Bangladesh museum introduces online ticketing as it reopens on Nov 1

Bangladesh National Museum is set to reopen to visitors on a ‘limited scale’ on Nov 1, after remaining shut for more than seven months amid the pandemic.

The visitors will have to buy entry tickets online (nationalmuseumticket.gov.bd). Visitors must show the downloaded or printed copies or ticket numbers at the museum entrance for access. Museum will not sell paper tickets from counters. Prices will remain unchanged.

“A limited number of visitors will be allowed to visit the museum and they must maintain the health protocol,” said Khondoker Mostafizur Rahman, director-general of the museum.

The museum will allow 500 visitors in the first week: 200 people in the morning and 300 in the evening. The number of visitors will be increased gradually.

Visitors must wear masks and sanitise their hands before entering the museum. They have to follow other health protocols, including safe distancing. Authorities have formed monitoring committees for each floor to make sure the visitors follow health protocols, Rahman said.

The sale of tickets will be closed when all 200 tickets are sold for the morning shift. The system will be the same for the 300 tickets in the evening shift.

“We introduced an online ticketing system as the number of visitors is limited,” he said.

Disinfection tunnels have been set up and safe distance will be marked every three feet. The committees led by senior officials will health protocols on all three floors.

Before the pandemic, the museum counted about 2,500 visitors a day and played host to different events in the hall rooms. “We can’t provide those opportunities anymore. Once the situation improves, the board of trustees will decide on the next course of action on how to increase the number of visitors and if we can go back to the old ticketing process,” Rahman said.

Bangladesh National Museum was shut on March 18. During the shutdown, the authorities used to keep the museum open two days a week for cleaning the galleries, so that relics do not get spoiled, said Rahman.

An entry ticket for the museum costs Tk 20 for Bangladeshi nationals who are adults, while a ticket for minors cost Tk 10. Citizens from the SAARC countries will have to pay Tk 300 for a ticket and other foreign nationals have to pay Tk 500 as entry fee.