Friday, April 19, 2024
A three-day international tourism expo will be held in the capital from Thursday to Saturday to attract more foreign tourists, aiming to boost inward USD flow, the Association of Travel Agents of Bangladesh (ATAB) revealed on Tuesday.
ATAB, an apex body of travel agents in the country, is organising the expo in association with the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism and with support from Air Astra and US-Bangla Airlines.
“Bangladesh is a very important travel hub in the southeastern Asian region, and we need to establish wide air connectivity to attract more tourists for boosting the country’s tourism sector,” ATAB President Manzur Morshed (Mahbub) said at a press conference on Tuesday.
The press conference held at the ATAB head office in Dhaka also revealed that State Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism Md Mahbub Ali is likely to be the chief guest of the expo’s opening ceremony.
State Minister of Religious Affairs Ministry Md Faridul Haque Khan and Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) Chairman Air vice Marshal M Mafidur Rahman may also attend the event.
The fair, titled “Bangladesh International Travel and Tourism Expo (BITTE)”, will be held at Bangabandhu International Conference Center (BICC), Dhaka.
At the press conference, Manzur Morshed emphasised drawing global tourists’ attention to Bangladesh as the tourism industry of a country cannot rely only on domestic tourists.
Different airlines, hospitals, and tourism boards from more than 15 countries including India, Malaysia, Bhutan, Nepal, the Maldives, Oman, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Azerbaijan, South Korea, Vietnam, Singapore, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will be participating in the fair.
Travel agencies, tour operators, hotels, resorts, cruise liners, destination management companies and other travel and tourism sector service providers have confirmed participation in the expo as exhibitors.
Three different seminars— “Investment opportunity in Bangladesh Tourism Sector”, “Aviation and Tourism opportunity, Connecting Bangladesh to the world” and “The impact of 4th Industrial Revolution in Tourism Industry,” are scheduled during the fair.
Title sponsor Air Astra General Manager Mozammel Haque and US Bangla Airlines General Manager (PR) Kamrul Islam also spoke at the event.
