Bangladesh offers a plethora of experiences for global and local tourists to
indulge in unique lifestyle experience, cultural exposure, and immersion. With
exquisite natural beauty, ethnic diversity, and numerous occupation-based
communities, Bangladesh poses immense potential for flourishing Community-Based
Tourism (CBT). Transcending beyond visiting places, tourists can create meaningful
experiences by actively engaging with distinguished ethnic or occupational
communities, such as fishermen’s in the coastal area, tea-garden workers in the
southern regions, and Indigenous communities in the eastern regions of this country.
However, integrating Experiential Travel (ET) element into such tourism initiatives is
at a nascent stage while the majority of these CBT initiatives fail to engage and
empower local communities. Furthermore, the scholarly undertakings to examine the
underlying causes are limited. Therefore, this chapter evaluates the appeal and capacity
of current CBT initiatives in facilitation of cultural immersion experience for the
tourists and attempts to identify effective Experiential Community-Based Tourism
(ECBT) development scopes in different geographic regions of Bangladesh. This paper
incorporates a comprehensive literature analysis of extant studies on CBT and involves
in-depth interviews with representatives from the community, Non-Governmental
Organizations (NGOs), government regulators, and independent CBT entrepreneurs.
Findings of this study uncover the region-wise opportunities and challenges of
sustainable ECBT initiatives. Furthermore, this chapter guides future researchers to
unearth unexplored domains related to CBT, provides a framework for developing an
effective ECBT business model, and assists policymakers in developing countries to
ensure maximum societal benefits and tourists’ experience, considering community
support, acceptance, and participation. Therefore, this chapter recommends developing
effective community engagement and empowerment programs to uphold cultural
heritage and generate incentives for the associated stakeholders.
Keywords: Community-Based Tourism (CBT), Community empowerment, Community engagement, Experiential Travel (ET), Sustainable business.
