(MENAFN- Bangladesh Monitor) Dhaka: President of Nepal Association of Tours and Travel Agents (NATTA) Achyut Guragain urged the national flag carrier Biman Bangladesh Airlines to reduce their airfare to Nepal in order to facilitate tourism between the two neighboring countries.
NATTA President said this in his speech at a tourism promotion and B2B exchange programme, organised jointly by Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) and Nepal Association of Tour and Travel Agents (NATTA) at Hotel Sarina in the capital on November 23.
The post pandemic era calls for short-haul or regional travel. Hence, promoting tourism between Bangladesh and Nepal can be a great revival effort for both the countries, stressed the NATTA President, adding that airlines must come forward to help.
Biman Bangladesh and Nepal's Himalaya Airlines both fly twice weekly on Dhaka-Nepal route. But Biman's airfare is double than Himalaya's, mentioned NATTA President.
“For only a one-hour flight, BDT 33-35 thousand fare is too much. If Biman does not reduce its airfare, it will lose its business,” NATTA President claimed.
Hotel accommodation is also expensive in Bangladesh. This is another hindrance coming in the way of inbound travel from Nepal to Bangladesh, said Guragain.
Representatives from BTB, BPC, TOAB, Nepal Embassy in BD, NATTA, PATA BD and Nepal Chapters and other related organisations seen at the event – Photo: Monitor
The event was organised with an aim to strengthen bilateral tourism relations between Bangladesh and Nepal. There were detailed discussions on cross-border and regional tourism prospects. The discussants and participants underscored the necessity of mutual relationship and cooperation between the trade partners of both the countries, travel organisations, tour operators, travel agents and travel communities to be particular.
Representatives and high officials of Bangladesh Tourism Board, Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation, Tour Operators Association of Bangladesh, Nepal Embassy in Bangladesh, Nepal Association of Tours and Travels agent, Biman Bangladesh Airlines and other related organisations were present at the event.
Speaking on the occasion, Jabed Ahmed, CEO of Bangladesh Tourism Board, said,“Tourism has no frontier nowadays, so we need to explore more options. Bilateral relations can play significant role for promoting tourism.”
Md Hannan Miah, Chairman of Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation, said,“Bangladesh is a great attraction for the tourists. Similarly, many Bangladeshis go to other countries like Nepal for visiting tourist spots. We need to work together for maximizing these tourism prospects.”
“Cross-border and regional tourism have reached new heights in this age of globalization. We need to tap into the prospects as more and more people are leaning towards travelling to refresh themselves. Mutual cooperation between countries can significantly help leverage this situation,” said Faridul Haque, Former President of TOAB.
Shahid Hamid, President of PATA Bangladesh Chapter, shared,“Strike the iron while it is hot. And if it is not, then strike till it gets hot. Therefore, this is high time we strengthened tourism relations between Bangladesh and Nepal.”
The event ended on a high note with the hope of better bilateral relations between these two countries and a promise to enable more cooperative initiatives to promote tourism.
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