New ordinance could shut down 5,000 agencies: Travel sector leaders

Travel sector leaders on Sunday warned that the newly promulgated Travel Agency Registration and Control Ordinance–2026 could devastate Bangladesh's travel business.

They said the ordinance might force nearly 5,000 agencies to shut down unless the "anti-business" law is repealed.

Calling for the immediate repeal of the ordinance, travel sector leaders said the livelihoods of nearly 5,000 agency owners, their employees and families would be destroyed if the law remains in force.

Former Association of Travel Agents of Bangladesh (ATAB) President Manzur Morshed Mahbub voiced the concerns at a press conference at the National Press Club.

He said the gazette of the ordinance, published on January 1, contains several new sections, subsections and clauses that would effectively paralyse travel agency operations.

Referring to clause (kha) of sub-section (umo) of section 4 of Act No. 61 of 2013, he said the amended affidavit now prohibits the buying and selling of airline tickets between travel agencies.

He noted that out of around 5,800 registered travel agencies in the country, only about 800 are members of the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

"The remaining nearly 5,000 agencies lack the capacity to issue tickets independently," he said, adding that barring them from sourcing tickets from other agencies would prevent them from serving passengers and from showing the mandatory annual sales turnover of Tk 5 million for licence renewal, ultimately forcing closures.

ATAB Members' Welfare Unity Alliance Convener Mohammad Jalal Uddin Tipu highlighted another provision requiring offline travel agencies to submit a bank guarantee of Tk one million.

He said thousands of agencies have failed to become IATA members due to financial limitations and would be unable to meet the new guarantee requirement.

He also criticised a proposed ban on operating recruiting agencies at the same address as travel agencies, saying such a move would increase operating costs and raise per-capita expenses for outbound migrant workers, who have long relied on combined services from the same premises.

Expressing grave concern, the leaders pointed to a new clause under section 9 that empowers the government to temporarily suspend a registration certificate without prior hearing.

They warned that such authority, exercised without due process, could lead to harassment and severe financial losses for agencies.

The leaders also opposed the proposed increase in punishment under section 11, which raises imprisonment from six months to one year and fines from Tk 300,000 to Tk 1 million.