Bangladesh: The Bradt Travel Guide Book Launch party, 1 Oct, Dhaka, click poster to see full size

It was a long road to get here, one of the biggest challenges I have taken on in my life and one that I now feel very proud of. More importantly, I fully believe my guide is important for the wonderful people of Bangladesh — some of the kindest and most hospitable people our planet has to offer. It is my hope that more people visit Bangladesh to see the reality behind the veil, the truth behind Bangladesh’s horrible headlines.

Today I’d like to offer some of my friends and contacts the chance to purchase a signed copy of the guidebook, which I will send from London when I visit the Bradt Travel Guides office on 21 September.

One of the wonderful things I learned about Islam during my stay in Bangladesh is the concept of Zakat — which means giving alms to the poor. A good Muslim is supposed to donate 10 percent of his earnings to support widows, orphans and the poor,

After getting inspired by the book Three Cups of Tea, I decided want to take this chance to raise some funds for the Jaago Foundation, a Dhaka-based charity that Belinda and I have chosen to support with all of our book’s launch activities. The foundation supports the education of slum children in Rayer Bazaar, one of Dhaka’s poorest neighbourhoods.

Here’s a Jaago promotional video:

From Jaago’s website:

Basic sponsorship cost per child is a minimum of BDT 12,000 (US$180) annually, or you may pay installments of BDT 1000 monthly BDT 3000 quarterly or BDT 6000 half yearly (The amount of the sponsorship is increased from BDT 500 to BDT 1000 monthly). You also have the option to sponsor a project. The money received at our headquarters is forwarded for the betterment of the children. Eid and/or birthday money can be sent via headquarters.

My goal is to sponsor as many children as possible with my book-selling drive, so if you’ve been thinking of buying a book, there is no better time than now to help me support a few underprivileged children at the same time. But it would be ideal if I can get 60 books sold at USD$25.99 each, I will be able to support two children for an entire year of education.

You can use the button below to donate to the project and buy a book at the same time. Please add your shipping address if you’d like me to send you a signed copy of the book.

After you click the donation button, you’ll need to enter in the donation amount. The best price I can offer for the book is $20.00USD, which includes shipping to anywhere in the world. The listed price for the book is $25.99USD and although you can pick up the book more cheaply at Amazon, it won’t be signed and you won’t be supporting a good cause like Jaago.

So if you’re ready, please click the donation button and enter an amount of $25.99USD (if you donate more I’ll use the extra funds to support Jaago). You’ll be able to add your shipping details at Paypal.

Even if you’re not interested in buying a book, this is a chance to donate to the project, one that I have felt is extremely worthwhile and run by people who I trust very much.

Thanks for your help in advance!

Note: if you’re in Dhaka and receiving this message you’ll have a chance to support Jaago by coming to the book launch on 1 October at the Australian High Commission. Click here to learn more.

But it does get thousands of expatriates, NGO workers, volunteers and diplomats every year. And all of these ‘tourists’ could be a part of your potential market.

So how do you get your product in front of that market?

Answer: Advertise in the right place.

Bangladesh: The Bradt Travel Guide
Most of you know I’ve been working very hard in creating a totally new guidebook for Bangladesh. For 2.5 years I have tried almost every travel experience your country has to offer, both good and bad, and earned the expertise that travellers want. I then spent six months writing a totally new guidebook for Bangladesh.

This August, we will release our new guide to the international market, and you need to be there if you want to reach new travellers to Bangladesh.

Bradt Travel Guides are very different from the competition. Our guides are known for their authorship and detail, something that is very attractive to the kind of person who would consider a visit to Bangladesh.

And even better: most of that market already knows there’s a new guidebook coming soon.

The power of social marketing
For a long time now, I have been working on a pre-book release website under the URL http://www.joybangla.info for the upcoming title of ‘Bangladesh: The Bradt Travel Guide.’

Under this website we have evolved a loyal following to the upcoming guide, which has earned over 30,000 individual views since early 2007, with over 100 individual views per day. Does your website have that much traffic?

We also have a loyal Facebook group with over 150 members (mainly used to promote upcoming Bangladesh trips), a building Youtube audience with travel videos, and a stunning collection of Flickr photographs which we would also like to use for a photography book entitled “Bangladesh: A Journey of Images” (PDF primer and dummy copies are available for interested publishers).

There are already thousands of potential readers out there, learning about our work, and our book, every day.

So do you want access to those readers?

Stand apart from the pack
In the international world, visibility is an important part of any business. It’s a competitive market out there, especially in one as small as Bangladesh. So you’ve got to stand head and shoulders above your competition.

Advertising in our new Bangladesh guidebook will help you achieve that, and at great value.

For as little as BDT10,000 you can be positioned in the new guidebook. For up to BDT1,10,000 your advertisement will be unmistakable.

Below are the advertising documents and information. Advertisements range from £100 to £1,156 (BDT 10,000 to BDT110,000), depending on size and colour.

Don’t know how to design an ad that is attractive to foreigners?

No problem.

For a minimal fee, I can help you create an advertisement that represents your unique product, or give you some ideas about how to do it.

Contact me for more information. The advertising submission deadline is April 24th, so you’d better act fast!

You can download the Advertising Info here (Word Doc, 352KB), and the Advance Book Information here (PDF, 1.5MB).

Best regards,
-Mikey Leung and Belinda Meggitt
Authors, “Bangladesh: The Bradt Travel Guide”

Recently, Forbes.com pronounced Dhaka the world’s second dirtiest city. But according to me, there are still some fun things to do here.

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I’m planning a tour to the Bandarbans and need to see who is interested to come.

People who work Sunday to Thursday will need to take Thursday off—the extra day will help you enjoy this once in a lifetime opportunity to experience the most scenic part of the Chittagong Hill Tracts.

13 Feb: overnight train/bus to Chittagong, or perhaps direct bus to Bandarbans (train preferred–more comfortable!)

14 Feb: move by microbus to The Guide Tours Hillside Resort to meet me (three hours, if you did not take the direct bus); early afternoon exploration

15 Feb: day excursion to nearby village, pack lunch picnic, walkng through streams, heading to the forest, celebratory dinner

16 Feb: morning trek to nearby village, evening departure by direct Dhaka bus or via Chittagong and train/bus

I have some ideas of how much it’s going to cost, but I haven’t had the chance to calculate it yet. I will inform people once I have gauged interest and availability!

I’ve already booked three cottages and have capacity for six to eight guests. So if you’re interested you’d better tell me quick! I will need a deposit of Tk1,000 by January 30th, along with a copy of your passport and your Bangladesh visa page, in order to guarantee your space on this trip.

Please reply here, at facebook or call me at 01714 361 173.

I hope you can join us for this memorable Bandarbans adventure!!

After experiencing the effect of the cyclone with our own eyes, we recorded our final reflections. It’s also one of our crew’s last day in Bangladesh—Michael Mangano—and he gave some thoughts on what he’s seen in the country.

In the end we decided to support the village of Dhangmari with Tk 40,000 ($575 USD) for fishing boats, enabling a few villagers to make more money and support themselves. We also decided to earmark another Tk5,000 ($85 USD) for instruments for the cultural shows, and the leftover Tk20,000 will go to an orphange.

Today we also learn a little more about the cast — who are the people putting these podcasts together, and why have we come to Bangladesh? We discuss again, the ethical philosophy of doing relief work yourself, or is it all just pointless, given the current state of affairs in Bangladesh?

Background
Before coming, donors who were friends of Michael Mangano gave $1,000 for us to bring directly to people in need from the cyclone, as something to do while Michael visited Bangladesh for research purposes (and to have a bit of travel fun).

Is this the approach we should use? Should travellers approach local relief organisations and NGOs with the goal of helping Bangladesh get back on its feet? Tune in to the below podcast for more.

Background
Before coming, donors who were friends of Michael Mangano gave $1,000 for us to bring directly to people in need from the cyclone, as something to do while Michael visited Bangladesh for research purposes (and to have a bit of fun).

For the next few days we’ll be podcasting our efforts as we take a boat journey to some Cyclone-struck villages bordering the Sundarbans, the world’s largest mangrove forest and a world heritage site. The forest suffered immensely during Cyclone Sidr, and we don’t know we’ll see.

Our first podcast is about what Tourism for Development can mean when it is applied, on the ground, by travellers themselves. Is it the right thing to do? Should travellers cut out all middle men and bring to the help directly to the ground themselves? And also have a lot of fun while they do it?

We ask these questions and more in the following podcast. Please listen for more.

“The benefits yielded from tourism should be fairly distributed,” said Professor Md. Anwarul Islam, in a keynote speech addressing participants at the Bangladesh Travel Tourism Fair 2007 (BTTF). “Only then will tourism become participatory, and thus the rights of the local residents will be properly recognized. In this way, tourism will become responsible and sustainable.”

Professor Md. Anwarul Islam presented a position paper on the use of Responsible Travel to fight poverty in Bangladesh. Philip J. DeCosse, Chief of Party of the Nishorgo Support Project, also presented (on left).

6 Sept 2007 – www.mikeyleung.ca

Tourism can be a powerful force in eradicating poverty, says Dhaka University Zoology Professor Anwarul Islam.

“The benefits yielded from tourism should be fairly distributed,” he said, in a keynote speech addressing participants at the Bangladesh Travel Tourism Fair 2007 (BTTF). “Only then will tourism become participatory, and thus the rights of the local residents will be properly recognized. In this way, tourism will become responsible and sustainable.”

The fair was organized by the Tourism Operators Association of Bangladesh in an wide-ranging effort to build and promote Bangladeshi tourism. Tourism has grown widely in the last few years, with more and more private operators setting up shop in the tiny nation. Many local operators expect growth in the domestic market over the next few years.

Philip J. DeCosse, Chief of Party of the Nishorgo Support Project, described the recent growth in the industry as encouraging. He also cautioned that profits must reach the right people in order to create change.

“The statistics for the number of paid visitors to the Sunderbans is up to nearly a million today—huge growth in the last few years,” said DeCosse. “The top 10 percent are earning more and more. What people generally do after making enough money, they want to pay for environment. They may travel just for enjoyment, but they will also pay for nature.”

He cautioned operators to not take advantage of Bangladesh’s few remaining natural areas and the people that live there, as this will be counterproductive to tourism growth.

“When you bring visitors out, you must remember that revenue belongs with the community,” he stressed. “I think the state can also step in and say that when you visit, there will be community structures that directly receiving benefits for their efforts in protecting these areas.”