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Nazimgarh Resort: A taste of Bengali luxury

March 2, 2008 2:24 pm

~story by Mikey Leung~

There are some rare moments as a guidebook writer that I am given a chance to enjoy the peace and serenity offered to me by the natural beauty of Bangladesh, and I try to seek out these experiences whenever possible.

One of these rare moments came as I sat on the terrace outside my room at the Nazimgarh Resort. The highway traffic hummed from a distance, but my attention remain fixed on the sound of a dozen different birds chattering away in the trees, most of whom were winter migrants like my Canadian self. I had just taken a stroll around the well-tended grounds of the resort. The sun broke through the winter morning clouds, painting the nearby mango trees in a golden hue.

In short, I felt my soul replenishing.

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Nazim Kamran Chowdhury -- Introduction [10:03m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (223)

Nazim Kamran Chowdhury -- reflections on responsible tourism development [9:13m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (199)

Tags: Bangladesh,luxury,monsoon tourism,Nazimgarh Resorts,rivers,Sylhet
Categories: Destinations, Interviews, Responsible Travel
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Interview with Hasan Mansur, President of TOAB

February 1, 2008 3:05 pm

Hasan Mansur, on right, at the September 2007 Bangladesh Travel and Tourism Fair. Click the photo to see more images from the fair.

Hasan Mansur likes to think of his work as “seeding fertile ground.”

The former agriculturalist was studying in the United States when he met a Swedish gentlemen who, at first, employed him as an impromptu tour operator and fixer.

Mansur would later become the father of Bangladesh’s embryonic tourist industry, after that same Swede employed him around South Asia and gave him all the background and experienced he needed to set up Guide Tours in 1989. Today he is the president of the Tourism Operators Association of Bangladesh (TOAB). He has now stepped back from the day-to-day operations of Guide Tours and is working for the development of the industry and its operators with TOAB.

“It was April 1989,” says Mansur, of the founding of his company. “I thought, let me plant a small tree and if it becomes big, it will provide shade, many people can come around and take shelter.”

Several years later, that tree is still growing and Bangladesh’s domestic tourism industry is now growing steadily.

“I have proven that it is possible to have a tourism business and survive in Bangladesh,” says Mansur.

Today, we bring you a two-part interview with Mansur. First, we get his perspective on how on how the industry needs the government’s help in creating a fruitful tourism market in Bangladesh. Second, we hear the back story of Mansur himself and how he got his start as a tourism operator in Bangladesh.

The Potential of Tourism in Bangladesh [11:03m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (217)

Hasan Mansur - the back story [7:20m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (211)

Please note: If you are located in Bangladesh you may have problems hearing this podcast due to limited bandwidth availability. Please download it first as the player will stop when it reaches the end of the data it has downloaded so far.

Tags: Bangladesh,Hasan Mansur,TOAB,Tour Operators Association of Bangladesh,Tourism,Tourism for Development
Categories: Interviews
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