Dhaka, November 3 (HS):
The situation in Bangladesh after the coup of the Sheikh Hasina government and the bitterness of its relations with India have had a profound effect on the tourism industry there. Looking at the situation there, foreign tourists are not coming, on top of that, the effect of the strict visa rules imposed by many countries including India was that the number of Bangladeshi passengers traveling abroad has suddenly come down a lot. The country's tour operators are very disappointed with this and are appealing to the government to find a solution to this, soon.
Bangladesh's leading newspaper Prothom Alo has quoted the Bangladesh Outbound Tour Operators Forum, a forum of 123 outbound tour operators, as saying that 80 percent of the business of tour operators comes from tourists traveling abroad. Visas have been banned for Bangladeshis in India, due to which the number of passengers going to India, the closest and popular among tourists, has suddenly decreased a lot.
Along with this, many other countries are continuing strict visa rules in view of the political situation in Bangladesh. Due to which the aviation and tourism business is facing a period of decline.
The report states that after the change of government in Bangladesh, India has stopped issuing visas to Bangladesh except for emergency medical visas. While the United Arab Emirates is also not issuing tourist visas. Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines issue visas with delay.
Apart from this, due to the changed circumstances, businessmen and common travelers have also cut down on foreign trips. Due to which there has been a 75-80 percent decline in foreign trips of local tourists.
Giving the data of tourists arriving in India from Bangladesh, it has been told that in 2019 a record 2.58 million tourists arrived in India from Bangladesh but it declined due to the coronavirus epidemic. It started increasing once again in the year 2022. According to the data of the Indian Ministry of Tourism, 1.28 million tourists from Bangladesh arrived in India in 2022 and 22 percent of them used the air route, while the rest traveled by road. Of those tourists, 64.8 percent arrived in India for travel purposes, 25.5 percent for treatment and 4.5 percent for business and job purposes. A total of 2.20 million Bangladeshis visited India in 2024. About 4.78 million tourists from various countries visited India in January-June 2024, with Bangladeshis accounting for the highest number of 21.55 percent.
According to Chowdhury Hasanuzzaman, President of Bangladesh Outbound Tour Operators Forum, the tourism sector is constantly facing new challenges since the coronavirus pandemic. The business situation is very bad. No one knows when the Indian visa process will be regular. He said that the government should come forward to save the tourism sector.
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Hindusthan Samachar / Nimish kumar