The Association of Travel Agents of Bangladesh (ATAB) on Saturday called for travel sector reform aimed at addressing alleged irregularities in the sector with a focus on reducing air ticket prices and ensuring discipline.
“There must be a guideline for group air ticketing to check hoarding and syndication in air ticket sales,” said ATAB President Abdus Salam Aref at a press briefing here.
Speaking on the occasion, he placed a 9-point demand at the press briefing aimed at addressing the challenges faced by the industry.
The ATAB president raised concerns about the rising cost of air tickets, which he said is partly due to ticket hoarding under the guise of group bookings. "These are not real groups. It is a tactic to drive up prices," he added.
Aref alleged that certain airlines, in collaboration with certain group of travel agents, are manipulating the system due to the absence of a policy on group ticketing. He claimed that many individuals are selling tickets without being registered with the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB), exacerbating the problem.
"Some businesses are collecting payments from customers for tickets and then disappearing. The authorities must take action against these irregularities," Aref said. ATAB’s 9-point demand includes formulation of proper regulations for online travel agencies (OTAs), ending hoarding and syndication in air ticket sales, and making it mandatory for ticket information to include the agency’s name, contact number and price. "It should be made mandatory to mention the agency's name, contact phone number, and the price on the ticket,” he said adding that foreign websites and APIs must be blocked from illegally operating businesses in Bangladesh.
"It is essential that OTAs are prevented from providing login IDs to unlicensed travel agents, tour operators, or establishments. This should be strictly monitored," Aref said.
He called for measures to prevent passengers with tickets purchased from third countries, such as India, Dubai, and Singapore, from boarding flights in Bangladesh, as this would stop the outflow of money and curb ticket sales from those countries.
He demanded to check practice of offering incentives for large advance payments on tickets.
"We have discussed these issues with the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism and provided our recommendations. If these matters are not addressed, there will be no discipline in the sector," Aref warned.He hoped that the government would take ATAB’s concerns seriously. "It is our duty to highlight the irregularities, but it is the government's responsibility to take corrective action," he added. ATAB General Secretary Afsia Jannat Saleh, Vice-Presidents- Mustafizur Rahman Hero and Mohammad Ziaur Rahman Khan Nawaz- and Joint Secretary Atikur Rahman also present at the briefing, among others.
