1. Introduction

The tourism industry is becoming a major industry in the world. It is not only economically important but also socially important. According to the WTTC report, the global tourism sector contributed 10.6% (334 million) of jobs globally. Moreover, the tourism industry generated a recorded number of jobs in the same year (WTTC, 2019). Third-world countries, blessed with natural beauty, fascinating landscapes, coastal beaches, and historical sites can accelerate the economic growth of the country by effectively utilizing the tool of the tourism sector (Bahar, O., & Kozak, M., 2007). Tourism can be very useful for poverty alleviation in a country by generating ample sources of employment and income-generation tools for local people (WTO, 2002).

Bangladesh is a country of natural beauty that’s why it is considered one of the most important tourist destinations. The tourism sector has the potential to grow substantially in the country. Bangladesh has religious places, archaeological sites, beautiful beaches, islands, hills, water-based tourist destinations, jungles, and many historical sites (Travelmate, 2019). Bangladesh is full of water-based attractions. Among them, Cox’s Bazar is a major tourist attraction. Cox’s Bazar is situated in the southeastern part of Bangladesh. It is called the tourist capital of Bangladesh (Roy et al, 2020). It covers an area of more than 120 km Cox’s Bazar is widely known for its long natural soft sandy beach. Over the years, the scenic beauty of the city has attracted tourists from various Countries. However, repetitive visits of tourists to Cox’s Bazar have plummeted. There are multiple factors behind the decline of tourism in Cox’s Bazar (Latif et al, 2017).

Bangladesh has plenty of tourism resources. It is mostly famous for its water resources. Bangladesh is called a “riverine country”. Bangladesh has a huge amount of water-based tourist destinations such as Cox’s Bazar, Kaptai lake, Saint Martin, Kuakata, etc (Kumar and Dhanonjoy, 2020). Among them, Cox’s Bazar is a major tourist destination. This destination has huge potential. Each year this beach attracts a large number of tourists from home & abroad & earns a huge amount of foreign currency (Dey et al. 2015). But relevant authority is unable to use its huge potential for tourism purposes. Now Cox’s Bazar is lagging as a major tourist destination day by day because of not taking the necessary steps for accommodation, transportation, food & beverage, water-based activities at the beachside area, promotion, etc (Siddique et al, 2013). This study has focused on the factors which discourage tourists to pay repetitive visits to Cox’s Bazar. In Bangladesh, there are little research have been found on the factors that constrain repetitive visit to Cox’s Bazar as a tourist destination.

2. Objective of the Study

The main objective of the study is to identify the reasons why tourists don’t pay repetitive visits to Cox’s Bazar. The other objectives are to uphold the contribution of Cox’s Bazar, to analyze the major factors impeding repetitive visits of tourists at Cox’s Bazar, and to provide some suggestions to reduce the problems.

3. Rational of the Study

Bangladesh is a land of beauty and serenity. It has many types of tourist destinations (Travelmate, 2019). Among them, water-based tourist destinations are more attractive. Water-based tourist destination means providing recreational facilities centered on water resources such as lakes, ponds, seas, and oceans. People enjoy most whatever water resources give to them. Again, most of the economic activities of Bangladesh are sea-based and becoming largely dependent on water resources (Kumar and Dhanonjoy, 2020). Among all other water-based tourist destinations, Cox’s Bazar is the largest and most important tourist destination in Bangladesh (Dey et al. 2015). So, this study has focused on the factors that constrain repetitive visits to Cox’s Bazar as a tourist destination. This study has also focused on identifying the influence of high accommodation costs, lack of recreation, awkward staring of the host community, and distance required to visit with tourists’ repetitive visits to Cox’s Bazar.

4. Scope of the Study

Several researchers discussed factors are playing a major role in the repetitive visits of tourists. This study mainly focused on the reasons why tourists don’t pay repetitive visits to Cox’s Bazar. This study also tried to uphold the contribution of Cox’s Bazar, to analyze the major factors impeding repetitive visits of tourists at Cox’s Bazar, and to provide some suggestions to reduce the problems. This research will be beneficiary for the relevant authority.

5. Literature Review

5.1. Cox’s Bazar as a Tourist Destination

The tourism industry is becoming attractive day by day. Cox’s Bazar is the most famous water-based tourist destination in Bangladesh. It covers an area of 249.86 square kilometers. Geographically, Cox’s Bazar is situated on the bank of the Bay of Bengal& located in the southeastern part of Chittagong (Hossain 2016). According to Sirajul (2021), Cox’s Bazar has various visitor places and it became the most frequently visited tourist destination in Bangladesh. Laboni Beach in Cox’s Bazar has great significance where tourists can enjoy the natural beauty Of the Bay of Bengal. Moreover, places like Kolatoli Beach, Himchori Beach, Mahesh Makli, Saint Martin, Teknaf, Inanai Beach, Radar Station, and so on, are some famous places where visitors can spend quality time doing multifarious activities including swimming and cycling. Near the locality of these beaches, there are various shops where tourists can purchase clothes and other accessories (Hossain 2016). The tourism industry has great potential not only in terms of foreign exchange earnings but also for the generation of employment opportunities for indigenous people which has a huge impact on the overall economy of a country. However, various areas of the tourism sector in Bangladesh remained undiscovered due to multiple factors. Moreover, outspread of coronavirus throughout the world has further declined repetitive visits of tourists to Cox’s Bazar at unprecedented levels (Parveen & Rajon, 2008).

Location of Cox’s Bazar (Gani, 2020)

5.2. Constraints in the Repetitive Visit of Tourists at Cox’s Bazar

The word Constraint means any kind of limitation or restriction in any action. Various authors have concluded that constraints are interlinked and can be analyzed in the context of underlying dimensions (Pennington-Gray & Kerstetter, 2016). On this notion, Jackson (1993) described six dimensions of constraints that can be commonly applied to any particular setting: (a) social alienation: aspects involving interpersonal interactions, (b) connectivity: lack of transport services, (c) personal reasons: demonstrating an individual’s capabilities or motivation, (d) price: cost of transportation or equipment, (e) time: refers to the level and eagerness of participation, and (f) facility: mobbing and conservation (Pennington-Gray & Kerstetter, 2016).

Various studies have been conducted to analyze the shortcomings and obstacles in the tourism sector development that has affected the repetitive visit of tourists in Bangladesh. Shamsuddoha (2009), identified some flaws in the tourism sector of Bangladesh. He identified poor communication systems, unavailability of professional management, and lack of proper and modern infrastructure, bad image, and inadequate supplies of good quality as the major reasons behind the backwardness of the sector. Again, he upholds the poor contribution of BPC (Latif et al, 2017). Ahmed (1986) also criticized in his research that BPC along with other private firms has failed to formulate and provide effective strategies for the development of the sector. He described a lack of coordination and productive policy planning, imagination, and poor resources are some key factors behind the backwardness of the sector (Latif et al, 2017). The tourism industry in Bangladesh has not yet achieved the zenith of success and is still in a nascent period in comparison with other countries in the region. The Bangladesh Parjatan.

Cooperation (BPC) is an autonomous organization under the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism (MOCAT). It was created in 1972 to promote and provide tourism services in Bangladesh. However, under BPC expansion of the sector has been slow (Gomes, 2021). Bangladesh has not yet attracted market share in South Asia in the tourism industry. According to World Bank, Bangladesh has a huge market share, and Bangladesh runs at sixth position among SAARC nations. Sri Lanka and Maldives have significantly expanded their tourism whereas the number of tourists visiting other SAARC states including Bangladesh is comparatively low (Gomes, 2021).

Primarily, tourist satisfaction is the key factor for the repetitive visit to any tourist destination. Researchers critically examined the significance of tourist satisfaction as the prime indicator of repetitive visits to any tourist site. In the tourism sector, the overall success of tourist satisfaction includes an interrelated service satisfaction process that includes pre-experience and post-experience tourists, and emotional and mental elements of tourists (Hassan & Shahnewz, 2014). Yoon & Uysal (2005) focused on emotions as part of the tourist satisfaction process which emphasizes the push and pulls factors. Push factors act the tourists to travel to a particular destination and pull factors focus on the appeal of the tourist destination. Collectively, both factors contribute towards the attainment of travel satisfaction and confirmation of future revisits of tourists to the tourist destination. Oppermann (2000) enunciated that the loyalty of people and the government of the host country determined the revisit of tourists to a particular destination. Tourists’ positive attitudes and evaluation of the facilities and services provided by the host country could accelerate repetitive visits of tourists. Therefore, the extent of loyalty in the tourism industry plays a prominent role in the repetitive visits of tourists.

Sustainable development is one of the major requirements for success in the tourism sector. Adequate and modern infrastructures promote sustainable development in tourism. In Cox’s Bazar, infrastructure facilities are not in satisfactory condition, particularly accommodation services are not good enough to satisfy the needs and want of tourists. Some hotels are highly expensive and some are in pathetic condition for tourists coming from Bangladesh and other foreign countries (Latif et al, 2017). Moreover, the transportation facilities are also not sufficient to meet the demands of tourists. Roads and rail are not fully developed for fast transportation linkages. It has largely affected the repetitive visits of tourists to Cox’s Bazar (Latif et al, 2017). Although Bangladesh Parjatan Cooperation BPC has formulated various tourism development strategies in the government’s Five-year plans, implementation of all those plans has made slow progress (Gomes, 2021). For comprehensive marketing of the sector, the lack of knowledgeable human resources and technical expertise in Bangladesh is impeding effective policy formulations in the tourism sector (Latif et al, 2017).

6. Hypothesis for the Research

Hypothesis-1

Ho: Independent variable (High accommodation cost constraints) has a significant relationship with the dependent variable (tourist’s repetitive visit)

H1: Independent variable (High accommodation cost constraints) has no significant relationship with the dependent variable (tourist’s repetitive visit)

Hypothesis-2

Ho: Independent variable (lack of recreation) has a significant relationship with the dependent variable (tourist’s repetitive visit)

H2: Independent variable (lack of recreation) has no significant relationship with the dependent variable (tourist’s repetitive visit)

Hypothesis-3

Ho: Independent variable (awkward staring of host community) has a significant relationship with the dependent variable (tourist’s repetitive visit)

H3: Independent variable (awkward staring of host community) has no significant relationship with the dependent variable (tourist’s repetitive visit)

Hypothesis-4

Ho: Independent variable (distance) has a significant relationship with the dependent variable (tourist’s repetitive visit)

H4: Independent variable (distance) has no significant relationship with the dependent variable (tourist’s repetitive visit)

7. Methodology

7.1. Research Approach

This research has adopted a quantitative approach for data analysis. In a quantitative data method, multiple variables are used to quantify and analyze the data to obtain results. It entails the analysis of statistical data by application of various statistical techniques to answer questions such as what, when, how, who, where, and so on (Ajayi, 2022).

7.2. Research Design

A research design is an efficacious structure for achieving the research aims and objectives. A quantitative research method has been proposed for this research depending on the objects and framework of the research, which is to assess the factors that constrain repetitive visits of tourists at Cox’s Bazar. Therefore, a questionnaire survey is used to research the tourists who visited Cox’s Bazar.

7.3. Data Collection Method & Data Analyzing Tools

The quantitative research approach is based on the systematic analysis of the research question, parsing collected research data, and performing mathematical or statistical techniques. Besides, the reliability of the data collected is also tested using mathematical correlations. The reason for choosing a quantitative method for this research is its interpretative techniques that help in transforming even quantitative data into variables that either prove or reject the null hypothesis (Creswell, 2014). The research involves the participation of tourists at Cox’s Bazar to fill out the questionnaire. The response of a total of 75 persons was required to analyze the correlative relationship among the tourists about the factors that constrain repetitive visits to Cox’s Bazar. For the purpose of analyzing statistical software SPSS has been used to analyze the data & interpret the result. It is predicted that the findings from the research will provide a portfolio that will help in assessing the factors that constrain repetitive visits of tourists to Cox’s Bazar. The obtained results from the research will further help in improving the planning, management, and human resource policies for Bangladesh Parajatan Cooperation (BPC).

7.4. Research Population, Sample Size & Sample Selection Procedure

The data were collected by distributing the questionnaires and getting filled out by the tourists visiting Cox’s Bazar from foreign countries and Bangladesh. It was distributed to both genders: male and female. The survey was conducted daily from May 15 to June 14, 2022, among 2-3 tourists per day. We have used stratified and convenience sampling approaches in a combined manner to select 75 respondents. Initially, we used stratified random sampling to subdivide the population of tourists in Cos’s Bazar into 3 areas which are Dolphin sea beach point, Sugondha sea beach point and Laboni sea beach point. 4 variables were measured using a five-point Likert scale, where 1 represents Strongly Disagree, 2 represents Disagree, 3 represents Neutral, 4 represents Agree, and 5 represents Strongly Agree. To select each respondent in the 3 tourist areas, convenience sampling was applied. It was done due to a shortage of tourists within the mentioned time period and to avoid interruption of their leisure activities. Therefore, due to the lack of resources and speeding up research efforts, a total of 75 respondents were conveniently selected to take part in this study.

7.5. Evaluation of Hypothesis:

Hypothesis-1: High accommodation cost constraints as the independent variable and tourist repetitive visits the as dependent variable are included in hypothesis-1. By correlating different parameters that involve treatment inferential statistics, these variables are evaluated. This includes ANOVA & Coefficient analysis where a p-value of 0.05 is taken as a significant value. Descriptive statistics are also conducted.

Hypothesis-2: Lack of recreation as the independent variable and tourist repetitive visits as the dependent variable are included in hypothesis-2. These variables are evaluated by conducting Descriptive statistics, ANOVA & Coefficient.

Hypothesis-3: Awkward staring of the host community as the independent variable and tourists’ repetitive visits as the dependent variable are included in hypothesis-3. These variables are also evaluated by conducting Descriptive statistics, ANOVA & Coefficient.

Hypothesis-4: Distance as the independent variable and to tourists repetitive visits as the dependent variable are included in hypothesis-4. To see a relationship between these variables since both were nominal and ordinal variables Chisquare Lamba measure was conducted. Descriptive statistics is also conducted.

8. Profile of Cox’s Bazar

“Tourism” this word is too much familiar to Cox’s Bazar. Cox’s Bazar is the most famous water-based tourist destination in the world. National and international tourists visit Cox’s Bazar every year. This beach provides many economic benefits also to the local community and tourists. While watching the sunset at Cox’s Bazar people can also see the Jhau forest, fishermen catching fish in the sea, etc. Tourists come here to abstain from urban life and to enjoy natural beauty at a time (Sirajul, 2021).

Location

Cox’s Bazar is located in the southeastern part of Bangladesh. It is located 150 km south of the Chittagong division (Sirajul, 2021).

Transportation

Anyone can go to Cox’s Bazar by road and air. Cox’s Bazar railway station is under construction which will be the major railway station in the district (Sirajul, 2021).

Attractions and entertainment

Most of the activities of tourists at Cox’s Bazar are surfing the beach, doing water-based activities, and visiting nearby areas.

• Cox’s Bazar beach

Cox’s Bazar beach is the main attraction of the district. This beach is 150 km in length. There are several points on the beach such as Laboni point, Sugondha point, Kolatoli point, etc. These points of beaches can be explored from town to time (Ethirajan and Anbarasan, 2012).

• Himchari national park

In the southern part of Cox’s Bazar, the himchari national park is situated. This part includes waterfalls, and rain forests and this is a place of many animals (Himchari National Park, 2022).

• Ramu

Ramu is famous for handicrafts and the largest Buddhist population and temples. Ramu is situated 6 meters away from Cox’s Bazar city (Hossain and Mofazzal, 2012).

• Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib national park

This safari park is the first safari park in Bangladesh. This covers 2224 acres of land. This park is situated at Chakaria, Cox’s Bazar (BSS, 2019).

• Cox’s Bazar-Teknaf marine drive

When tourists go through this road, they can see the sea on one side and the hill on another side of the road. This road goes from Teknaf to Cox’s Bazar (Mahmud and Tarek, 2013).

9. Data Analysis

Table 1. Descriptive Statistics

Table 1 shows that the average score of Cost and Quality of service is M = 3.34 with S.D = 0.40, the average score of Attraction is M = 3.79 with S.D = 0.36, the average score of Safety and Security is M = 3.87 with S.D = 0. The 34, the average score of Accessibility is M = 3.54 with S.D = 0.48.

10. Hypothesis Testing & Findings

For the inferential analysis and to test the hypotheses H1, H2, and H3 Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) & coefficient were conducted, and for H4 to see a relationship between them since both were nominal and ordinal variables Chi-square test was conducted.

Repetitive visits to Cox’s Bazar as a factor and others as independent variables for all the hypotheses.

Table 2. Test of homogeneity of variance

Table 2 shows the homogeneity of variance for hypothesis 1. We can see that p < .05 so we can say that the variance was not equally distributed among the group.

Table 3. ANOVA

Table 3 shows that the sig value, p = .29 is insignificant so we accept the null hypothesis and reject the alternate hypothesis and we can conclude that High accommodation cost constraints for tourists for a repetitive visit to Cox’s Bazar.

Ho: Accepted, H1: Rejected

Table 4. Test of Homogeneity of variances

Table 4 shows the homogeneity of variance for hypothesis 2. We can see that p = .119 so we can say that the variance was equally distributed the one group.

Table 5. ANOVA

Table 5 shows that the sig value p = .48 which is insignificant so we accept the null hypothesis and reject the alternate hypothesis and we can conclude that Tourists’ repetitive visit to Cox’s Bazar is negatively influenced by lack of recreation.

Ho: Accepted, H2: Rejected

Table 6. Test of Homogeneity of Variances

Table 6 shows the homogeneity of variance for hypothesis 3. We can see that p = .750 so we can say that the variance was equally distributed among the group.

Table 7. ANOVA

Table 7 shows that the sig value p = .42 which is insignificant so we accept the null hypothesis and reject the alternate hypothesis and we can conclude that the Awkward staring people towards tourists hurt their repetitive visit to Cox’s Bazar.

Ho: Accepted, H3: Rejected

Table 8

Directional Measures

a. Not assuming the null hypothesis.

b. Using the asymptotic standard error assuming the null hypothesis.

c. Cannot be computed because the asymptotic standard error equals zero.

d. Based on chi-square approximation.

Table 8 shows that the Sig value is P > .05, which is insignificant so we accept the null hypothesis and reject the alternate hypothesis and we can conclude there is no relation between distances required to visit and repetitive visits at Cox’s Bazar.

Ho: Accepted, H4: Rejected

11. Implementations & Limitations

Based on the findings of the research, the researcher has tried to draw some recommendations. The recommendation of this research is below:

Ø Tourists come to Cox’s Bazar for satisfaction and to pass quality leisure time. The high accommodation costs constrain tourists to spend quality time. So, hotel, and motel owners need to lower their rates of the hotel as many tourists come from rural areas and can’t afford the high rate.

Ø Sometimes it is difficult for tourists to travel a long distance from their place to Cox’s Bazar. Government should take initiative measures to fix the roads of the way to Cox’s Bazar and limit the price of ticket rates affordable to tourists.

Ø Hotel employees’ behavior is an important factor for a hotel to attract customers and come to stay at the hotel. Hotel owners should follow and supervise the hotel employee behavior toward tourists coming to their hotel to stay.

Ø There are some points inside Cox’s Bazar where the mobile network signal and internet are very low and poor. The telecommunication department should look after the matter and try to solve the issue at the earliest.

Ø Cox’s Bazar is the main tourist spot according to research but there isn’t any event organized yearly which impacts negatively for re-visit of tourists. Adequate events should be organized to attract tourists and ensure their participants.

Ø Apart from the world’s longest sea beach, there are very less places in Cox’s Bazar that will attract tourists to re-visit often. Local government, authorities should take initial steps to reconstruct, and rearrange existing places and sites to attract more tourists.

Ø Tourists pass their whole day roaming around the sea beach, observing the natural beauty, enjoying the sunset, and bathing on the beach. But later half of the day they feel very bored as there is nothing or less to do at night in Cox’s Bazar. So, authorities need to build or arrange some recreational activities, places, and programs at night so that visiting tourists could enjoy and think of re-visiting Cox’s Bazar again.

Ø Due to the natural behavior of people staring at other people in Bangladesh, it is a common issue and habit nowadays in tourist spots. Well education from family, the institution could prevent and buildup a behavior that would prevent this awkward behavior.

Ø As a tourist spot, Cox’s Bazar is now the target of thieves, smugglers, and crime masters. Government should implement and appoint high-security professionals for the safety of tourists visiting Cox’s Bazar.

Ø Cox’s Bazar is in a geographical location that prevents tourists to come and visit regularly even if tourists wish to come and visit. So, access to Cox’s Bazar needs to be easy and comfortable along with less burden, and less costly.

12. Limitations & Future Research

Like other research, this study has some limitations also. As the study has been conducted in a beachside area, place limitations exist. So, further research can be done covering full Cox’s Bazar tourist attractions. Again, the sample size is small in number, only 75. Further research can be done on a wide variety of tourists to get more satisfactory results. This research is conducted in a short period and there exist fund limitations also. Because of this, all the tourists cannot be included. Moreover, during the research, the researcher also faced and understood there also exists unwillingness and biasedness among respondents to provide their exact opinion. So, in future research tourists from home & abroad can be included to have better opinions.

13. Conclusions

One of the major tourist destinations in Asia is Cox’s Bazar. Cox’s Bazar is blessed with the longest sea beach in the world, 120km long. Over the years, Cox’s Bazar has attracted multiple tourists within Bangladesh and around the globe (Ethirajan and Anbarasan, 2012). However, repetitive visits of tourists at Cox’s Bazar had repeatedly declined due to various factors. In this research, we thoroughly conducted a questionnaire survey among the tourists visiting Cox’s Bazar to find out those obstacles. According to the research findings, high accommodation cost is one of the biggest obstacles in the repetitive visits of tourists to Cox’s Bazar. The Government of Bangladesh needs to work on the arrangement of reasonably priced accommodation in areas with good quality restaurants for visitors. The hotels in the locality of Cox’s Bazar are quite expensive and most tourists cannot afford the price. Secondly, the lack of recreation in Cox’s Bazar impedes the repetitive visit of tourists. Recreational activities promote the development of tourism. BPC needs to update and revamp the tourism sector by introducing innovative settings in the sector. Likewise, canoeing, water sport, cycling, water biking, fishing, and so on. By introducing recreational activities, repetitive visits of tourists at Cox’s Bazar will accelerate. Thirdly, the awkward staring of people towards tourists hurts repetitive visits of tourists to Cox’s Bazar. Attitude and reactions are interconnected with each other. Uncertain attitudes of residents of an area towards foreign tourists result in unsupportive and opposing actions. Resultantly, people do not wish to visit that place in the future. The residents of Cox’s Bazar need to respect the privacy of the tourists and act more passively and friendly toward them. Hence, the factors that constrain repetitive visits of tourists at Cox’s Bazar were thoroughly discovered in this research by quantitative data analysis methodology. The government of Bangladesh and Bangladesh Parajatan Cooperation BPC needs to take some effective and innovative measures to increase the repetitive visits of tourists to Cox’s Bazar.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This research paper is an accumulation of many people’s endeavors. But at the beginning, we would like to express our gratitude to Rajidul Haque (Assistant Professor, Business Administration, Cox’s Bazar International University) for his encouragement. His support means a lot to completing this research. I would also like to thank Dr. Ranajit Dastidar (Dean of Faculties, Cox’s Bazar International University) for his advice and cooperation as he help us to make the logical arguments in this research. We are thankful to the persons whose enriching books; journals & working papers have provided a guideline to me in preparing this research article. This research article would not be possible without the cooperation of the tourists who have already visited Cox’s Bazar helped us by providing their valuable opinion & views regarding Cox’s Bazar & provided us with the necessary suggestions.

Disclosure

We, thereby declare that this research paper titled “Constraints to Repetitive Visits in Cox’s Bazar as a Tourist Destination: An Empirical Study” is prepared by us. Thus, this research paper is an original report of our work, written by the indicated authors, Collection of information data analysis & the preparation of this research paper is the result of the authors’ efforts and has not previously been submitted in whole or in part to any journal and Liability. The responsibility of this research paper goes to the authors of it.