Tour Operators Incur Loss of Tk 1500cr in 3 Months

The country's tour operators have incurred almost Taka 1500 crore losses in the last three months and fear that Taka 6000 crore will be hit by the end of this year as the tourism industry has been most affected by the deadly COVID-19 pandemic.

The Tour Operator Association of Bangladesh (TOAB), a group of 678 tour operators in Bangladesh, estimated their damages in a report entitled 'Impacts on Bangladesh Tourism and TOAB due to COVID-19.'

The report also reveals that the operators have already been forced to cut 5000 jobs in three months.

The Tour Operators 'Apex Body prepared today's report to the Bangladesh Tourism Board (BTB) on the basis of a questionnaire answered by its representatives concerning inbound, outbound and domestic package losses, ticketing prices, office rental costs, staff wages, and other expenses from January to March 2020.

The report found that outbound tour operators are mostly affected with Taka 340 crore loss followed by ticketing worth Taka 305 crore while inbound and domestic tour operators incurred losses of Taka 186 crore and Taka 100 crore respectively in last three months.

“After analyzing the losses in the last three months, we have estimated that we, the tour operators of Bangladesh, may loss nearly Taka 6000 crore this year – from January to December – if the situation does not improve,” TOAB president Md Rafeuzzaman told BSS.

Thanking Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for the declaration of her financial package for service sector, including tourism, due to COVID-19 pandemic, he requested the government to disburse the loan immediately so that the tour operators can pay salaries and make other necessary payments at this difficult time.

“Other measures, like waiver of their taxes, can be taken so that they can cover the loss,” he said.

Earlier, in a letter to Civil Aviation and Tourism Ministry on Monday, TOAB president said around 40 lakh people are employed in the sector including tour operators, travel agents, hotels, motels, resorts, airlines, transportation, cruising and guiding of tourists.

“We have estimated the losses of around Tk 5,700 crore after consulting the members concerned and the loss will be higher if the situation worsens,” he wrote in the letter.

He also recommended the government to take immediate, short and long term measures, including making sufficient allocations for the tourism and hospitality sector for the next three fiscal years and demanded VAT waiver for them.

He also suggested the government for creating a fund of Taka 500 crore for the promotion of tourism at home and abroad as a long-term initiative.

On March 13, the World Travel and Tourism Council said that up to 50 million jobs in the global travel and tourism sector are at risk due to the global COVID-19 outbreak.

The Bangladesh government has already formed a 14-member tourism crisis management committee headed by the Bangladesh Tourism Board (BTB) CEO to find the kind of incentives the tourism stakeholders need to tackle the crisis.

Almost all flights to and from Bangladesh, including India, Nepal, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, United Kingdom, and Turkey, have been halted in order to control the outbreak.

Bangladesh was also compelled to enforce a ban on all travelers from Europe until 14 April, which is also applicable to other nations that prohibited Bangladesh's entry to their territory through coronavirus.

The government has revoked visa-on-arrival services for all citizens to reach Bangladesh to avoid an epidemic of the virus.

Source: BSS