Thailand draws over 32 million foreign tourists a year as Bangladesh's visitor numbers keep falling

The historic Buriganga river, the century-old architecture of Old Dhaka, Cox's Bazar — the world's longest natural sea beach — Kuakata, where sunrise and sunset can both be seen from the same beach, and the biodiversity-rich Sundarbans: despite such assets, Bangladesh remains a negligible name on the international tourism map. Thailand, in the same region, draws more than thirty million foreign tourists a year and has built a tourism economy worth tens of billions of dollars.

According to the Bangladesh Tourism Board (BTB), a total of 585,145 foreign visitors came to Bangladesh in 2025. The figure was 633,094 in 2024 and 655,451 in 2023. In other words, instead of growing, foreign visitor arrivals have fallen by 7.6 percent over the past few years.

The picture inside the statistics is more worrying. Of the more than five hundred thousand visitors, genuine leisure tourists account for only around 15 percent. The large majority come for business, institutional or diplomatic missions, or in connection with expatriate and cross-border travel. Notably, the number of visitors from India fell at an alarming rate in 2025.

Data from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and CEIC show that Bangladesh earned about $440 million from international tourists in 2024, slightly less than the $453 million earned in 2023. In 2025 the figure rose slightly to $488 million. Tourism's direct contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) remains stuck at around 3 percent.

Thailand presents a completely different picture. According to the country's Ministry of Tourism and Sports, more than 32.97 million international tourists arrived in Thailand in 2025. Spending by international tourists alone added about 1.54 trillion Thai baht, or roughly $48.8 billion, to the economy. Including domestic tourism, Thailand's total tourism revenue stood at about $86 billion.

According to the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), tourism's direct and indirect contribution to Thailand's GDP is 12 to 13 percent, and the sector is a principal source of employment for millions of people in the country.

For a foreign tourist in Bangladesh, the hardship begins at the airport. There are longstanding complaints about passenger service and baggage handling at the international airports. Reaching major destinations such as Cox's Bazar, the Sundarbans or Saint Martin from Dhaka is slow and uncomfortable; high domestic airfares and long road traffic jams discourage tourists from the very start.

The problems do not end on arrival. Low-quality service at hotels, resorts and restaurants, combined with prices far above the standard of service, is a major complaint. There is also an acute shortage of international-standard digital booking platforms, transparent price lists and a 24-hour helpline for tourists. Lack of cleanliness, scarcity of safe drinking water and allegations of overcharging or cheating foreign tourists are also regularly raised.

Safety and environmental crises are another barrier. On Saint Martin, the country's only coral island, uncontrolled tourism and plastic pollution have pushed the island's biodiversity towards destruction. Even in a world-class mangrove forest like the Sundarbans, no specific environment-friendly tourism infrastructure has been developed.

Kuakata, known as the 'daughter of the sea', is in the same condition. Tourism experts say its natural panoramic views are no less attractive than Thailand's popular beaches. Yet slow transport links, unplanned high-rise construction, destruction of beach biodiversity and sea erosion are eroding Kuakata's familiar character. With a shortage of international-standard resorts, quality restaurants and safe drinking water, even domestic tourists often cannot relax there.

Observers note that the strict environmental rules and tourist-friendly environment maintained on Thailand's Phi Phi Islands or Pattaya beach have not been implemented even in small measure at Cox's Bazar or Kuakata. Beyond holiday crowds and promotional campaigns, they say, the most glaring gap is the absence of a specific master plan to turn the beaches into international-standard eco-tourism hubs.