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Tour operators start feeling the pinch from coronavirus

| Updated: February 03, 2020 13:43:35


- A group of Bangladeshis cancelled their visit to China last week in the wake of the outbreak of the deadly coronavirus there - A group of Bangladeshis cancelled their visit to China last week in the wake of the outbreak of the deadly coronavirus there

The country's tourism sector starts bearing the brunt of Chinese novel coronavirus outbreak as many people are cancelling their planned visits to different destinations, insiders have said.

They also said many Bangladeshi outbound tourists, who were scheduled to visit mostly East Asian countries within next few weeks, have already cancelled their bookings.

Even people are now cancelling their bookings for tour packages not only in China and its neighbouring countries but also East Asian countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, said Md Mohosin Iqbal, chief of Amazing Tours BD.

"A group of Bangladeshis cancelled their visit to China last week in the wake of the outbreak of the deadly coronavirus there," he added.

Since January 22, Mr Iqbal said, the operator has been receiving request to cancel bookings for several countries.

He also said people are scared of getting infected by the virus which reportedly killed over 130 people in China till Wednesday.

"Such cancellation is causing financial losses for both tour operators and tourists."

Over 30 individuals have so far postponed their tours mostly in East Asian and Southeast Asian countries, he added.

Md Moniruzzaman Masum, proprietor of Tourism Window, said some people are backtracking on their decision to make visit to other countries due to panic created by the news of the virus.

"A group of Bangladeshi travellers on Wednesday cancelled their trip to Nepal amid panic."

Responding to a query, he said the impact on inbound tourism is still marginal.

"I think that the guests will abandon their plan," said Mr Masum, also a director of Tour Operators Association of Bangladesh (TOAB).

Sources said most of the Bangladeshi outbound tourists fly to Southeast Asian countries such as Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore in addition to neighbouring India, Bhutan and Nepal.

The country attracts a handful of inbound or international tourists comparing to that of outbound and local tourists, they added.

TOAB Director Syed Shafat Uddin Ahmed Tomal believes the impact on tour operators is still limited.

"Air ticketing and offshore hotel bookings seem normal to me while there is no activity with leisure trip in China for the last couple of weeks," he said.

Inbound tourism usually remains limited during the current season of the year, he added.

He suggested that the government should impose a ban on travel of the Chinese people to Bangladesh for a certain period similar to that Singapore has done so.

"Though we largely depend on the Chinese people for various economic activities in the country, we cannot take risk with people's lives," he said.

As of January 30, the deadly virus claimed over 200 lives in China while the virus has been detected in 18 countries.

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