One can easily generate an idea about a house from the look of its front door. It is easy to gauge the mentality and taste of the house's residents by simply looking at the porch or the living room. Airports are no different than a house's porch. Immigration services at airports can give tourists an idea of the people's mentality in the host country.
Passengers arriving at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) have repeatedly shared their bitter experiences with mismanagement in luggage handling and misconduct by various staff and officials. There are also complaints about Visa-on-Arrival (VOA) complications and long immigration queues. As a result, foreign tourists are losing interest in travelling to Bangladesh.
A group of ten tourists from Taiwan came to witness the Bengali New Year celebrations, or Pohela Boishakh. They arrived in Dhaka on April 13 with the help of an agency named Journey Plus. The group had to face a lot of trouble at the airport to get their visas.
Initially, the group was asked to submit their visa applications together, but later, they were told to submit their applications separately. They submitted their applications separately at around 1am but were able to leave the airport at 3am. They expressed their displeasure over the delay.
In another instance, in March of this year, 13 tourists from Greece came to Dhaka. They also suffered at the airport. They received the visa after two hours.
Industry insiders say that getting a Bangladeshi tourist visa is like spotting a golden deer. In many countries, there is no use in running for a Bangladeshi tourist visa at the respective Bangladesh embassy and high commission. Most of the time, visa seekers return empty-handed. It is also difficult for foreign visa seekers to come to the Bangladesh embassy from distant areas. As a result, the VOA was an attempt by the authorities to provide some relief to eligible foreign tourists. However, this type of visa is not easy to get at the airport either.
There is a VOA desk at the Dhaka airport, where there are six counters and but only three officers. To get a visa, a foreigner must first submit a visa application online. There is no place to sit at the VOA desk, and drinking water is also unavailable. This is tiring for tourists who have had a long flight already. After completing all the formalities, they have to stand in another queue to submit the fee at the Sonali Bank counter at the airport.
Tawfiq Rahman, secretary general of the Bangladesh chapter of the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), said that tourists are dissatisfied with the long wait to get VOA. Despite the airport's relatively small size, sincere efforts can solve the existing problems. Tourists lose interest in travelling to Bangladesh because of their bad experience at the airport.
He also said that it is important to simplify the VOA process. At the same time, it should be ensured that there is no long wait to get the visa. He suggested that the officials must be cordial so that foreign tourists understand what is being told to them.
Abu Taher Muhammad Jaber, chief executive officer of the Bangladesh Tourism Board, said: "We have repeatedly talked to the immigration department about these issues. An orientation program for immigration police on tourism is also being initiated. The problem, however, is that those who work in immigration are not permanent. The personnel members change.”
He mentioned the need for motivation for immigration officers in this regard, saying: "I would suggest to the Civil Aviation Authority that separate seats be installed for VOA seekers."
Kamrul Islam, executive director of HSIA, said that they held multiple meetings with the immigration police and the airport authorities regarding the visa process.
"We've made seating arrangements for tourists there." The problem is that many people do not bring all the necessary documents for visa applications. Therefore, some of them need more time than others. At the same time, many people apply for VOA, but it takes time. We will work on how to make the whole process easier.”
