News, Tips & Bargains : If You’ve Seen It All, How About Bangladesh?

If you’re the type who thinks “let’s go” at the exotic sound of the word Bangladesh , you’re in a very exclusive set, to put it mildly. Recognizing that, tourism officials in the South Asian country have begun spending money to promote what visitors can see, eat and do there.

Prime attractions include: viewing the celebrated and rare Royal Bengal tiger in its natural habitat; lush and verdant tea plantations; surfing at Cox’s Bazaar, a 75-mile stretch of beach on the Bay of Bengal that is said to be the world’s longest; tremendously varied bird life; culinary fare ranging from litchi fruit to excellent salt- and freshwater fish, and “the world’s largest block of contiguous mangrove forest.”

Moreover, an influx of foreign dollars could do much to help Bangladesh, the world’s most densely populated country and one of the poorest--a nation that has almost come to symbolize the poverty of developing nations. “Tourism will hopefully become Bangladesh’s main foreign exchange earner, a major source of employment and an effective campaign against environmental decay,” said Bazlul Ghani Patwary, chairman of the state tourism corporation BPC.

To make travel to Bangladesh easier, Biman Bangladesh Airlines, the national carrier, inaugurated passenger and cargo service between the capital city of Dhaka and New York City’s JFK Airport Dec. 18. Currently, one DC-10 leaves JFK for Dhaka every Saturday, with intermediate stops in Amsterdam, Dubai and New Delhi. In time, flights will be increased to two a week, according to airline officials.