Ismail Hossain The country's restive political situation, uncertainty and standoff over election have taken their toll on tourism during the two main religious festivals of the country--- Eid-ul-Azha and Durga Puja. The arrival of foreign tourists and movement of domestic ones have thinned out in recent days specially when two main political parties are confronting each other over election time government, according to industry insiders. The number of inbound tourists plunged by 50 per cent in comparison to the same season last year," Director, Training and Research of Tour Operator Association of Bangladesh (TOAB) Masud Hossain told The Financial Express Saturday. He said most of the foreign clients have cancelled their scheduled tours to Bangladesh due to political unrest. They are visiting Thailand, Nepal, India, Malaysia and Singapore instead. The occupancy rate at posh and other hotels, motels, rest houses, guest houses as well as bookings for various entertainment spots and utilisation of their capacities have dropped to their lowest-ever level, in the aftermath of the lingering uneasy political situation since February, the sources said. "Our occupancy rates have been on a marked decline since February," said Sales Manager of Hotel Cox Today Humayun Kabir. Most of the hotels and resorts are almost empty now, he said. In Cox's Bazar, around 200 hotels, motels and guest houses, with a combined capacity to accommodate 40,000 tourists, usually remain booked 30 days ahead of the Eid holiday. "Even after cutting rates significantly and hoteliers trying to lure visitors with all-inclusive packages, guestrooms still remain vacant," said Mr Kabir. "We have not been receiving new bookings recently. We cannot give security to our tourists. How can foreign tourists feel secure in this situation?" said Mr Masud, who is also executive director of Bengal Tour Limited. During the almost month-long violence earlier this year, Bengal Tour Limited had three batches of foreign tourists in Dhaka but they could not move anywhere outside before leaving the capital. During the period of violence, some 20,000 tourists including a considerable number of foreign guests remained stranded in Cox's Bazar, particularly in February last when businesses in the country's 'tourism capital' were badly affected. "All of our bookings of foreign tourists have been cancelled since early February and we have not received a single booking since then," said Chairman of Tour Developers Association of Bangladesh (TDAB) Zamiul Ahmed Zamil. Mr Zamil, also owner of Kushiara Tourism Ltd that operates mostly in-bound tourism, said in any restive situation, it is the tourism sector that suffers the most. The association he leads has about 100 members and fetches a considerable amount foreign currency for the country by providing services to the in-bound tourists. Though inbound tourism was affected a great deal for political unrest, a significant number of well-to-do holidaymakers travelled abroad, particularly neighbouring ones, as evidenced by the fact that most air tickets were sold out ahead of the two festivals. Many outbound tour operators said they had to arrange special arrangements to tackle the pressure of outbound tourists. The people had the opportunity of a long vacation this year on account of the coinciding holidays for Durga Puja, biggest religious festival of the Hindu community and Eid ul Azha, the second biggest religious festival of the Muslims. "We had to arrange special flights to Thailand as we received many tourists during this Eid," said a Homeland Tourism official to the FE. In 2011, the country's travel and tourism sector raked in Tk182.5 billion, making up 2.2 per cent of Bangladesh's gross domestic product (GDP), according to a study by World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC).
Standoff over election takes toll on tourism
FE Team | Published: October 20, 2013 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00
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