Published :
Updated :
For all latest news, follow The Financial Express Google News channel.
The government is likely to amend the draft Bangladesh Travel Agency (Registration and Regulation) (Amendment)-2025 Ordinance after concerns that its 100 per cent local ownership requirement could block foreign investment, officials said.
The proposed changes aim to prevent customer harassment on both online and offline platforms and to improve governance across the air travel industry.
The earlier draft required travel agencies to be fully locally owned to obtain a licence -- a provision opposed by the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA).
BIDA has already sent its observations to the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism, urging revisions to ensure the sector remains open to foreign investment, ministry sources said.
The ministry has published the draft online and invited public feedback within seven days, noting that the proposals were formulated based on committee discussions and a review of international practices. The authorities are now assessing BIDA's concerns.
Speaking to The Financial Express, BIDA Executive Chairman Chowdhury Ashik Mahmud Bin Harun said the agency had "strong reservations" about the 100-percent local ownership requirement.
"We believe the main goal of the amendment should be to build a transparent, malpractice-free industry where consumers are not deceived. While we welcome efforts to improve governance, blocking FDI will not achieve this," he said.
He added that leading global travel companies grew through foreign investment and similar opportunities should be available in Bangladesh.
"To achieve that, we need to promote FDI. It will strengthen accountability, transparency and good market practices," he said.
Meanwhile, representatives from the travel, Hajj and recruiting sectors have called on the government to withdraw the proposed ordinance, warning that thousands of agencies could shut down and millions of skilled workers may lose their jobs.
The draft requires all travel agencies to be connected to the IATA ticket-selling platform -- a condition that would immediately disrupt operations for nearly 6,000 travel agencies, 1,400 Hajj agencies and 2,700 recruiting agencies, said former ATAB president SN Monzur Morshed Mahbub. Currently, only about 1,000 agencies are IATA-linked.
Mr Mahbub said the proposed provisions impose disproportionate burdens on small and medium travel businesses. These include mandatory submission of family information, CIB loan clearance, bank guarantees of Tk 1.0 million for offline operations and Tk 10 million for online operations, annual financial statements for licence renewal, and strict technological compliance requirements. Such rules, he warned, would destabilise the tourism sector.
He further noted that the draft effectively bans the widely used B2B (agent-to-agent) ticketing model, forcing agencies to obtain IATA accreditation costing Tk 3.0 million, plus a Tk 2.2 million security deposit for Biman Bangladesh Airlines tickets -- costs unaffordable for almost 90 per cent of agencies.
Mr Mahbub also criticised the ministry for failing to take action against online travel agencies (OTAs) accused of embezzling millions of taka in recent years.
"Instead of addressing OTA fraud, the ministry is shifting blame onto general travel agencies to cover its own failures," he said, claiming the ordinance appears tailored to benefit certain groups by altering a law already passed by parliament.
Ridwan Hafiz, founder and CEO of GoZayaan, warned that restricting foreign participation would undermine progress made in the travel sector and hamper innovation across related digital industries.
"Startups like GoZayaan and ShareTrip have brought in over $20 million in FDI from Singapore, Japan, Southeast Asia, the USA, and the UK. This investment brought not just capital but global expertise, innovation and employment," he said.
Many investors in the travel sector have also backed fintech, e-commerce and technology companies in Bangladesh, meaning the impact of restrictive policies would spread far beyond tourism.
"Restricting foreign ownership will not protect the industry -- it will destroy it. Bangladesh cannot afford to turn its back on the ecosystem driving its digital transformation," Mr Hafiz said.
"Policies that restrict this flow of collaboration do not protect local startups; they suffocate them. If we want Bangladeshi businesses to grow, we must open more doors, not close them."
newsmanjasi@gmail.com