ATAB issues 9-point demand to remove air ticket sales syndicates, trade discrimination
It also seeks regulations for managing online travel agency businesses
The Association of Travel Agents of Bangladesh (ATAB) has put forward a nine-point demand that includes the formulation of guidelines on group ticketing and measures to stop syndication in air ticket sales.
At a press conference in Dhaka today, the association also sought the formulation of appropriate regulations for managing online travel agency (OTA) businesses.
Tickets are being blocked under the guise of group bookings, but in reality, there are no such groups, Abdus Salam Aref, president of ATAB, said at the conference.
"These tactics are employed strategically to inflate prices," he added.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
He explained that seats on various routes from Bangladesh are blocked months before the flights by creating PNRs without the passenger's name or passport number. The airlines then distribute these blocked tickets to their designated travel agencies.
"Particularly, low-cost seats are blocked through group bookings, preventing other travel agents or passengers from accessing them. This leads to a seat shortage and results in tickets being sold at inflated prices," said Aref.
Mentioning online travel agencies, Atab president said the expansion of the travel agency business through online has created opportunities, but has also brought challenges like discrimination and irregularities.
He said some online travel agencies are seeking to monopolise the market by taking advance payments from passengers and small agencies with flashy lures of discounts and cashbacks, creating an imbalance in the market.
It is crucial to issue guidelines by the concerned ministry to prevent trade discrimination by ensuring that travel agencies cannot display, advertise, sell, or market tickets at prices lower than the airlines' rates, said the ATAB president of, which represents nearly 4,000 government-registered travel agencies.
"Measures must be taken to stop the operation and sale of air tickets and travel-related services by unregistered fake agencies," he added.
Aref said no travel agent, tour operator, or establishment without a licence should be provided with a login ID by online travel agencies (OTAs), and this should be directed and monitored.
"It should be made mandatory to mention the agency's name, contact phone number, and the price on the ticket. Foreign websites/APIs must be blocked from illegally operating businesses in Bangladesh," he added.
The ATAB president said passengers who purchased tickets from third countries (other than the country of departure and destination, such as India, Dubai, and Singapore) should be prevented from boarding at Bangladesh airports.
"This will stop the sale of tickets and the outflow of money from third countries," he added.
ATAB Secretary General Afsia Jannat Saleh and Vice President Mustafizur Rahman Hero were also present during the press conference.
