Travel Sector Protests New Ordinance, Warns of Mass Job Loss
Owners and workers from Bangladesh’s travel sector staged a protest rally on Sunday, 23 November, in front of the National Press Club, demanding the cancellation of the proposed draft of the Travel Agency (Registration and Control) Ordinance-2025. They said that even the announcement of enforcing this new law has already rendered hundreds of thousands of skilled workers in the travel agency, Hajj agency, and recruiting agency sectors effectively jobless overnight. They also alleged that despite several online travel agencies embezzling hundreds of crores of taka in recent years and their owners fleeing abroad, the ministry has taken no effective action.
Drawing the attention of the Chief Adviser of the interim government and the Adviser to the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism, the protestors said the new law must not become a tool to shut down their businesses; instead, it should help build a fair, sustainable, and accountable travel industry.
Mohammad Ifthekhar Ahmed Sohel, owner of Galactic Tour and Travels and a participant in the protest rally, said the ordinance, if implemented, will put approximately 6,000 travel agencies, 1,400 Hajj agencies, and 2,700 recruiting agencies at direct risk. This is because the new ordinance requires every travel agency to be connected to IATA’s ticket-selling platform.
However, out of nearly 6,000 licensed travel agencies in the country, only around 1,000 are currently linked with IATA. As a result, once the ordinance is enacted, the remaining agencies will be forced to shut down overnight. Agencies dependent on them will also collapse, leaving hundreds of thousands of skilled workers in the travel, Hajj, and recruiting sectors unemployed.
Md. Akhtar Mamun Shipper, proprietor of Tashfi Tour and Travels from Sonargaon, Narayanganj, said the ordinance includes several clauses that impose unreasonable pressure on small and medium entrepreneurs. These include mandatory submission of family members’ information, CIB clearance for loans, security deposits of Tk 10 lakh for offline operations and Tk 1 crore for online operations, mandatory submission of annual financial statements for license renewal, and several strict conditions related to technical system management.
Md. Mamun Abdul Kaiyum, a travel business owner from the DOHS area in the capital, said enforcement of these provisions will create major instability in the country’s tourism sector. “Therefore, we strongly demand that the ordinance be cancelled. Otherwise, we will be forced to take to the streets,” he added.
Speakers at the rally also stated that B2B (agent-to-agent) operations are commonly practiced in travel industries worldwide. However, the new ordinance effectively bans B2B operations in Bangladesh. This means one travel agency will no longer be allowed to buy or sell tickets to another travel agency.
Due to the B2B ban, all travel agencies will be required to obtain IATA membership, which costs about Tk 30 lakh. In addition, they must deposit another Tk 22 lakh for Bangladesh Biman ticketing. “Ninety percent of travel agencies cannot afford such costs,” they said. “As a result, most agencies will shut down.”
They further added: “We want a solution through dialogue that protects everyone’s interests. The government must not push thousands of travel entrepreneurs and workers toward an uncertain future.”
Earlier, on 15 November, former ATAB president S.N. Monzur Morshed Mahbub made the same demand at a press conference held at a hotel in Paltan, representing travel, Hajj, and recruiting agencies.
DBTech/BM/IK/OR
