Prospects and constraints of cultural tourism development in Bangladesh: An empirical insight towards its sustainability

Abstract

Bangladesh is home to a wide range of both tangible and intangible cultural heritage. The country has three tangible UNESCO World Heritage Sites and five elements inscribed on UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list. It hosts over 50 indigenous ethnic groups and  1,500 documented tourist attractions. Despite its diverse features, cultural tourism, however, remains underdeveloped in the country. This study investigates the potential, challenges, and pathways toward sustainable cultural tourism development in Bangladesh. Drawing on mixed-methods research conducted in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, the Coastal Areas, and the Barind Tract. The study collected data from 1,200 tourists using a questionnaire survey, supplemented by 30 key informant interviews, 12 group discussions, 12 case studies, and observations. The results depict that across all three regions, natural beauty dominates destination selection (80.8% to 88%), while cultural festivals are considered by only 10.3% to 13.5% of tourists, uncovering a profound gap between cultural potential and actual tourist behavior. Data derived from both quantitative and qualitative analyses show that governance deficits, inadequate infrastructure, weak policy awareness, and stakeholder fragmentation constitute the major impediments in promoting cultural tourism. The study contends that unless there is structural transformation, e.g., policy reform, strategic promotion of cultural assets, and community-based governance, Bangladesh will continue to fall short of utilizing its substantial cultural potential in tourism. The findings extend existing scholarship on sustainable cultural tourism development in Global South contexts by demonstrating how locally embedded socio-cultural and institutional factors influence sustainability practices and outcomes.