Dhaka, Jan. 4 -- Travel sector leaders on January 4 warned that the newly promulgated Travel Agency Registration and Control Ordinance-2026 could devastate Bangladesh's travel industry, forcing nearly 5,000 agencies to shut down unless the "anti-business" law is repealed.

Officials of several travel agencies strongly criticized the ordinance, terming it a "black ordinance" that runs counter to the survival and sustainability of the industry.

Calling for the immediate repeal of the ordinance, travel sector representatives urged the government to avert what they described as an impending collapse of the industry, warning that the livelihoods of nearly 5,000 agency owners, their employees, and families would be destroyed if the law remains...