Protesters demand withdrawal of new Travel Agency Ordinance

Travel, Hajj and recruiting agency owners have demanded the withdrawal of the proposed Bangladesh Travel Agency (Registration and Control) Ordinance–2025, warning that the new law could put hundreds of thousands of workers in the sector out of jobs.

The demonstration was held on Sunday (23 November) in front of the National Press Club in Dhaka, where industry representatives said the mere announcement of the draft ordinance had already created panic among entrepreneurs and employees.

They alleged that while several online travel agencies had embezzled hundreds of crores of taka in recent years and fled the country, the ministry failed to take effective action. Instead, the proposed law imposes harsh conditions that would ultimately punish legitimate and small-scale businesses.

Calling on the Chief Adviser of the interim government and the Adviser to the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism, the speakers said the new ordinance must not become a tool to shut down their businesses. Rather, it should help build a fair, sustainable and transparent travel industry.

Mohammad Iftekhar Ahmed Sohel, owner of Galactic Tour and Travels, said around 6,000 travel agencies, 1,400 Hajj agencies and 2,700 recruiting agencies would face immediate risk if the ordinance is implemented. The reason, he said, is the mandatory requirement for all agencies to be linked with IATA’s ticket-selling platform.

“Currently, only about 1,000 of the 6,000 licensed travel agencies in Bangladesh are associated with IATA. If this ordinance comes into force, the remaining agencies will be forced to shut down. The agencies depending on them will collapse as well, leaving hundreds of thousands jobless,” he added.

Akter Mamun Shiper, owner of Tashfi Tour and Travels from Sonargaon, said the draft ordinance includes several impractical and burdensome conditions for small and medium entrepreneurs. These include mandatory submission of detailed family information, CIB clearance for loans, BDT 10 lakh bank guarantee for offline agencies and BDT 1 crore for online agencies, submission of annual financial statements for license renewal, and strict technological compliance requirements.

Mohammad Mamun Abdul Kaiyum, a travel entrepreneur from Dhaka’s DOHS area, said implementing such provisions would destabilise the entire tourism industry. “We urge the government to withdraw the ordinance immediately. Otherwise, we will have no option but to take to the streets,” he warned.

Speakers at the gathering said that while agent-to-agent (B2B) ticketing is a widely accepted global practice, the new ordinance seeks to ban this system in Bangladesh. As a result, every agency would be compelled to obtain IATA accreditation, which costs around BDT 30 lakh, in addition to an extra BDT 22 lakh security deposit required for selling Biman Bangladesh Airlines tickets.

“Nearly 90 percent of travel agencies cannot afford this. If these conditions are enforced, most agencies will be forced to shut down,” they said.

The organisers called for dialogue with the government to adopt a balanced policy that protects the future of thousands of entrepreneurs and employees across the country.

Earlier on 15 November, former ATAB president SN Manzur Morshed Mahbub made similar demands at a press conference in Dhaka’s Paltan area on behalf of travel, Hajj and recruiting agencies.