Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- Frequent countrywide and district level strikes and blockades called by opposition political parties badly hit tourism industry as nearly 1000 foreign tourists canceled their scheduled tours in last two months.
"As per our information, nearly 1000 foreign tourists canceled their tours to Bangladesh and entire tourism industry is facing loss in massive scale due to hartals and blockades," Adviser of Tours Operators Association of Bangladesh (TOAB) and chief of Journey plus Touifiq Rahman was quoted by the Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) as saying.
"I have operated a tour of eight persons from Greece last month, they experienced five days of strikes, generally known as hartals, out of their 10 days stay here," he said adding "Presently 16 British tourists under my tour plan are staying in Bogra, I have no idea how do I manage them if hartal continues next week."
Vice President of Galaxy Holidays Syed G Qadir said the TOAB members staged a human chain recently in the capital against hartals and urged the political parties to declare all tourist vehicles keep out of hartal. "Even during the Mousiest movement in Nepal, all tourists vehicles were out of all kind of actions and militancy.”
It is very important to keep the tourist carriers out of the hartals like ambulance and media vehicles so that we can at least drop our foreign guests to the Airport safely, Toufiq said.
Meanwhile, inaugurating a daylong folk festival in the capital, Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister M Faruk Khan also acknowledged that continuous hartals and vandalism across the country hampered the growth of tourism industry.
He said the country has been losing foreign tourists in last couple of months and even numbers of domestic tourists came down in Cox's Bazar, the busiest tourist spot of the country, due to recent political unrest.
"We may overcome the present situation shortly, but if the image of the country is tarnished to the foreign tourists, it is difficult to regain," he said.
The minister said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government is trying to solve the present political problems in a peaceful manner abiding by the laws.
"If the oppositions think that they will take benefit by creating unrest they won't be successful," he said.
Bangladesh Tourism Board, the National Tourism Organization (NTO) organized the folk festival in Bangabandhu International Conference Centre here to portray country's rich tradition and heritage to the locals and foreigners to promote tourism.
BBN/SSR/AD-05Apr13-6:47 pm (BST)
