Home ›› 09 Oct 2021 ›› Front
With the gradual lifting of temporary travel restrictions after a significant improvement in the pandemic situation, various countries are now opening their borders for tourists as well as migrant workers from Bangladesh.
In a recent development, Malaysia, the United Kingdom, Australia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Kuwait, Indonesia and Thailand have withdrawn their travel restrictions on Bangladeshi nationals.
Besides, South Korea, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman-bound migrant workers can now easily set out for their respective destinations following a set of health regulations and protocols.
The British government on Friday announced to include Bangladesh in the list of countries with approved proof of Covid-19 vaccination, effective from October 11.
With the move, fully vaccinated Bangladeshi nationals will no longer have to self-isolate after their arrival in the UK.
Several countries earlier slapped bans on the entry of Bangladeshi nationals in line with the deteriorating Covid situation here during the second wave of the pandemic.
However, many of those countries are now relaxing their ban, paving the way for Bangladeshis to end up there as students, migrants or visitors.
Simultaneously, student visas are also being issued at various embassies and high commissions in Dhaka such as the USA, the United Kingdom, Canada, European Union countries and Australia.
The countries like Sri Lanka, Nepal, Turkey, Indonesia, and Egypt largely depend on Bangladeshi tourists for income generation in their tourism sector.
Accordign to the stakeholders of travel and tourism sector, “Most developed countries have now reopened their doors for expatriates, students and visitors from Bangladesh.”
“If the current rate of coronavirus infection continues to drop, most countries will issue visas under different categories in 2022 for visit, tourism and corporate business purposes.”
The Saudi-bound expatriates, who returned home amid the pandemic and got stuck, have already started returning to their work destinations.
Around 20,000-30,000 Bangladeshis, who got job opportunities in the UAE after a 12-year restriction, have long been waiting to leave the country for their gulf country.
According to the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment, the UAE has made it mandatory for Bangladeshi passengers to take an RT-PCR test at the airport within six-hour of their departure.
Meanwhile, the UAE has approved RT-PCR laboratories installed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.
Recently, the Malaysian government also lifted entry restrictions for nationals from five countries, including Bangladesh.
The Malaysian Employers Federation has urged the Malaysian government to resolve the foreign workers’ crisis, saying that all their industries are not yet ready to cope with the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Manpower exporters say Malaysia is facing a shortage of around 2.5 lakh workers in its agriculture and industrial sectors.
Bangladesh can grab this opportunity by exporting workers to Malaysia, but manpower export process from Bangladesh remains halted since 2018.
“We pin hope on several more countries that will soon issue visas to our skilled labourers. The labour market in the EU is also opening. An improvement in the Covid-19 situation will help intensify our manpower export,” Shameem Ahmed Chowdhury Noman, ex-secretary general of Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies, told The Business Post.
According to Bangladesh-based airline companies and general sales agents belonging to some international airlines, a number of countries except Singapore are opening the door for Bangladeshi nationals to travel.
ShareTrip, a big online travel agent in Bangladesh, provides complete travel services, including air tickets, tour packages, hotel booking and visas.
The company’s Assistant Manager Nazrul Islam Sumon said, “We have witnessed around 60 per cent fall in ticket sales compared to the pre-Covid period in 2019.”
“Those going abroad now are mostly workers. When corporate visas will be issued, ticket sales will increase by 80 per cent compared to 2019.”
Kuwait Airways GSA authority says, “Now, five weekly flights are being operated on the Bangladesh-Kuwait route with 50 per cent passengers though there were weekly 12 flights in 2019.”
Ejaz Kadry, sales and traffic officer (Intl) of Turkish Airlines told The Business Post that from October 26, the airlines was planning two operate two daily flights and 14 weekly flights.
“We are getting passengers to Europe mostly as we are the only European carrier flying directly from Dhaka to Europe. Rather than the tourists we have passengers who used to fly for mandatory purposes,” he said.
Travel and tourism experts observed that though Bangladeshis are going abroad, international travellers are not yet coming to Bangladesh.
“That is why most of our four or five-star hotels, motels in Bangladesh are struggling due to lack of foreign guests,” they said.
Against such a backdrop, most hotels and motels are now offering up to 60 per cent discount to attract guests. Similarly, domestic airlines operators are also competing for offering cheaper travel packages to cope with the Covid-19 crisis.
Bangladesh International Hotel Association president Hakim Ali said, “Now RMG buyers are yet to turn up here in droves as they did during pre-Covid period. Corporate or business travel is far from gaining momentum.”
International airports are now open mainly for labour market because tourists are not yet ready to take their flights for vacation.
Tour Operators Association of Bangladesh President Rafeuzzaman said, “A country’s tourism rating is defined by an inbound tourism income but our inbound tourism is very poor irrespective of the Covid-19 situation.”
As the pandemic is almost or nearly normal globally, several countries, including the Netherlands, Spain, Egypt, Thailand and Maldives, are now issuing tourist visas. The association president urged the government to take steps so that foreigners travel Bangladesh that will revive tourism, travel, and hospitality sectors of the country.
