The government has appointed BRTC and BUET as consultants for carrying out detail feasibility study and cost estimate for expansion of runway of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport from 10,500 feet to 12,000 feet.

State Minister for Civil Aviation M Mahbub Ali told this in Parliament on Sunday in reply to a tabled question from Awami League MP Kazim Uddin Ahmed elected from Mymensingh.

The state minister, however, didn’t elaborate anything in this regard.

In reply to another query from AL MP Nasimul Alam Chowdhury from Cumilla, Mahbub Ali said, around 20 lakh foreign tourists visited Bangladesh in the last five years since 2017 earning around Tk 12,788 crore as foreign exchange.

He said huge amount of annual foreign exchange is earned in the tourism sector every year.

The state minister said, in 2017 a total of 5 lakh foreign tourists visited Bangladesh earning around Tk 2,615 crore as foreign exchange.

The number of tourists visited in 2018 is 5.52 lakh earning around Tk 2,889, in 2019, 6.21 lakh tourists visited earning around Tk 3,220 crore, in 2020, 1.18 lakh tourists earning around Tk 1782 and in 2021, 1.35 lakh tourists visited Bangladesh earning around Tk 2279 crore.

The state minister said tourism industry is a potential sector and the government has declared this industry as thrust sector considering the importance of this industry and to attract domestic and foreign tourists.

Mahbub Ali also said the government has taken various measures to establish new tourist centres in the country.