The Association of Travel Agents of Bangladesh (ATAB) today warned that around 30 lakh people involved in the sector will lose their jobs if the government turns the Bangladesh Travel Agency (Registration and Control) (Amendment) Ordinance into a law.

Terming it a "black law", ATAB members said they would never accept the ordinance and urged the government to review it in line with stakeholders' demands.

Former top leaders of ATAB and general members raised the demand at two separate programmes in Dhaka.

At a human chain in the capital's Naya Paltan, former ATAB president Abdus Salam Aref and former secretary general Afsia Jannat Saleh said several sections of the ordinance, including the proposal to keep Tk 10 lakh as a deposit for offline travel agencies and the ban on the purchase and sale of tickets between agencies, are not business-friendly and would harm the country's travel industry.

Later at a press conference at a city hotel, former president SN Monjur Morshed said they would resist the ordinance at any cost, as it was formulated without consulting stakeholders.

"The government did not involve us in amending the ordinance and approved it autocratically," he said.

"On the very day this ordinance is implemented, about 30 lakh skilled workers employed in the travel and tourism sector, Hajj agencies and recruiting agencies will become jobless," he added.

He said around 6,000 travel agencies, 1,400 Hajj agencies and 2,700 recruiting agencies will be at risk.

"Under the new ordinance, travel agencies must be connected to IATA's ticket-selling platform. However, of the currently around 6,000 licensed travel agencies in the country, only about 1,000 are linked to IATA. As a result, on the day the ordinance is implemented, the remaining travel agencies will effectively be forced to shut down their business," Morshed said.

He said agent-to-agent (B2B) business is a global practice, but the ordinance would shut it down in Bangladesh, as the law will not allow purchase or sale of tickets between travel agencies.

"As a result of banning B2B, every travel agency must obtain IATA accreditation, which costs about Tk 30 lakh. In addition, another Tk 22 lakh must be deposited for Biman Bangladesh Airlines tickets. Since 90 percent of travel agencies do not have this amount of money, all of them will shut down," he said.

Earlier on October 13, Civil Aviation and Tourism Adviser Sk Bashir Uddin said the new law is aimed at ensuring transparency in ticket sales and improving passenger services.