Govt plans skills hub to support tourism expansion

Bangladesh is contemplating undertaking a Tk275 crore project to setup a specialised tourism skills hub at Motel Laboni in Cox’s Bazar to develop skilled workforce for the country’s expanding tourism and hospitality industry and create new employment opportunities.

To this end, the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism has submitted a project proposal styled 'Establishment of a Training Institute at Motel Laboni Compound, Cox’s Bazar' to the Planning Commission for approval, a senior ministry official told Aviation & Tourism Times.

Once approved, according to him, the project will be implemented by the Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation from this year until June 2029.

The proposed facility will combine classroom-based instruction with practical training through a hotel-cum-training centre, enabling trainees to gain hands-on industry experience without having to travel to Dhaka for specialised courses.

Md Ziaul Haque Howlader, general manager (planning, statistics and training) of Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation, told Aviation & Tourism Times that the rapid expansion of tourism facilities in Cox’s Bazar had created growing demand for trained workers.

The proposed institute will be developed on about 3.45 acres of land at the existing Motel Laboni compound, where the old facility is currently in a dilapidated condition, according to the official.

The institute will provide training in major areas of the tourism and hospitality industry, including front-office operations, housekeeping and laundry, travel and tour operations, aviation and airline ticketing, food production and service, and bakery and pastry.

Existing trainers of the Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation will conduct classes, while practical sessions will be offered at the proposed hotel facility itself.

According to the preliminary plan, two separate buildings are envisaged, a 15-storey hotel building and a 10-storey training and student compound. The designs are still being revised.

The institute is expected to train around 800 to 900 persons annually, according to the preliminary assessment.

Skills gap

The initiative comes amid growing concern among tourism operators and academics over the shortage of skilled workers, which they say is becoming a major constraint on the development of Bangladesh’s tourism industry.

Mohammed Hanif, president of the Tour Operators Association of Bangladesh (TOAB), said the shortage of skilled workers was particularly acute in tourism-related services.

Bangladesh lacked adequate institutional arrangements for training tourism professionals, including tourist guides and tour operators, he added.

Nusrat Jahan, associate professor at the University of Dhaka’s Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management, also stressed the importance of developing both technical and soft skills.

She said tourism workers needed not only technical abilities such as booking, food preparation and service delivery, but also communication, courtesy and customer-handling skills.

“A service worker in tourism has to understand how to deal with people. Soft skills are particularly important alongside technical skills,” she told Aviation &Tourism Times.

Broader development

The proposed skills hub is also being viewed as part of a broader government effort to develop Cox’s Bazar as a more diversified tourism destination.

Howlader said the Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation was separately working on plans to develop multi-purpose tourism facilities around Motel Laboni and Hotel Shaibal through a public-private partnership (PPP).

The preliminary estimate puts the potential investment for the broader development at around Tk2,500 crore, although the final requirement will depend on the detailed study.

The Tk275 crore project seeks to address the skills gap while creating a local training pipeline for one of Bangladesh’s key tourism destinations.