Travel sector leaders on Sunday warned that the newly promulgated Travel Agency Registration and Control Ordinance 2026 could devastate Bangladesh’s travel business, forcing nearly 5,000 agencies to shut down unless the law is repealed.
At a press conference at the National Press Club, leaders of the travel agency sector strongly criticised the ordinance, describing it as a “black ordinance” that runs counter to the survival and sustainability of the industry.
They urged the government to immediately repeal the ordinance to avert what they said could be a collapse of the sector, warning that the livelihoods of around 5,000 agency owners, their employees and families would be destroyed if the law remains in force.
Association of Travel Agents of Bangladesh (ATAB) former president Manzur Morshed Mahbub said the gazette of the ordinance, published on 1 January, includes 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.
Mahbub said that of around 5,800 registered travel agencies in the country, only about 800 are members of the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
He said the remaining nearly 5,000 agencies lack the capacity to issue tickets independently and that preventing them from sourcing tickets from other agencies would stop them from serving passengers.
He added that the restriction would also prevent agencies from showing the mandatory annual sales turnover of Tk5 million required for licence renewal, ultimately forcing closures.
ATAB Members’ Welfare Unity Alliance Convener Mohammad Jalal Uddin Tipu drew attention to another provision requiring offline travel agencies to submit a bank guarantee of Tk10 lakh.
He said thousands of agencies have failed to become IATA members due to financial limitations and would be unable to meet the new bank guarantee requirement.
The speakers also criticised a proposed ban on operating recruiting agencies at the same address as travel agencies, saying it would increase operating costs and raise per-capita expenses for outbound migrant workers.
They said migrant workers have long relied on combined services from the same premises and would be directly affected by the separate-location requirement.
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, if exercised without due process, could lead to harassment and severe financial losses for travel agencies.
The speakers also opposed the proposed increase in punishment under section 11, which raises imprisonment from six months to one year and fines from Tk3 lakh to Tk10 lakh.
They said the previous law was adequate and urged the government to retain the earlier penalty structure.
