After the coup, the number of Bangladeshi tourists in India is at the bottom
Sheikh Hasina’s government left through the student uprising. In the changed situation, the number of people going out of Bangladesh to travel or for other needs has decreased by at least 90 percent. The Economic Times reported this news citing the Travel Operators Association of Bangladesh.
According to a report by the Indian media Business Standard on Monday, the situation worsened when Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and left the country in the face of student protests about two weeks ago. As a result, many temporary flights from Bangladesh to India were disrupted and all visas were suspended except for medical reasons.
Although the flights have now resumed, an official of an airline operating flights to Dhaka said that the number of passengers on the flights has reduced by more than 50 percent.
Director of Bangladesh Tour Operators Association told Economic Times. Taslim Amin Shovan said that India is an important market for Bangladeshis traveling abroad. He said India is a major destination for Bangladeshi travelers. Of those who travel abroad, 40 to 45 percent go to India.
Shobhan said that 15 percent of Bangladeshis who go to India go for shopping, five percent go for vacation, and 80 percent go for medical treatment. Kolkata is a popular shopping center for Bangladeshis. Especially, before various festivals.
By 2023, the number of tourists visiting India from various countries has increased to 43.5 percent. However, this figure was 15.5 percent lower than in the pre-pandemic years. Last year, 92 lakh 30 thousand tourists gathered in the country. It has earned 24 thousand 707 crore rupees. According to the report, only Bangladeshi tourists were 22.5 percent of these tourists. As a result, Bangladeshis were the largest number of tourists visiting India as a single country.
Indian Association of Tour Operators West Bengal office chairman Devjit Dutta pointed out that since the recent crisis started, travel between Bangladesh and India has almost stopped. He said the government has stopped issuing visas except for genuine medical reasons. The business of travel operators, hotels and guest houses near hospitals in West Bengal has declined by almost 90 per cent.
According to the report, the number of people traveling from Bangladesh to India for medical treatment increased by 48 percent in 2023 compared to 2022. In 2022 this number was 3 lakh 4 thousand 67 people, in 2023 this number was 4 lakh 49 thousand 570 people.
The situation is so critical after the coup that the chief executive of a Calcutta-based medical tourism company said that earlier his company used to arrange around 150 Bangladeshi patients for treatment in India every month. At present the number of such patients has come down to 5/6.
