6.

1 Introduction of Saint Martin:

Saint Martins is the only coral island in Bangladesh, with beaches fringed with coconut
palms, seashells and laid-back locals. The island is a tropical cliché. It’s a clean, calm and
cool place for soak up the rays

6.2 Brief Analysis of Saint Martin:

History:
St. Martin (Island) is the only coral island in Bangladesh a small island St. Martin is in the
northeast part of the Bay of Bengal, about 9 km south of the tip of the Cox's Bazar-Teknaf
peninsula.
It is about 8 km west of the northwest coast of Myanmar at the mouth of the Naf River. Also
called (The local name) "Narical Gingira", also spelled "Narikel Janjina/Jinjera" and has an
extension named Chera Dwip.
Area: 8 sq. km but it reduces to around 5 sq. km during high tide.

Tourist Season: November to February

Original Name: “Narikel Jinjira” (Coconut Island) – The local name of the COCONUT is
NARIKEL and the original name of this Island is Narikel Jinjira is derived from that.
Features: 1) Beautiful Coral Reef 
2) Long Coral Beach 
3) Lots of Coconut Trees 
4) Peaceful Environment 
5) Bountiful Marine Life 
6) Deep Blue Water 
7) Sandy Beach
How to Reach:
To reach Saint Martins Island is just three-step process.
Fly or bus and get down to Cox’s Bazar (400 km from Dhaka).
Catch a bus to Teknaf.
From Teknaf, ferries run daily and take around 3 hours.
Ferries leave the island about 3 pm. Now, three shipping liners run daily trips to St. Martins.
They are Sea-Truck, Kutubdia and Keary-Sindbad. For the regular Eagle ferries you need
not to pre-book. However, for more reliable Keari Sindbad ferry and if you have not a
roundtrip ticket you can book the return ticket at the Keari Marzaan restaurant. The
restaurant only services to day-trippers on tours arranged by Keari Tours. The one-way fare
is Tk 225.
Local Transport: Cycle-rickshaws are the only transport besides walking. No motorized
vehicles on the island, even no motorcycles! It is highly advisable that you travel the island
on foot; otherwise, miss a lot of things. St. Martine is a small island. You just cover it
around 3 to 4 hours on foot.
Sunrise & Sunset: Observing sunrise and sunset St Martins is a better place. Sunset Point
is a rocky peninsula on the northwest corner of the island.
Village life: A slow paced life — most work happens in the morning and evening, whereas
midday is reserved for drying rice and fish. During the day time, some villagers sells
coconuts while others sitting in the shade and chewing paan (battle leaf).
Stars: Amazingly plentiful stars get on a moonless night, due to the lack of electricity on St
Martine.
Scuba Diving: Oceanic Scuba Dive Center, the only dive operation in Bangladesh. To
experience the beauty underwater scuba diving is best but the cost is lit-bit high though
negotiable.
Visit Chera Dwip:

An extension part of St. Martins which is divided during tides. You can go to there on foot
during low tide. It is about two and half an hour’s walk from St. Martins Island. You can
also go the place by local boat or tourist boat during high tide. In Chera dwip you can find
living and dead corals all over the Island. You will also get a small bush which is in the only
green part of Chera-dwip, and enhancing the beauty of the island. No people live in this
Island. That’s why; advisable for the visitors to go there early and back by afternoon.

Embrace Moonlight: Make a tour in St Martins by yourself in the moonlight. The

astonishing beauty of full-moon in St. Martin’s Island never be expressed; you can only feel
it. Over the night feel and listen the sound of the Bay of Bengal.
 Watching Sun Rise: Wake up early and watch the sun rise.

Campfire: Make a campfire to stay up at night.

Shopping: A good number of small shops are near the port and along the main road selling
essential commodities, odd souvenir t-shirts, hats and sunglasses. Various sea shells and
things made from the shells are sold by teens around St Martine. However, it’s illegal as
leads to the depletion of sea life.

Foods: Food is relatively expensive here than on Cox’s Bazar. The food shacks line the
road to the port. Bill of fare: Parothas - Tk 5, Omelettes - Tk 10 and vegetable curry - Tk 15
for breakfast. Various fish, dal (pulse) rice and vegetables are the rest of the day. Cha (tea)
is Tk 5. Additionally, all the hotels have restaurants with the same typical Bangladeshi
offerings. But higher prices & better quality than the food near the port. Chickens, lobsters
and crabs are also available in the hotels. The islanders sell dried fish, which is little
expensive but much fresher than those available up-shore in Cox’s Bazar.

Drinks: Coconuts’ tasty water is available here with very low cost. But if you look for
alcohol it’s very rare except some particular hotels. However, if you ask discreetly for the
alcohol near the port, you may get it.

Accommodations: Accommodations facilities are very good here. You can easily manage a
room according to your budget. Most of the evenings can be candle-lit as no electricity on
St Martins, but a few of the much expensive hotels have generators services.

Awareness: Avoid eating fish at every meal on the island as over-fishing rapidly vanishing
sea life. Keep a sound distance from sea turtles and their eggs. Don’t disturb those
fascinating but fragile creatures. Avoid western bathing suits both man and woman.

6.3 Why do I choose this place for visiting:

I choose this place as it is the coral beach in Bangladesh and so many domestic and foreign
guests come to visit this attractive place which makes me crazy to have unbound pleasure
from the place like Saint Martin.

6.4 Issue for Consideration:

 Young tourists are aware about economic impact of tourism in Saint Martin Island. They
think tourism activities financially benefited local people in terms of earning, living
standard and employment opportunity. But at the same time, they are neutral about the
entrepreneurial attitude of local people and they express that external people get more
 job than local people because they do not get any kind of training facilities. Most of the
respondents express that tourism in Saint Martin Island creates seasonal job for the
residents.
 Most of the respondents express their neutral position about the social equity in Saint
Martin Island. They think tourists are not aware about the local culture that causes social
problems. Most of the respondents strongly agreed that local people should be included
in the tourism planning process.
 This study reveals that tourists and local people are not concerned about the environment
and ecological balance of this Island. But environment is the most vital factor for the
study area because of the unique physical setting. Even most of the respondents do not
know the Saint Martin's Island has been declared an Ecologically Critical Area and is
protected under the law. They also think that tourism businesses at Saint Martin should
be engaged in environmental practices and tourist activities should be limited at some
area.
 Most of the respondent’s state that security system is not enough in beach and tourist
ship. They also express that they do not see enough guideline and instruction for tourist
at Saint Martin Island.

6.5 How to solve this barrier:

If we want to attract more tourists, new directions, new strategies and an integrated tourism
marketing effort are required. Take it or not, the coral island Saint Martin’s needs cleaning. A
very similar approach like Green World that is effective in Cox’sbazar can be replicated there
easily. Such project can cost 4 million takas more or less, which is less than yearly CSR budget
of most companies. For geographic reasons, reality of Saint Martin’s island is different then
Cox’sbazar. The cleaning activities are worthwhile during October to March tourist season. The
rest 6 months workers involved in such project can be trained in income generating activities like
making handicrafts and items that can attract and be sold to tourists during season, as suggested
by the local community. There is a need for awareness in all level of Saint Martin’s population
about protecting this island. Cleaning workers can educate and train school kids and women in
the lean season which can ultimately lead to a people driven environment protection and
management system in that society.
 As the tourist inflow to Bangladesh is still quite insignificant in comparison to other South
Asian countries, the prime responsibility of Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation (National
Tourism Organization) should be to promote the identity, image and tourist inventories of
Bangladesh in international market.
 Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation (BPC) should be responsible for policy formulation,
implementation, resource collection and co-ordination. The function and responsibilities of
the BPC should be reviewed and reformulated.
 Till today, tourism in Bangladesh is Dhaka-city-oriented. But BPC should give higher
priority to Cox’s Bazar in any planning for tourism development in Bangladesh.
 Bangladesh should develop a master plan for creation of a limited number of most attractive
tourist spots like historical and natural spots with modern transport and communications
systems. Comfortable accommodations, exotic recreational facilities and other facilities and
amenities as demanded by the foreign travelers.
 A tourist needs personal security and safety. It is suggested that separate police should be
deployed mainly in the tourist spots and other places of attraction.
 Well-trained guides fluent in English and other foreign languages must be provided. The
folders, brochures and posters must be printed in different languages.
 Developing the well linkage of transportation among the various

6.6 How to be marketing this destination?

This chapter will provides future recommendation which has been identified through this
research. Since Bangladesh has a lot of possibilities for developing adventure tourism because of
adventure tourism will add dimension in tourism industries. The existing infrastructural facilities
can be a great edge for adventure tourism besides advance risk management should be
introduced.

By coordinating all program together, it will overcome the management issues. Moreover
government need to focus on sustainability in tourist area such as preservation and protection of
wild life and resources. Policies and regulation need to change in tourism industry in addition,
promoting Bangladesh as main tourism destinations around globe and reinventing its tourism
image. Both government and private sectors should come forwards for tourism related
infrastructure development such as especially paying attention to road and train bound
transportation systems and improving communication facilities that include internet service in
remote part of Bangladesh and accommodations facilities and the quality of services need to be
improved.

Enhancing community resilience for tourism development is also an essential steps for
developing adventure tourism. Cooperation between local and regional government also help to
maintain sustainability and assuring continuous employment opportunity, leading to economic
sufficiency both local and national level. Raising awareness among local and encouraging them
towards more organic development will protect the resources, thus lead to long term preservation
of nature and its sustainability

As for the government initiatives, it needs to assure long lasting political stability and promoting
strong relation with international tourism community will have a positive impacts on tourism
industries. In addition, government need to focus on restructuring the tourism corporation and
paying attention to sector wise development in tourism industries. Special tourism guidance
institute need to be established in order to make necessary policy and regulations.

6.7 SWOT Analysis:

Strength: Guest can have natural beauty and the massive limitation of the Bay of Bangla,
guest can refresh their mind set, coral beach, sun set & sun rising.

Weakness: The security system is not up to the mark over there and the transportation
system is undoubtedly poor for the business and guest can’t have mineral water every
where as well as there is no perfect hospital facility.

Opportunities: St. Martin's Island is very popular tourist spot. Now, 3 (three) shipping
liners run Everyday trips to the island, including Sea-Truck and Keary-Sindbad. If you
want to visit this land you can book your trip either from Chittagong or from Cox's Bazar.

Threats: This ground water level in this island is very close to the surface. So the water
can easily get contaminated by open defecation and result in spreading water borne
diseases like diarrhea. A study showed that the water of this area contain germs 100 folds
more than that of normal level. Please dispose off all kinds of wastes in the dustbins kept in
different places. Your support is truly required to maintain the biodiversity of this island.