Tour operators can now sell foreign travel packages in Bangladeshi taka. Bangladesh Bank has also allowed them to send the required amounts in foreign currency to overseas service providers.
Bangladesh Bank issued a circular on this on Sunday.
Under the new rules, tour operators who are members of the Tour Operators Association of Bangladesh (TOAB) will get the facility, provided they have a contract or business relationship with a foreign tour operator, hotel or destination-management company.
As a result, an operator can take the package price in taka from a Bangladeshi traveller and pay the actual travel costs — accommodation, transport and the like — to the relevant foreign firm in foreign currency.
Beyond the regular annual travel quota, up to 3,000 US dollars in foreign currency may be sent per traveller a year. In such cases, transaction details must be recorded against the traveller’s passport number, and a declaration must be taken from the traveller that the limit has not been exceeded through any other tour operator.
Packages worth more than 3,000 dollars may also be sold, but in that case the package price must be paid in foreign currency through an international card.
Bangladesh Bank also said that before sending money abroad, necessary documents — the invoice, contract, itinerary, list of travellers and proof of payment received in taka — must be verified, and the relevant authorised dealer (AD) bank must inform Bangladesh Bank within seven days of the remittance.
Businesses say the option of buying foreign travel packages in taka will make transactions easier for customers and make the country’s outbound tourism business more transparent and institutional.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report