Travel tax collection declined drastically by Tk 304 crore or 89 per cent in the first quarter of the current fiscal year 2020-2021 due to very limited overseas travel amid border restrictions imposed by most countries around the globe over the COVID-19 outbreak.

Travel tax collection by the National Board of Revenue stood at only Tk 36 crore in the July-September period of FY21 compared with Tk 340 crore collected in the same period of FY20, according to the NBR data.

The target of collecting travel tax from outgoing international passengers using air, land and waterways for the period was set at Tk 242 crore while the target for the entire fiscal year is Tk 1,457 crore.

The NBR collected Tk 767 crore in travel tax from outbound passengers in FY20.

Outgoing international passengers have to pay travel tax at various rates ranging between Tk 500 and Tk 4,000 for various destinations and mode of transports — air, land and water — used.

Officials said that the revenue board set a higher collection target for the current fiscal year assuming that international movement by people would become normal with the expected withdrawal of movement restrictions and improvement in the coronavirus situation.

Unfortunately, most countries kept their borders closed during the period as there was little improvement in the outbreak situation, they said.

No one knows when the situation will be normal again as some countries, including the United Kingdom and France, have imposed fresh lockdowns with the emergence of a second wave of the outbreak, they added.

Industry insiders also said that the number of international outgoing passengers plummeted in 2020 as more than 90 per cent people could not travel to their destination countries during the period.

Flights and visa services of Saudi Arabia, a major destination for Bangladeshi migrant workers, and India, the destination of the highest number of tourists and medical tourists, remained suspended during the first quarter of the year, they said.

According to the India Tourism Statistics 2020 prepared by the country’s tourism ministry, the number of Bangladeshis who visited India in 2019 was 25.78 lakh, a significant rise by around 24 per cent compared with 22.56 lakh Bangladeshis travelling to the country in 2018.

Out of the total arrivals from Bangladesh in 2018, 83.70 per cent of the arrivals were for the purpose of holiday and recreation followed by 14.38 per cent for medical purpose and 4.9 per cent for business and professional purposes.

Saudi Arabia is now receiving workers who were stuck in Bangladesh while India is now issuing visas for medical purpose and has yet to resume visas for tourists.

Overseas workers comprise the highest number of outgoing passengers. There was no new visa issuance while the visas of many workers who came to the country on vacation expired during the period, they added.

Operation of international flights was also very limited, they said.

Around 88 per cent of the total travel tax collected comes from air passengers.

According to the Association of Travel Agents of Bangladesh, a total of 26.71 lakh air tickets were sold in the 2018 calendar year from Bangladesh against 25.22 lakh in 2017.