Coronavirus hits tourism too

Coronavirus has hit the country’s tourism sector, with a sharp fall in the influx of foreign tourists. Bangladeshi tourists travelling to foreign destinations have also fallen in number. Travel and tour companies, airline travel agencies and hotels are facing financial losses. Persons related to the tourism sector say business has dropped by 50 per cent.

According to the global organisation, World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), 19 per cent of Bangladesh’s inbound foreign tourists are Chinese nationals. In its 2019 annual report, WTTC said that 49 per cent of Bangladesh’s foreign tourists are from India and the next highest numbers come from China, Malaysia, Pakistan and the US.

Bangladesh is presently in its peak tourist season, but this year the numbers are low. Proprietor of the tours and travel agency Akashbari Holidays, Touhidul Alam, told Prothom Alo, “Our business has decreased by 50 per cent. Many people have cancelled their advance bookings. There are hardly any new bookings either.”

Every month around 5000 persons would travel to China, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and various countries of Europe through Touhidul Alam’s agency. Over the last two month this number has fallen below half. He said, after China, travel to Singapore has been affected the most. The number of Singapore-bound passengers has fallen drastically. People are not very interested in travelling to Europe either now.

Managing director of Journey Wallet, Matiur Rahman, gave a similar picture. He said, “Those who would regularly buy tickets from us for business travel have almost all cancelled their trips. We will suffer if things continue this way.”

Coronavirus spread from China’s Huawei province towards the end of last year. Since then there have been cautions against Chinese nationals travelling overseas. President of Bangladesh Inbound Tour Operators (BD Inbound) Rezaul Ikram said, “Our business has dropped by 50 per cent. We are alarmed. We have a small tourist market. We are all worried about what will happen two months from now.”
He said that tourism businesses are facing uncertainty. In other years, Eid vacation bookings begin from around this time and the various agencies come up with various offers and packages. This time, however, advance booking is yet to begin.

General secretary of Bangladesh International Hotels Association (BIHA) Mohsin Huq told Prothom Alo that coronavirus has had an impact on the hotel business too. This will worsen mid-March.

He said that business had fallen by 70 per cent for the high-end hotels in the country and losses would increase in the coming days. “We don’t know how we will overcome the damages,” he said.

The relevant ministry, in the meantime, has restricted its measures to meetings and discussions. Speaking to Prothom Alo, manager (sales promotion and public relations) of Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation, Ziaul Huq Howladar, said, “We have had a secretary level meeting about coronavirus. Coronavirus has affected the tourism industry globally. The number of foreign tourists coming to Bangladesh has decreased. The accurate statistics perhaps will be available in a month or two. Coronavirus has hit the industry hard.”
He said they have discussed about forming a crisis management committee. The ministry, he said, is looking into how to overcome the situation.
* This report appeared in the print edition of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten in English by Ayesha Kabir.