DHAKA, 03 November 2021, (TON): Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are considering launching a cruise service between the countries to boost the regional tourism.

Sources at the BTB said “regarding the issue, a virtual meeting was held recently by the Bangladesh Tourism Board (BTB) with participation of the concerned stakeholders.”

BTB Chief Executive Officer Dr Jabed Ahmed told The Business Standard, "we have memoranda of understanding (MoU) on tourism with a number of countries. Now, we are going to sign an MoU regarding tourism with Sri Lanka too."

He said "one of the provisions in the agreement would be to start a cruise line as part of the blue economy. We may include India in the cruise line considering the business viability.”

He added "if we can start ocean cruises in the region, other businesspersons will come forward to launch cruises in Bangladesh.”

On 1 November, Sri Lankan newspaper Daily Mirror reported that during a meeting at the Ministry of Tourism in Colombo, Bangladesh High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Tareq Md Ariful Islam and Sri Lankan Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatunga decided to take steps to launch cruise service between the two countries.  

During Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa's visit to Bangladesh earlier this year, it was decided to sign the MoU between the two countries.