New avenues for Bangladeshi tourists to be opened in Kashmir

Travel agents of Bangladesh and India have decided to put their all-out efforts into making trips to Kashmir smoother for Bangladeshi tourists.

A delegation of Association of Travel Agents of Bangladesh (ATAB) will visit the Indian valley in late May or early June this year to determine further plans in this regard and inspect tourism facilities there.

ATAB members agreed on the matter in a meeting with a visiting top official of Sunshine Tours and Travels of Srinagar at their office in the capital on Thursday.

Both the parties shared their experiences and admitted that Kashmir, which is known as a paradise on earth, has huge untapped potential as a tourist destination and Bangladeshi holidaymakers can enjoy better facilities while exploring the beauty of the valley.

Travellers of Bangladesh are well aware of the breathtaking charm of Kashmir as a number of superhit Bollywood movies were filmed in Gulmarg and Pahalgam of the valley.

Basharat Hussain, the visiting director of Sunshine Tours and Travels, described the growing tourism opportunities in Kashmir through a multimedia presentation.

Addressing the meeting, he said, “Apart from medical and business purposes, a huge number of Bangladeshis visit India every year to explore the country as tourists. But very few of them choose Kashmir as their travel destination. We have to reach these people to change their perception about Kashmir.”

Basharat said things have changed a lot in the last several years both in Bangladesh and Kashmir. Bangladesh is a rising economy now and Kashmir offers more peaceful travel experience to the holidaymakers.

“With numbers of premium hotels and growing tourism facilities, Kashmir is ready to serve your palate with a plethora of flavours,” he said, adding that Bangladeshi tourists have no reason to miss this.

Bangladeshi travel agents said they will soon introduce attractive tour packages for the holidaymakers who wish to visit Kashmir. They also expect that the Travel Agents Association of Kashmir (TAAK) members will take similar initiative to facilitate their local travellers who want to explore Bangladesh.

ATAB Vice President and Saimon Overseas Ltd Managing Director Afsia Jannat Saleh said, “For many Bangladeshis, Kashmir is a dream holiday destination. We will launch attractive tour packages so that Bangladeshis can explore the beauty of Kashmir in groups. Sunshine Tours and Travels has assured to help our tourists get good hotels and transports at a fair price.”

Asfia also said that they will visit Kashmir in late May or early June to inspect the tourism facilities available there and fix further plans regarding promoting tourism in both countries.

“Many people of Kashmir also want to visit Bangladesh. We expect that TAAK members in the valley will assist them and offer us an opportunity to serve them,” the ATAB vice president added.

ATAB General Secretary Abdus Salam Aref, Tour Operators Association of Bangladesh Director (International Affairs) Md Mansur Alam Parvez, and Proprietor of Rikab International and Chairman of Dhanshiri Overseas Ltd Md Golam Azom, Managing Director of Tourism Trade Ltd Jahangir Hossain Patwary, among others, attended the meeting.

Besides, Proprietor of World Wide Human Resource and Placement Centre, Managing Partner of Euro Air International Travels Usama Bin Mahmud, Managing Director of Glide Tours and Travels ATM Zahirul Alam Palash, Chairman of Fahim Travels International Md Rubel and Proprietor of Travel on Bangladesh Abul Kalam Azad were also present on the occasion.