DHAKA: Bangladesh tourism industry faced hardships after tourists cancelled their planned trips to Bangladesh due to the ongoing political unrest, local tour operators said here the other day.
The tourism industry has started to feel the pinch of strikes and blockades, said Taufiq Rahman, chief executive of Journey Plus, a leading inbound tour operator.
Five groups comprising 120 tourists from the UK, the US, Canada, Australia, China and Japan were scheduled to visit Bangladesh during January-February through Rahman’s company. They have already cancelled their trips, he said.
The story is the same for other tour operators as well, he said.
“We are going through a crisis due to the strikes and blockades. Foreign tourists are losing their confidence in coming to the country.”
A total of 50 tourists from China were scheduled to come to Bangladesh on Saturday, but they cancelled their trip fearing violence, Rahman said.
The company had booked 100 tickets from Dhaka to Cox’s Bazar for the Chinese tourists at a cost of Tk 7.5 lakh, he said, adding that the airline operators charged Tk 1,000 for cancelling each ticket.
“We have made a loss of Tk 1 lakh on this group’s travel plans. Our total loss for these five groups’ cancellation was Tk 80 lakh.”
“Foreign tourists come here for leisure and they don’t want to take any risk. Cancelling their trip was their only option.”
The two-week long blockade has cast a gloom over the services sectors, like tourism, he said. The BNP-led 20-party alliance has announced a daylong strike for today.
Tourists who have already entered the country have also failed to make their planned visits to archaeological sites in Rangamati, Chapainawabganj, Rajshahi, Bogra and Sylhet as they were stuck in hotels for blockades, he said.
A total of five groups of tourists from Turkey, China and Japan, comprising 30 people, are sitting idle in hotels, he said.
This is the first time the 14 tourists from Turkey came to Bangladesh, Rahman said.
Two groups comprising 30 tourists from Australia and Italy have also cancelled their 14-day trip since January 12 through Riverain Tours.
“The travel of foreign tourists is our bread and butter,” said Syed Mahbubul Islam Bulu, chief executive of Riverain Tours. “We are in a crisis as the country is experiencing a tough political period.”
The political parties should free the tourism industry from their agenda, he said.
A total of 30 tourists from Japan and China had planned to visit Bangladesh this month through Tour Planners. “They have cancelled their trips,” said Faridul Haque, the company’s managing director.
“Bangladesh has a number of natural tourism spots, while Singapore has invested $20 million to develop the sector. But we cannot bag the full benefits from the sector due to the strikes and blockades,” said Haque.
The country’s image is being eroded for the political unrest, he said.
A bus carrying 26 Japanese tourists was attacked at Pirojpur last week. Miscreants threw stones at the bus and the tourists got back home ahead of schedule, he said. “We are losing foreign currencies due to the strikes.”
Bengal Tours brought 50 tourists from Japan and Europe to Bangladesh. “We are in a mess as we cannot take them to the planned sites,” said Masud Hossain, executive director of the company.
Another 100 tourists will visit Bangladesh next month through the company. “We are tense over whether the situation will improve or further deteriorate.” “We want a pleasant environment to do business in the country.”
In 2013, a total of 3.92 lakh foreigners visited Bangladesh, generating direct jobs for 1,328,500 people (1.8 percent of total employment), according to World Travel and Tourism Council.
