What is your take on the country's tourism industry?
Bangladeshi people are adventurous and so, they keep exploring whenever they get a chance.
No matter whether it’s a group or just one person, people are always eager about exploring the unknown realms to see more and know more.
That is why travelling is a part of our culture.
The tourism industry in our country contributes around 4.4% to the country’s GDP because people spare no expense when it comes to food and travel.
However, our tourist attractions are not fully utilized.
It is because the industry could not fully tap into the blessings of digitization yet.
With the onset of the pandemic, it has become more evident that people are leaning towards digital services more and more.
So, the government and other stakeholders need to work collaboratively for creating an inclusive ecosystem riding on the power of digitization and internet facilities.
With the internet penetration increasing day by day in our country, it will now be easier to reach more travelers.
Our neighbouring countries are leveraging their tourism sector, which is contributing significantly to the economic development of those respective countries.
At the moment, digitization of the tourism sector is of paramount importance and it could help this industry become a robust sector in near future.
How do you perceive the online travel agency (OTA) segment?
When we talk about OTA, the first thing that we need to consider is consumer behaviour.
In this fast world, consumer behaviour is constantly changing and more travellers are planning trips digitally.
For example – when you think about planning a trip, which device do you use? Definitely, it’s your phone or laptop.
People are less interested in going to the agents directly nowadays.
According to a study conducted by Statista, computers are now the most popular channel for travelers worldwide when it comes to planning and booking destinations for holidays.
It points to the fact that travellers are now more open to the prospect of an online travel agency (OTA) for mapping out their tour plan.
So, more travellers are getting interested in OTAs for availing travel-related services.
It is heartening to see that the government as well as industry insiders are putting efforts into helping this segment grow.
With Covid-19 pandemic restrictions decreasing, where would you put the estimated figure on Bangladeshis travelling overseas?
Owing to Covid-19 restrictions, there was a huge fall in the number of travellers, both domestically and globally.
However, things have started to turn the corner and travelling restrictions have been eased in many countries.
Since the restrictions have been uplifted, we have seen that the number of travellers has increased almost by 20 folds.
Some people are still hesitating to travel overseas, but I hope the situation will improve very soon.
There is a very good possibility that outbound travel will be on the rise in the coming days, which will help this industry experience sustained growth just like other industries.
State Minister for ICT Division Zunaid Ahmed Palak has recently pointed out that only 20% of the country’s travel market was explored, while the remaining 80% remains untapped. How can ShareTrip contribute to it?
We have a large potential tourism industry.
To tap into its full potential, we have to reach everyone -- even someone from the farthest corner of the country.
ShareTrip is already working together with the a2i project under the ICT Division to empower the remotest regions of the country.
We want to make travel-related services domestic, inbound and outbound more accessible to everyone.
This is where the investment from Startup Bangladesh Limited on ShareTrip will play a major role.
In this regard, developing travel literacy is significant as our prospective customers should have the skills and knowledge necessary to seek such services online.
ShareTrip is trying to teach the consumers about how they can get more and more services right from the comfort of their homes using their phones.
Tell us about the investment from Startup Bangladesh that you have received recently.
Startup Bangladesh Limited, the flagship venture capital company of ICT Division, has recently invested in ShareTrip valued at $50 million with a view to closing the gap between offline and online travel services.
We are the first travel-tech company to be funded by the government-backed venture capital.
ShareTrip, in line with Vision 2041, will be working towards minimizing the existing gap between offline and online travel services to build a holistic and internet inclusive travel ecosystem.
To attract foreign investment, what do you think local startups need to focus on?
If we take the global market into account, travel is a $7 trillion industry whereas this industry is expected to reach a market size of $7 billion by 2023.
To reach this estimated growth point and expand further, startups need to attract foreign investment.
To lure in investment, local startups must focus on improving their product development, expansion and not to mention customer experience.
It is the satisfied customers who will speak in favour of you and help you grow your base.
Instead of always keeping your attention on glamourous ads and publicity gimmicks, startups should set ambitious goals, work tirelessly and try to set the right standards while working towards the goal.
Through these, startups can showcase themselves as long term players in the ecosystem, thriving towards sustainability and ultimately profitability in the long term.
Such practice will help in developing a healthy ecosystem and once you have a robust ecosystem in place, more people will feel interested in making investments in this sector.
What are ShareTrip's future plans?
If I look back at how we began our journey, nobody believed that we could become the largest OTA in the country.
Then again, we have proved that your vision can be realized if we work hard and follow the right path.
Today, we are not only the largest OTA in the country but also made our space amongst the top in the total travel space.
Now we feel that only being in this position is not enough for us.
We do not want to remain as a dominant player in the ecosystem, rather we want to take ourselves to a height where ShareTrip will be the first and only choice whenever someone will think of travelling.
To do so, we will work united with all other stakeholders including our hotel partners, tour operators, airlines to name a few.
Helping the local hotel industry grow is one of our top priorities right now as there is a lot of growth potential in this segment.
ShareTrip wants to help the local hotel industry grow and reach its potential.
After conquering local industry, we want to expand our operations globally, at the same time, make in-bound tourism more prominent and create a niche market for our tourism industry.
We want to take the beauty of our country to the global stage and vie with other leading OTAs like Agoda and booking.com to offer the most convenient and lucrative travel solutions.
We already have our foot in the door and now we have to just walk through it with the right strategy and confidence and explore the numerous opportunities waiting for us.