If others can, why not Bangladesh?

We proudly recite Dwijendralal Ray’s verses: "Emon deshti kothao khuje pabe nako tumi, Sokol desher rani she je amar jonmobhumi" (Nowhere else will you find a land like this, Queen of all lands is my motherland). Yet, despite hailing our homeland as supreme, Bangladesh remains among the most backward nations in attracting foreign tourists. International travellers show little enthusiasm for the world’s largest mangrove forest, the Sundarbans, home to the Royal Bengal tiger and spotted deer. Cox’s Bazar boasts the world’s longest natural sea beach, yet foreign footprints remain scarce. The picturesque Chittagong Hill Tracts, Sylhet, and the vast wetland haors fail to draw global visitors. When it comes to tourism’s contribution to GDP, Bangladesh languishes near the bottom among 184 nations worldwide. At the heart of this failure lies an acute lack of tourist-friendly amenities and infrastructure. The remarkable success of Bahrain—a tiny, arid, desert-clad nation in the Middle East—puts naturally gifted Bangladesh to shame.

The world is an enigma. There is so much to witness and discover, of which we comprehend so little. As Rabindranath Tagore once penned:

“Bipula e prithibir kototukui-ba jani,

Deshe deshe koto-na nogor, rajdhhani,

Manusher koto kirti, koto nodi giri sindhu moru,

Koto-na ojana jeeb, koto-na oporichito toru

Roye gelo ogochore.”

My professional commitments took me to this unfamiliar Gulf nation of Bahrain. It is a highly promising destination for remittance earnings, hosting a sizable population of Bangladeshi migrant workers. However, because they are predominantly unskilled or semi-skilled, our workers struggle to compete against counterparts from India, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Nepal. Most are confined to hard manual labour in construction, enduring back-breaking conditions for modest pay. One must witness their grueling lives firsthand to grasp the reality.

Indian expatriates dominate professional spheres across Bahrain because they are largely skilled and educated; even those with modest schooling speak proficient English, earning them hiring priority. Among Persian Gulf states, Bahrain is tiny, with a population of barely 1.4 million—40 percent of whom are expatriates. Manama is the capital, and Islam is the state religion. Although oil production is modest by Gulf standards, the country transformed into an affluent state by refining crude imported from Saudi Arabia. In bygone eras, Bahrain lacked major natural resources; its economy rested entirely on fishing and pearl diving. Bahraini men spent months at sea aboard traditional wooden dhows. Divers plunged to the seabed without modern apparatus, risking life and limb to retrieve wild pearls that gained global acclaim. While the discovery of petroleum phased out this trade, modern Bahrain proudly celebrates its pearl-diving legacy.

Bahrain’s prosperity is inextricably linked to Saudi Arabia, underpinned by enduring bilateral brotherhood. Beyond geographic proximity, the two nations are physically linked by the 26-kilometre King Fahd Causeway. Fleets of trucks roll across this bridge daily, supplying food and essentials that keep Bahrain’s retail market vibrant. Riyadh is also Manama’s largest commercial partner, investing heavily in oil refining and hospitality.

When global centres of nightlife and hedonism are mentioned, cities like Bangkok, Las Vegas, and Rio de Janeiro spring to mind. Astonishingly, despite Islam being its state religion, Bahrain rivals Bangkok and Las Vegas in commercialised indulgence—prompting some to dub it a "sin capital." While illicit activities are not officially sanctioned, underground nightlife thrives in full view. Many venues bypass typical cultural prohibitions. Unlike Gulf states that ban intoxicants, nightlife thrives here openly. Most hotels feature massage parlours, many of which serve as fronts for vice operations while local enforcement looks the other way.

Because Bahrain caters across the entertainment spectrum, foreign arrivals continue to climb. Wealthy Gulf youths—particularly from Saudi Arabia—frequent Manama’s western-style nightclubs, lounges, and discotheques that stay packed past midnight. During holidays, hotels hit maximum capacity. Many regular visitors rent private villas by the month to sidestep booking hurdles. Long accustomed to affluence, polygamy is widespread among local men. Despite rising education levels, conservative patriarchs continue to commodify women. While local women don hijabs and abayas in public, many wear western skirts beneath, reflecting strong western cultural affinity beneath the traditional veil.

The smooth overland passage across the King Fahd Causeway makes Bahrain a playground for Saudi revelers seeking liquor, gaming, and nightlife. Many indulge in alcohol overnight and embark on drunken drives home, triggering frequent crashes that have earned the highway the grim moniker "Blood Border."

Bangladesh remains a developing country where millions live below the poverty line. Chasing escape from unemployment, Bangladeshi women have joined men abroad in droves. Around 8,000 Bangladeshi women currently work as domestic aides in Bahrain. With local habits of indulgence, some fall prey to exploitation and coercion, at times coerced into vice trades inside private clubs or hotels. While painful for the expatriate community, the illicit network is run by local underworld elements, leaving the Bangladesh Embassy’s interventions largely ineffective. Across Bahrain, Bangladeshi women also serve in housekeeping, sanitation, readymade garments, and service outlets. Despite earning lower average wages than men, they consistently remit the bulk of their income home via banking and informal channels (hundi), sustaining rural households and contributing crucially to Bangladesh’s macroeconomy.

Bahrain is ruled by King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, who reportedly maintains 12 royal palaces. Their exact locations are cloaked in strict secrecy; several are believed to sit secluded in the desert interior, with royal movements fiercely guarded.

Of all Bahrain’s sights, the most fascinating is a solitary, ancient tree standing defiantly in the desert expanses, renowned worldwide as the "Tree of Life." Across horizons of barren sand devoid of water, this 400-year-old tree continues to blossom with vibrant green foliage under scorching skies. How it draws water and flourishes in extreme conditions remains an unexplained marvel that draws thousands of tourists every year.

Bahrain represents a promising labour market for Bangladesh. The country’s wealth drives nonstop infrastructure, civil engineering, and commercial development, generating steady employment opportunities for foreign labour. Our policymakers must give this remittance market greater institutional focus. More importantly, Bahrain’s thriving hospitality ecosystem illustrates how modern services can transform a desert into a global tourist magnet. If other nations can build booming tourism industries out of scarce resources, why cannot naturally gifted Bangladesh do the same?

The writer is a researcher and essayist.