Economic Reporter :
The country’s tour operators incurred nearly Taka 1500 crore loss in last three months and they fear the amount will hit Taka 6000 crore by the end of this year as tourism sector has been affected most by the deadly COVID-19 pandemic.
The Tour Operator Association of Bangladesh (TOAB), a platform of 678 tour operators of Bangladesh, estimated their loss in a report titled “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 the report that was sent to the Bangladesh Tourism Board (BTB) on Tuesday, on the basis of a questionnaire answered by its members regarding inbound, outbound and domestic package loss, ticketing cost, office rent expenses, staff salary 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 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.
Thanking Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for the declaration of her financial package for service sector, including tourism, due to VCOVID-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.
