Indigenous communities, tourism development and extreme poverty alleviation in rural Bangladesh

Despite the fact that indigenous culture is considered a significant tourist attraction, limited attention has been given to the relationship between indigenous communities, tourism development and poverty alleviation in the context of developing nations. Two case studies from Bangladesh demonstrate that indigenous communities are marginalized economically, physically, culturally, socially and politically and remain in extreme poverty. This article acknowledges that the coordinated effort of the stakeholders, such as government organizations, non-governmental organizations, the national tourism organization, private tourism organizations, international aid agencies and indigenous communities, is essential in order to protect the indigenous communities from various forms of marginalization and help to alleviate extreme poverty.