The non-stop blockade has seriously damaged the tourism sector of Bangladesh in the last two months.
Many foreign travellers have already cancelled their tours as they are afraid to visit Bangladesh, said speakers at a roundtable arranged by the Tour Operators Association of Bangladesh (TOAB) at the National Press Club yesterday.
Every year TOAB attends at least 5-6 lakh tourists, however, in the last two months they saw only 510 tourists.
President of TOAB Dr Akbar Uddin Ahmed said: “Tourism is a potential sector in Bangladesh. About 300 owners and thousands of people are directly or indirectly associated with this sector. Now they are in fear of losing their jobs.”
TOAB members urged the government to introduce on-arrival visa system which is present in our neighbouring countries like Bhutan, Nepal and Thailand.
Through the introduction of the system, any tourist can visit the country any time. It will attract more tourists, they said.
Shiblul Azam Koreshi, adviser to TOAB, said: “Lack of planing and publicity is a major problem in this sector. It is operating in an unplanned manner and we do not have any measure for promotion or publicity.”
