Impact of Seaside Tourism on Host Community in Bangladesh: The Case of Cox’s Bazar

The Tourism industry is considered as one of the fastest growing industries in the world. The most significant economic feature of the tourism industry is that it contributes to five high priority socioeconomic goals of the developing and emerging countries and these are the generation of income, jobs creation, foreign exchange earnings, improvement of the living standards, and poverty reduction. The importance of seaside tourism within the tourism industry is immense. Bangladesh being a riverine country blessed with the longest unbroken sea beach of the world and most extensive mangrove forest holds enormous potential for developing the sustainable seaside tourism industry. However, to our knowledge, there is a lack of proper research in the context of inspecting the impact of seaside tourism in Bangladesh from the residents’ perspectives, which can reveal the way forward. We aim to fill the research gap in this regard. Using the stratified random sampling technique for conducting survey, factor analysis approach and ANOVA regression analysis, we find that seaside tourism has a significant impact on the socioeconomic development in the host community of the Cox’s Bazar. We highlight the importance of private participation in the policy formulation for further development of the seaside tourism industry. Suggested policies of this research can widen the door to get a higher degree of benefits of seaside tourism in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh.