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Head lines Troubles facing Biman and BPC RAQUIB SIDDIQI, The Independent The need for re-structuring, commercialization, infusion of vigor through dynamic management, modern equipment to match competitive environment and freedom to run as commercial units were urgent. Initiatives to this direction were taken and then shelved. So, Biman Bangladesh Airlines (Biman) and Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation (BPC) remained as before and there is no prospect of immediate change. Non-commercial bureaucratic oriented poor management coupled with frequent change of Chief Executive Office (CEO) and old and unreliable fleet still haunting the national flag carrier even after three decades. Similarly, BPC also beset with problems of frequent change of CEO as well as lack of attention and fund. Futile Efforts Management and fleet are the two vital areas of any airline and efficiency of both greatly contributes to success. But unfortunately, these two areas are the weakest in Biman. It may be recalled, albeit late, few years ago the government initiated two efforts to strengthen two perennially weakest areas of the airline-management and fleet. The first and most important of the two efforts was restructuring of Biman by finding Strategic Partner through partial privatisation. The other one was to modernization of fleet with new generation aircraft. Improvement of both these areas was long overdue. The decision was to seek the participation of international strategic investors in the form of the sale of an equity interest of Biman of up to 40 per cent. Biman intended to issue new shares to a strategic airlines industry investor or a consortium comprising a strategic airlines industry investor and one or more financial investor. The proposed investment consisted of a minimum of 10 per cent and a maximum of 40 per cent of enlarged share capital of Biman. The move towards partial privatisation of Biman came at a time when the airline just entered its 28th year. It was very much in conformity with the global trend, designed to help put the airline on the modern track and ensure a brighter future. Increasingly, governments around the world are viewing privatization as an important factor in attaining broad economic and public policy objectives. There are several factors responsible for this trend: (1) To raise finance through the sale of state enterprises. (2) To halt the cash drain on public funds by shedding poorly managed state enterprises. (3) To free state enterprises from political interference and bureaucratic control, so they can become commercially viable and (4) To introduce or encourage competition in order to optimize resources. With the initiation of the restructuring and commercialisation, it was strongly that privatization is the only way to free Biman from bureaucratic control, bring dynamism and commercial attitude in its management. But poor response from prospective investors dampened the effort and now it seems to be dead. Professional CEO There is no need to be an expert to realize that person with commercial and airline background must head management of Biman. But since its birth, the airline has got 22 Chief Executive Officers (currently the position is called Managing Director). All of them were civil or military bureaucrats and majority of them had to end their tenures even before being familiarized with jobs. This has resulted in weak and uninspiring leadership. What Biman need most-apart from restructuring and new fleet-is professional person to run its affairs. There are many who like to see Biman prosper as a dynamic airline thinks that if no such person is available in the country then the government should think hiring some one from outside. This is nothing unusual, a number of successful airlines have foreign CEOs. The potential of Biman is enormous and this potential can be judged from the fact that despite severe operational limitations and practically no freedom in decision-making, the airline has not performed that badly. Had there been no control, things would have been much better. Modernisation Of Fleet The history of Biman is the history of its sufferings in the absence of perspective planning and enough dependable fleet for smooth and unhindered operation. Few years ago Biman initiated measures to replace the ageing aircraft before the situation become too critical and operation of services too hazardous. Accordingly, offers were invited only from manufacturers, owners, operators, airlines, and leasing or financial institutions having aircraft of its own for Operating Lease/Lease Purchase/Lease with option to purchase four A340-300 or Boeing 777-200ER aircraft. It received 10 offers in response. It was calculated that if the new generation aircraft are utilized 10 hours each per day, each aircraft will save US dollar 3,00,000 per month. Thus, four new generation aircraft will save Biman US dollar 1.2 million per month in operating cost alone. In addition, new aircraft and higher capacity are expected to generate higher revenue as well as much better schedule regularity. Unfortunately, after receiving offers, the management of Biman in general and the ministry in particular suddenly decided to shelve the plan. Thus, the first attempt to overcome two great weakness of Biman failed. However, it is heartening to know that the present government has renewed the efforts to modernize the fleet with new generation aircraft. Both Boeing and Airbus have agreed to prepare fleet planning for Biman free of cost. Works in this regard are going on. Interference Apart from almost total absence of commercial orientation in managing affairs of Biman, too much interference from the top harming the interest of Biman badly. Since it birth, the management of the airline enjoyed very little freedom. The influence from the higher level including head of the government can be found in almost all sectors of its operation-from the choice of aircraft to the choice of publisher for in-flight magazine, from the livery of the aircraft to the selection of the name of its business class. The result has been the dominance of amateurism in the spheres where requirement of professionalism was great. Even the management has hardly any freedom on recruitment, promotion and posting. Partner To Survive In a recent report, the World Bank has also suggested the government to immediately review its policy on divesting only a minority share of Biman Bangladesh Airlines in its search for a strategic partner. "The Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism should give up control and majority share of Biman, allowing it to integrate itself with another regional airline on the best commercial terms available' " the study report said. According to -the WB study report, Biman has an aging fleet with little access to international passenger network, limited information technology resources, increasingly dissatisfied customer base and few 'opportunities to increase revenue. The Bank has rightly observed that the national flag carrier of Bangladesh needed to improve both its management and services to make it competitive in the global market. "The only reasonable opportunity for Biman to survive is to become fully integrated with an International air carrier," it said adding that the concerned ministry should be willing to convert Biman into a public limited corporation by giving up government control on the airliner", the report said. BPC The situation in BPC is no better-rather poorer. While Biman is at least an airline- albeit least known, BPC cannot claim as a promoter of tourism. Strong signals about their "seriousness" to put tourism development on right-track and to secure for the country some benefits of current worldwide tourism boom was transmitted by all the successive governments. But one will find great contradiction between what the governments promised and what was actually done. The government is the single important factor, responsible for the backwardness of tourism in Bangladesh. All the promises and assurances about development of tourism were negated by unusually very frequent change at the top as well as not providing adequate fund for the development of tourism infrastructure and promotion of Bangladesh to dispel its negative image. The rapid change at BPC's top position killed the vitality of the organisation. The situation has done enormous harm to the cause of tourism in Bangladesh and made the National Tourism Organisation (NTO) a moribund entity. A recent document of World Tourism Organisation (WTO) says "Concern has been expressed about several aspects of BPC including the typically short tenure of the chairmen which results in lack of continuity of policy, development of some commercial facilities without going through the process of conducting proper feasibility studies and inability to always recruit personnel based on their qualifications". Low Priority That Biman and BPC never get the kind of attention and priority they deserved can be proved from the fact, the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism was never the responsibility of influential minister. Since independence, most of the time in successive governments State Ministers or comparatively "lightweight" ministers was given the responsibility of running this ministry. So, they-despite their best efforts-could not make the real policy makers in the government realize the importance of tourism sector in development of national economy. Lesser status made it difficult for them to make their voice heard. However, recently, a move has been taken to convert BPC as a regulatory body or facilitator under a board. This is undoubtedly a welcome move and hope relevant law should be enacted soon. However, to make proposed board function efficiently, care must be taken to make the board independent and free from government control. The logic behind radical re-organisation of the managements of Biman as well as BPC is many and varied. The overriding rationale has been rooted in the need for greater commercialism based on competitive principles. A time has come to make radical structural change in these two important organizations. There is hardly any alternative but to make the managements of both Biman and BPC efficient and dynamic. The Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism should act purely as the policy maker and the execution of the policy must be left solely to the management. Once policy and target is given, the function of the ministry must not to be more than a watchdog. World Tourism Day and Bangladesh Tourism DR. MD AFJAL HOSSAIN, The Independent The institution of so-called world days by the United Nations itself or other UN organisations is a widespread practice. The main focus of celebrating these days is to highlight the salient features of the activities of intergovernmental organisations among government, private organisations, and the general people at large. Each year, many organisations belonging to the United Nations System celebrate World Days to highlight different events like tourism, world peace, human rights, womanhood, childhood, environment, health, literacy, cooperation for development, meteorology, telecommunication, etc. Realising the significance of tourism worldwide, the United Nations in its 21st General Assembly declared the year 1967 as the International Tourism Year. Such recognition cam up once again in 1975, when the UN initiated to establish a separate international organisation under its supports and guidance to promote this sector worldwide. Once again, the UN declared 2002 as the year of ecotourism with a view to achieving sustainable development in this sector of the world. The World Tourism Organisation (WTO), being devoted to the United Nations, also instituted such a day known as World Tourism Day. The WTO had realised the significance of tourism and in 1979 declared the 27 September of every year as the World Tourism Day (WTD). The timing of World Tourism Day is indeed particularly appropriate in that it comes at the end of the high season in the northern hemisphere and the beginning of the season in the southern hemisphere, when tourism is of topical interest to hundreds of thousands of people worldwide from all walks of life and to tourists and the operational sector in particular. Each year, the WTO secretary-general issues a message and invites all interested parties to take part on the 27 September in the World Tourism Day celebration in their respective country or holiday destination to mark the occasion. Thus, through the process of celebrating the day, the world community recognises the contribution of tourism worldwide. Historical Perspective of the WTD: The United Nations adopted the WTO Statutes on 27 September 1970. As per the Statues, the World Tourism Organisation (WTO) was established on January 2, 1975 with its head office in Madrid, the capital of Spain. In September 1979, the World Tourism Organisation at the third session (Torremolinos, Spain) of its General Assembly decided to institute the World Tourism Day, which commenced from the year 1080. Thus, the WTO declared 27 September as the World Tourism Day. The date was chosen to coincide an important milestone in world tourism: the anniversary of the adoption of the WTO Statues on 27 September 1970. Every year the WTO Executive Council in its General Assembly selects a theme and recommends commemorating the day by appropriate events on the theme. Accordingly, the member countries throughout the world have been observing this day formally with due emphasis since then. Now the total member countries of the WTO stand at 138. Bangladesh has been a member country of the organisation since its inception. Bangladesh, being a member country of the WTO, has also been observing this day through different programs with great festivity since 1980. Objective of the Day: The main objective of the WTO is to promote tourism for economic, social and cultural advancement creating international understanding and peace among nations. For fulfilling these objectives, the WTO has advised its member countries to observe this day through celebrating different programs. The member countries of the WTO have been observing the 27th September as the World Tourism Day for more than two decades with a view to creating wider awareness about tourism among people throughout the world. Thus, the main purpose of the World Tourism Day is to foster awareness among the international community of the importance of tourism and its social, cultural, political and economic values. Through celebrating this day, people of all walks of life could be also associated with this sector. The objectives of observing this day further include creation of world peace, international solidarity and brotherhood through greater understanding among the people of nations. In all, the objectives of celebrating the day are to foster awareness of the socio-economic importance of tourism and its contribution to the development of the destination countries, associate more and more people with this sector, and to ensure tourism's role in international cooperation and world peace. By chalking out different programs and publicising all these programs through different mass media, Bangladesh can also present its tourism attractions and potentials among the people within and outside the country. Significance of the Day: People are prone to fun and enjoyment. For this, people travel from one place to another with a view to knowing the unknown and seeing the unseen and thus they are gathering knowledge and enriching culture. The observance of this day helps people within and outside countries know tourism potentials of different destination countries and thus builds travel interest among them and generates travel minded people in different countries. It also helps build greater understanding towards broader national and global interests and tend to promote tourism among national and international boundaries. Further, the people of the member countries can understand the significance of tourism. That is, if fosters awareness of the social, cultural, political and economic importance of tourism. Thus, the celebration of the day acts as a tool to increase and establish world peace and stability. World Tourism Day 2003: Every year, the WTO invites all interested parties to take part on September 27 in the World Tourism Day celebration in their respective country or holiday destinations. As such, on the 27 September of this year, the international community will celebrate the World Tourism Day. With a view to observing the day, the WTO selects a "theme" every year and advise the member countries to design their programs to materialise that theme. This year the theme of the day is, "Tourism: a driving force for poverty alleviation, job creation and social harmony". That is, the WTD of this year will focus attention on how tourism may help eradicate poverty existing in many countries of every continent, create jobs for the unemployed people and establish international order of social peace and harmony by justice and solidarity. The drama of poverty is one of the greatest challenges today, when the rift between the different areas of the world is growing deeper despite the availability of the necessary means to remedy it, for humanity has achieved an extraordinary development in science and technology. It is vital to find satisfactory solution of the above aspects by making use of tourism potentials of the destination countries. Because tourist activity can play an important role in the fight against poverty, from the financial as well as the social and cultural viewpoints. Travelling provides an opportunity to become acquainted with different places and situations and to realise what a great gap exists between the rich and poor countries. It helps make a better use of local resources and activities, thus fostering the involvement of the proper classes of population. The theme of the next World Day of Tourism reminds us of Jesus words: 'Blessed are the poor in sprit...(Mt 5:3)', an ever timely invitation to show solidarity to the poor, the hungry and the needy. By resolution 376 (XII) adopted at its twelfth session and on the recommendation of the Executive Council, the WTO General Assembly decided to designate a host country each year as the Organisation's partner for commemorating World Tourism Day. The host country of this year (twenty-fourth WTD) is Algeria. During the Fourteenth Session of the WTO General Assembly (Seoul, Republic of Korea/Osaka, Japan, 24-29 September 2001), the Assembly, having decided to select the host country for World Tourism Day on a geographical rote basis after 2003, has decided that in the future, the corresponding Regional Commission will designate the host country. The government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh shall also observe WTD on 27 September 2003. Observance of the WTD in Bangladesh: Bangladesh observes the World Tourism Day celebrating elaborate programs of festivity as else where around the globe. Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation (BPC) and other private and public tourism organisations chalk out different programs individually and jointly marking the day. For example, every year BPC and Dhaka University Tourist Society (DUTS) jointly organise a colourful rally in the morning of the day. BPC official members of the Tour Operators Associations of Bangladesh (TOAB), office bearers of the Tourism Developers' Association of Bangladesh (TDAB), members of the Dhaka University Tourist Society (DUTS), and distinguished citizens take part in the rally. Sometimes, BPC, TOAB, TDAB, DUTS and other tourism organisations in Bangladesh independently and jointly arrange seminar and round table discussions to mark the significance of the day. BPC and other private tour operators also organise special programs like local food festivals, cake exhibition, painting exhibition, pottery exhibition, cultural functions (like dance party, concerts, musical instrument exhibition), meena bazar, cycle tour, essay competition, etc. Local foods are provided in the food festivals. BPC displays short films on tourism in Bangladesh. Further, they offer special package tours and river cruise programs. Again, BPC's commercial units offer special discounts on their prices/charges. BPC and private tour operators welcome the incoming foreign tourists at the international airports of the country. Both the print and electronic media give wide coverage to the day as tourism is one of the best means of projecting a country to outside world and mobilising its resources. National dailies and periodicals publish special articles highlighting the significance of the day. A special supplement is published by some of the important national daily newspapers. These also present the potentials of tourism development in Bangladesh and focus the gap between the country's tourism potentials and its reality. Bangladesh Television telecasts special programmes and presents some attractive attractions in the country through its programmes. A special talk show is arranged by different TV media to mark the day. Bangladesh Betar also broadcasts similar programs. (To be continued) |
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