
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Paris is Europe's top leisure destination
Holiday Report
Rentalo.com, a leading lodging and vacation rental web site, recently conducted a trend analysis on its database of 23,747 opted-in travelers searching for vacation rentals in Europe's popular destinations Paris, London, Amsterdam, and Barcelona from July 2008 to January 2010.
The lodging directory is sharing these insightful findings so that travel industry experts and analysts may better their understanding on consumer's interests in comparison shopping, vacation planning dynamics, and vacation theme interests. The study below demonstrates the demand for travel portals like Rentalo.com that facilitates comparison shopping and vacation planning for trip planners.
France Sixty-one per cent of the vacation planners showed interest in comparison shopping among Paris vacation rentals, bed breakfasts, motels, and hotels. 61 per cent were also interested in receiving offers from vacation houses, condos, guesthouses, inns, and hotels near Paris including Ile De France, Bagnolet, St Ouen, Montrouge, Pantin, Vanves, Vincennes, Clichy, Levallois Perret, Charenton Le Pont, Issy Les Moulineaux, Neuilly Sur Seine, Boulogne Billancourt, Boulogne, Asnieres, and Bobigny.
Thirty-six per cent were early planners who started their Paris vacation planning 2 or more months in advance from the travel date, 31 per cent of the inquiries were sent 1 to 2 months in advance, and 33 per cent were from last minute travelers inquiring within the last 30 days prior to the arrival date.
Europe's Top Cultural Vacation Destination: London, UK Sixty-two per cent of the vacation planners showed interest in comparison shopping among London vacation rentals, bed and breakfasts, flats, and hotels. 71 per cent were also interested in receiving offers from vacation cabins, cottages, guesthouses, motels, flats and hotels in London vicinity including Edgware, and Oxted.
Thirty-nine per cent were from last minute travelers inquiring within the last 30 days prior to the arrival date, 36 per cent were early planners who started their London vacation planning 2 or more months in advance from the travel date, and 17 per cent of the inquiries were sent 1 to 2 months in advance.
Europe's Most Fun Vacation Destination: Amsterdam, Holland Seventy-eight per cent of the vacation planners showed interest in comparison shopping among Amsterdam vacation rentals, bed and breakfasts, flats, and hotels. 55 per cent were also interested in receiving offers from vacation homes, inns, resorts, and hotels in Amsterdam vicinity including Zaandam, Hoofddorp, Purmerend, Naarden, Bussum, Almere, Huizen, Hilversum, Loosdrecht, and Lisse.
Thirty-nine per cent were early planners who started their vacation planning 2 or more months in advance from the travel date, 21 per cent of the inquiries were sent 1 to 2 months in advance, and 38 per cent were from last minute travelers inquiring within the last 30 days prior to their arrival in Amsterdam.
Europe's Top Family Vacation Destination: Barcelona, Spain Seventy-five per cent of the vacation planners showed interest in comparison shopping among Barcelona vacation rentals, b&bs, inns, and small hostales. 40 per cent were also interested in receiving offers from other accommodations such as vacation cabins, inns, and boutique hotels near Barcelona such as Cerdanyola Del Valles, L Hospitalet De Llobregat, and Calella.
"The study shows that travelers are highly interested in comparison shopping as well as in planning ahead their vacations," says Frank Suarez, Customer Service Manager for Rentalo.com's free inquiry service allows travelers to easily and quickly compare lodging options."
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Tourism can be developed
respecting heritage
Holiday Report
The Huesges Group believes tourism development is sector that has huge prospect and potentialities. "Initially we want to construct a five-star tourist resort at a convenient place in Bangladesh", he said and added that for this purpose they have already visited Chittagong and sea beaches of Cox's Bazar and Innani.
The newly appointed Honorary Consul General of Bangladesh in Germany, Arndt Huesges totally discarded the notion that, among others, 'women and wine' is a deciding factor in tourism business that is not possible in a conservative country like Bangladesh. He said that tourism could be developed in Bangladesh showing respect to country's religious and cultural heritage. He said that Bangladesh is blessed with picturesque natural beauties, world's largest natural sea beach, mangroves forest of Sundarbans, oldest remnants of human civilization and many places of historical interest. These are the ingredients that attract the real tourists, he said.
Huesges said 'women and wine' are abundantly available to the foreign tourists in their own countries and posed the question as to why would they travel such a long distance spending their savings for such attractions. "Tourists usually travel from country to country in quest for natural beauty and historical and cultural treasures," he observed.
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110pc rise in Bangladeshi tourists
to Nepal
Holiday Report
Tourist arrival via air has increased by 33 per cent to 33,492 in February, compared to the same month last year, Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) said.
According to an NTB statement, entire South Asian region has gained positive growth of 12.1 per cent with India 1.8 per cent, Bangladesh 110.2 per cent, Pakistan 1 per cent and Sri Lanka 11.6 per cent.
China, one of the largest source markets for Nepal, bounced back with a remarkable growth of 242.5 per cent. Similarly, other Asian countries maintained the upward trend with Japan 31.7 per cent, Malaysia 38.9 per cent, Singapore 55.9 per cent and South Korea 21.6 per cent.
However, arrivals from Thailand witnessed negative growth by 54.7 per cent. In aggregate, the Asian segment has registered a growth of 69.5 per cent.
An overall growth of 20.6 per cent has been observed from the European markets with arrivals from major generating markets such as the UK, France, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands up by 1.8 per cent, 46.8 per cent, 12.4 per cent, 44 per cent and 87.5 per cent respectively.
Norway, Spain, Russia and Switzerland registered decrease in arrival figures by 41.8 per cent, 22 per cent, 10.4 and 2.4 per cent respectively.
The figures also show increasing trend in the visitors' arrival from the US with a growth of 53.2 per cent. Canada, Australia and New Zealand maintained positive growth with 20.5 per cent, 26.9 per cent and 246.6 per cent respectively.
NTB said, this is the ninth consecutive month Nepal has witnessed growth in the international tourist arrivals and this confirms the improved prospects for Nepal in the year 2010 with rising business and consumer confidence.
A total of 33,441 foreign tourists departed from TIA in February 2010. The number of Nepalese arrivals stood at 49,288 while 54,564 Nepalese departed from Tribhuban International Airport (TIA) in February 2010.
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