American
International
University-
Bangladesh

Students & Supervisors

Abstract

Millions of people of Bangladesh earn their living through fisheries, tourism, shipping trades and ports along the large coastal region of Bangladesh, creating a base for its blue economy. However, the region is facing severe threats - such as climate change, coastal erosion, salinity intrusion, and unplanned resource exploitation - all of which are sabotaging ecological stability, economic productivity and the tourism sector. Hence, an Integrated Coastal Zone Management combined with economic growth, environmental protection, and social wellbeing is needed for long-term development while sustaining coastal ecosystems and nurturing sustainable tourism. The goal of this research is to identify if better coastal management along with higher economic activities will improve the overall tourism sustainability of the coastal zones, which will determine the role of ICZM in fostering long-term integrity of the tourism sector along with developing a sustainable blue economy in Bangladesh. This study was conducted by using a secondary dataset collected for the period of 1995 to 2024 from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. The study focused on management effectiveness index ranging from a low of 2.11 and going as high as 88.17, economic activities fluctuating between 4.79 to 94.69 throughout different coastal regions along with the sustainability score stretching from 1.40 to 92.47. Descriptive Statistics and a Pearson Correlation study was implemented to analyze the shifts between the variables over time and a trade-off analysis was done to evaluate whether the coastal management is creating a balance between economic development and sustainability. The study showed that during high economic activity, sustainability is low (<40) when management effectiveness is not adequate (<20), however it was seen that, with higher management effectiveness (>80), optimal sustainability score reaching from 74.79 to 92.47 was attained in addition to elevated economic activity including tourism revenue. Therefore, years with high economic activity but low sustainability indicated poor management. Moreover, years with both improved economic activity and sustainability showed a balanced improvement under a better management system (>50). Furthermore, better coastal management system alone does not enhance overall sustainability; other factors matter as well. The study made it clear that a balance can be kept between growth and preservation if a well-maintained management system was implemented. According to the outcomes, for attaining a sustainable blue economy and developing tourism resilience in Bangladesh, an integrated ICZM system is essential. For a long-lasting preservation of ecological stability, tourism sustainability and equal distribution of resources, organizational capabilities should be increased, enforcement of ICZM policies needs to be enhanced, institutional coordination has to be improved, eco-friendly tourism initiatives should be taken to expand the blue economy, strong infrastructures should be built which can withstand harsh climate change and emphasis is required to be put on continuous monitoring along with promoting data-driven coastal management along the national coastal regions.

Keywords

Publication Details

• Type of Publication:
• Conference Name: RMSTU National Tourism Conference 2026 - "Tourism Tomorrow: Nature's Next fleck to explore"
• Date of Conference: 16/01/2026 - 16/01/2026
• Venue: Rangamati Science and Technology University, Rangamati Sadar, Rangamati-4500, Bangladesh
• Organizer: Rangamati Science and Technology University