Tourism Development of Sreemangal Municipality, Bangladesh: a Role for Participatory Approaches

Today, tourism is one of the largest and dynamically developing sectors of external economic activities. Its high growth and development rates, considerable volumes of foreign currency inflows, infrastructure development, and introduction of new management and educational experience actively affect various sectors of economy, which positively contribute to the social and economic development of the country as a whole. Participatory tourism development postulate that, by actively and genuinely involving people in the development process, attempts to promote economic and social progress would be accelerated. The evaluation of the participatory methods during the interview in this research reveals that there is potential for these approaches to improve community participation and strengthen the communication process. In many instances the interview provided the respondents with an opportunity for their views to be heard and a platform to contribute to the future development directives. Clearly there is a need for more innovative forms of consultation to encourage local people to take part in the tourism planning process and ensure that they can express their views.