Bangladesh hosts OIC workshop on heritage preservation, sustainable tourism

Bangladesh has hosted a two-day international workshop on heritage site preservation and sustainable tourism, bringing together experts from OIC member states to develop quality standards and sustainability indicators for heritage management.

The workshop, titled “Developing Quality Standards and Sustainability Indicators for Enhancing Governance and Monitoring Systems of Heritage Site Preservation in OIC Countries”, was organised by the Bangladesh Tourism Board (BTB) under the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism on 7–8 October at the InterContinental Dhaka.

BTB Chief Executive Officer Barrister Mutasim Billah Faruqui inaugurated the workshop, stressing the importance of preserving cultural heritage to develop sustainable and competitive tourism in Bangladesh and other member states of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

The event was held under a COMCEC-funded project titled “Enhancing Cultural Heritage Site Preservation by Strengthening Governance and Monitoring Systems”.

According to the BTB, Bangladesh was selected for the project through a competitive process involving 57 OIC member countries.

The workshop brought together 25 heritage preservation and tourism experts, including 21 participants from relevant Bangladeshi departments and institutions and four international participants from Türkiye, Uzbekistan and the Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC).

Participants worked on practical quality standards and sustainability indicators covering the environmental, social and economic aspects of heritage site management.

Discussions also covered legal and regulatory frameworks, conservation and maintenance, governance, community benefit-sharing, visitor management and risk preparedness.

The workshop outcomes will contribute to an OIC guidance document on heritage site preservation. The final document will be prepared following further consultations with experts.

At the closing ceremony, BTB Director Abu Salim Mahmud-Ul Hasan thanked the participating institutions and experts for their contributions and reaffirmed Bangladesh’s commitment to knowledge sharing and capacity building under the COMCEC framework.

The BTB said it remains committed to promoting sustainable heritage tourism that preserves cultural heritage, supports local livelihoods and strengthens the competitiveness of the tourism sector across OIC member states.