World Tourism Day 2013 Observation Tourism & Water: Protecting Our Common Futures Organized by: District Administration, Khulna, Bangladesh Sponsored by: Tour Association of Sundarban (TAS) Date: 27 Sept 2013 Venue: Khulna, Bangladesh The day observed by district administration, Khulna and sponsored by Tour Association of Sundarban (TAS). The program started with a rally from Khulna Circuit House and finished at District Collectorate’s (DC) office. Significant number of civil societies, school students, NGOs and local citizens attended the colorful rally spontaneously. At the end of the rally there was a discussion session in the conference room of district administration building, Khulna, Bangladesh. The discussion session started with recitation from the Holy Quran and the Gita followed by a multimedia Key Note Speaker’s powerpoint presentation on the slogan of the day, ‘Tourism & Water: Protecting Our Common Future’ with the subtitle focusing the national context ‘Ecotourism and Water Conservation: Sundarbans Perspectives’. This is presented by Mr. Md. Wasiul Islam, Associate Professor, Forestry and Wood Technology Discipline, Khulna University, Bangladesh. Presentation Outline: • Interrelation among leisure, recreation, hospitality and tourism. • Simplified the slogan of World Tourism Day, 2013. • Conveyed the official messages UN General Secretary and UNWTO Secretary-General regarding the day. • Importance of tourism and ecotourism. • Introduced with ecotourism and nature conservation strategy through ecotourism. • Emphasized on proper establishment of ecotourism in the Sundarbans of Bangladesh. At the end of the presentation a welcome speech was delivered by Mr. M Nazmul Azam David, Secretary of TAS & the Managing Director of Rupantar Ecotourism Ltd. Speech Issues: • Mr. David described the current scenario of ecotourism in Bangladesh. • Raised voice to save the Sundarbans through real ecotourism form deceitful travel agent companies. • Demanded for maximum support & opportunities for local ecotourism business investors rather than the overseas travel agents. • Talked about the Sundarbans resource management and proper use by the community around the Sundarbans for their livelihood and sustainable future. • End of the speech Mr. David took the opportunity to get the attention of honorable Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of the Forest Department on the above-mentioned issues and requested for taking quick initiatives to solve these problems. Honorable DFO, Mr. Mohammad Zahir Uddin Ahmed, ensured on his speech to take care about the issues and thanked to Mr. David and Mr. Wasiul who took the initiatives to organize this important day and for promoting our tourism sector. He also emphasized the importance on the Sundarbans based ecotourism issues and water conservation. Finally, the discussion session was closed through the speech of the honorable Additional District Collectorate of Khulna District, Dr. Mohammad Abdul Hakim. In his speech he showed the ray of hope to promote the tourism sector of Bangladesh like any other renowned tourist spot around the world, and thanked to everyone for joining the day observation.

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