Exploring challenges and opportunities for sustainability in the sports tourism sector in Bangladesh

Abstract

The issue of balancing between growth and sustainability in sport tourism in Bangladesh was investigated in the thesis. The natural assets, social practices, and governance arrangements were taken as interacting factors. Both coastal and inland destinations were examined. The objective was to establish the obstacles and facilitators of sustainable sport tourism in Bangladesh. The research questions were related to four issues of challenges, the factors that support, the roles of the stakeholders, and the strategic approach. The intended practical contribution of the thesis was policy and management interventions. The study used a qualitative stakeholder-centered design. Government officers and event organisers, tourism managers, and community actors were interviewed in semi-structured interviews. Triangulation of evidence came in the form of parallel document analysis, which was utilized to map policy signals. Major limitations were identified in the infrastructure gaps, institutional fragmentation, financing and procurement bottlenecks, environmental risks, and socio-cultural tensions. Place assets, niche market potential, local enterprise capacity, youth volunteering, and emerging policy signals were found to be enablers. Practical micro-solutions related to pilot financing, permit provisions, vendor quotas, steward training, and plain monitoring templates were recorded. It was suggested to pay attention to the policy on the rapid small-grant windows, adaptive pilots, local value-capture rules, and capacity building. This thesis suggested capacity, economic impact, procurement trials, and climate-resilience modelling. The results were made to inform management and policymaking.