Hospitality industry entrepreneurs have demanded VAT and duty exemption on their services, in a bid to recover from pandemic induced losses and help flourish the sector further.
They say tax benefits can enable the tourism industry to provide services at cheaper rates as well as attract international tourists to visit Bangladesh.
The demands came at a meeting Tuesday evening organised by the standing committee on hotels, motels, resorts and guesthouses of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce & Industries (FBCCI), said a press release.
FBCCI Senior Vice President Mostofa Azad Chowdhury Babu, FBCCI Director Syed Moazzem Hossain, and FBCCI Secretary General Mohammad Mahfuzul Hoque, among others, spoke at the meeting.
The members of the committee said VAT exemption on services provided at hotels, motels, resorts and guesthouses could reduce room tariffs, luring more tourists from home and abroad.
Besides, they said, import duty on equipment and goods used in the hospitality sector is quite high which needs to be reduced to facilitate foreign tourists with better quality services.
The committee also said that the total tax burden on income of hotels and resorts was 37 per cent that required further review for future development of the sector.
In order to attract foreign tourists to Bangladesh, the committee demanded relaxation of the obligation to test coronavirus within 48 hours before the flight and also the simplification of visa processing.
Referring that at least three of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are directly involved with tourism, Mr Khabir said in order to achieve SDGs by 2030, the country's tourism industry had to be developed.
