Parjatan Corporation on way to recovery

Highlights:

• The corporation is now bearing regular expenses from previous savings
• It incurred losses worth Tk20.63cr tax in last two fiscal years
• Revenue declines by 37% during pandemic, compared to the normal period
• It has 49 commercial establishments across country
• It earned over Tk100cr for three consecutive years before the pandemic

The Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation (BPC) is inching towards its pre-pandemic level business, recovering from the losses incurred during the prolonged pandemic-led closure.  

The state-owned tourism development organisation made a revenue income of Tk10.47 crore in October 2019. Its income plummeted to Tk5.93 crore during the nationwide shutdown in October 2020.

After the economy reopened in August 2021, the corporation started recovering from its losses.

The corporation Chairman Md Hannan Mia said, "The Covid pandemic has caused a lot of damage in various sectors but the situation is now normalising. We are hoping to turn around."

"Our revenue income now is more than half of what it used to be in the pre-pandemic period," he added.

The corporation incurred a loss of Tk20.63 crore before tax in the last two fiscal years due to the sharp drop in the number of domestic and foreign tourists in the country amid the pandemic.

The company, however, has covered the deficit from its previous savings, said Hannan.

"This has caused us some financial risks," he added.

Account of income, expenditure and losses

The corporation had earned more than Tk100 crore from self-managed establishments and commercial establishments for three consecutive years before the outbreak of the ongoing pandemic.

From the 2016-17 financial year, it has annually earned more than Tk100 crore in the next three years. Just before the pandemic, in the 2018-19 financial year, the company's revenue was Tk113.47 crore.

However, in the last fiscal year 2020-21, the revenue has come down to Tk71.78 crore, in addition to Tk10.02 crore before tax losses.

In the 2019-20 financial year, after bearing Tk10.61 crore, the total income was Tk97.34 crore.

According to the organisation, all the tourist spots across the country were closed in March 2020 after the detection of corona infection. As a result, different tourism establishments under the BPC were also closed.

In the financial year 2020-21, the BPC has collected Tk71.78 crore revenue from the commercial establishments it operates. In this year, the total expenditure is Tk81.80 crore. As such, the pre-tax loss is Tk10.02 crore.

Hotels-motels under BPC, bars under private management

Immediately after independence, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman established the Parjatan Corporation in 1972 through a presidential order. The corporation started its official journey in 1973.

Since its inception, the BPC has been endowed with a dual responsibility - to develop the tourism industry and to create and manage facilities for tourists across the country.

The BPC has 49 commercial units and establishments across the country. Of which 23 are hotels and motels and seven are restaurants. It also has two picnic spots, three specialised establishments (tours and rent-a-car and training institutes), 11 bars, a swimming pool and an amusement park. The corporation also sells duty-free goods at international airports.

The BPC itself operates 38 establishments including hotels, motels and restaurants, picnic spots, specialised establishments, swimming pools and amusement parks. Private entrepreneurs are operating 11 bars in Dhaka, Narayanganj, Sylhet, Chattogram, Rajshahi, Bogura, Mongla, Cox's Bazar and Rangamati. The corporation receives rent from them.