Prospects and Challenges at Kuakata Sea Beach for Sustainable Tourism Development: A Qualitative Analysis

Abstract

Kuakata sea beach in Bangladesh has seen increased tourist growth since the Padma Bridge opened in 2022. Little is known about the obstacles and opportunities Kuakata has in implementing sustainable tourism. The purpose of this research is to look into the various prospects and challenges of sustainable tourism at Kuakata sea beach. The qualitative methods used in this study consisted of semi-structured stakeholder interviews; thematic analysis identified five key challenges such as environmental degradation, infrastructure and facilities development, socio-cultural issues, behaviour problems, and marketing, monitoring, and evaluation. The most significant obstacle to promoting sustainable tourism in Kuakata is beach erosion. Along with these challenges, this study has identified four new prospects such as exploring new tourist sites, developing community-based tourism, introducing a new tourist route, Payra seaport- new door to possibilities of tourism.