Bangladeshis are travelling abroad in record number for different reasons like migration, tourism and treatment. And, the prices of air tickets have also gone up by more than half.

In 2022-23 fiscal year, the Bangladeshis spent a whopping 80 per cent on foreign trips as compared to the previous fiscal year, according to the annual report on balance of payment by the Bangladesh Bank.

The cost of travelling in 2021-2022 fiscal stood at Tk 8,856 crore which soared to Tk 15,931 crore in 2022-23 fiscal. The cost of travelling for business purposes increased by over 40 per cent in the last fiscal year while this rate is 81.22 per cent when it comes to personal travel. Business travel refers to foreign visits by the officials of government, non-government and multi-national organizations for the purposes of business or participation in conferences. When people go abroad for the purposes of tourism, education, treatment and religion it is categorized as personal travel. Purchasing air tickets is the main expenditure here.  

Aviation experts and people concerned say the number of foreign travelers has gone up significantly for many reasons, including migration and tourism. The carriers have increased the prices of air tickets at abnormal rate and the value of taka has gone down terribly against dollars. These reasons are responsible for the increase of foreign travels.  

“The number of travelers in the last fiscal increased by 32-35 per cent and the local and international carriers have hiked the ticket prices by 50-55 per cent. That is why Bangladeshis are paying more for their foreign travels. Of course, increased exchange rate of dollars has also played a big role here,” Kazi Wahid Ul Alam, former director of Biman Bangladesh Airlines, says speaking to Bonik Barta.

He also says, “Owing to the dollar crisis in the country, foreign carriers cannot get their money earned from selling tickets. They have written to the government bank as well as Bangladesh Bank in this regard. To avoid further loss they have stopped selling cheap tickets from Bangladesh harming the Bangladeshi passengers even more.”     

According to information obtained from the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training, nearly 10 lakh Bangladeshi migrant workers flew abroad in first nine months of 2023.  This figure was 11.35 lakh in 2022. Due to increased demand, Malaysia-bound Bangladeshis were forced to buy air tickets at doubled price. Same thing happened to Bangladeshis bound for the Middle East, Europe and America.