In 2002, the figure stood at 207,246, said the corporation, Bangladesh's national tourism body.

It said that after decades of loss, it was now out of the red and had earned 33 million Taka (5.7 million US dollars) in 2002.

Corporation chief Mahbubur Rahman told a local newspaper in an interview published Sunday that the main reasons for the turnaround were infrastructure development and the opening of some of its facilities to private entrepreneurs to manage.

Those in the trade put the rise in visitors down to the large number of international conferences held in Bangladesh last year and to an increase in the number of foreign entrepreneurs looking for opportunities.