Towards Sustainable Tourism in the Chittagong Hill Tracts: Lessons from the Mro Community in Bandarban District

Hill tourism is an important feature of Bangladesh's tourism industry, where the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) are renowned for their distinguishing traits, such as hills, forests, waterfalls, rivers, and their flora and fauna. Bandarban is one of the CHT regions with the most tourist attractions, but tourism, on the other hand, has numerous adverse impacts on the area that are often ignored. The Mro are one of the largest ethnic groups that have lived in the CHT regions for generations. They face a great deal of various kinds of adversity as a result of numerous development projects and over-tourism, which also goes unnoticed. This paper aims to analyze the impacts of tourism on the Mro community and identify pathways for sustainable tourism. The study employs a qualitative method, collecting primary data through 10 key informant interviews (KII) and gathering and analyzing data from secondary sources. The area of the study was several localities of Bandarban (Ruma, Lama, Thanchi). Findings of the study suggest that the Mro people have been struggling to cope with recent tourism development interventions that are on the verge of destroying their homes, significant infrastructure, encroaching on their property, and disrupting their livelihood. To minimize the negative impacts of tourism in the Bandarban district, a proper tourism plan focused on community participation and mitigating environmental effects is needed. The study attempts to contribute in such a way that the recommendations based on the analysis can be incorporated into the policy formation regarding sustainable tourism and the protection of the community.