The Role of Travel Agencies and Tour Operators in the Development of the Tourism Sector: An Empirical Study on Bangladesh

This study aims to explore the role of travel agencies and tour operators in growing Bangladesh’s tourism industry. Using a mixed-method approach incorporating both qualitative and quantitative data, this study brings to light the evidence of some contributions of these agencies in tourist promotion, customer satisfaction enhancement, and local livelihood development in the country. Analysis of the results in this study was done using SPSS 25 and MS Excel 2019. The findings show the reliability result using the Cronbach’s Alpha technique is .874 and the p-value=.000. Further, the study reveals that travel agencies and tour operators play an important role in designing personalized travel packages using digital platforms while promoting sustainable tourism practices. But, still, some challenges such as legal barriers, poor infrastructure and competition from online travel agencies(OTAs) exist for them. This study ends with policy guidelines for internal stakeholders and policymakers to establish a sustainable environment for growth within the tourism sector.