Rajshahi University Opens Four-Day Tourism and Food Festival

The event links hospitality studies with discussion of domestic tourism and professional skills.

A four-day Tourism Fair and Food Festival opened at Rajshahi University on November 4. BSS reported that the Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management organised the event on the Rabindra Bhaban premises for the fourth time.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Faridul Islam attended the opening, while Bangladesh Tourism Board chief executive Mutasim Billah Faruqui joined as chief patron. The programme included a presentation by former tourism board chief Jabed Ahmed on the industry’s prospects and future development.

Speakers discussed domestic travel, entrepreneurship and the skills needed in tourism services. The vice-chancellor referred to the department’s introduction of Chinese language education and possible future language courses. Those remarks concern the university’s academic direction; they do not establish that every proposed course is already open for enrolment or that a specific employment outcome is guaranteed.

Context: Tourism education brings together knowledge of destinations with practical service skills. A campus festival can give students a setting in which to explore presentation, organisation and hospitality, while visitors encounter discussions and activities outside a conventional classroom. Its educational value depends on how participation connects with actual learning.

The event also offers an opportunity to consider the relationship between tourism promotion and the needs of local communities. Visitor services, cultural interpretation and responsible management can matter alongside marketing a destination. Follow-up information about student projects, participating organisations and lessons from the festival would help explain its contribution. For now, the confirmed development is the opening of the four-day programme, with its longer-term academic and professional benefits still to be assessed after the activities conclude.