The northeastern part of Bangladesh had one thing to be intensely proud of, if not anything else - having the country's most sought-after island, Saint Martin.
Bangladesh is home to many world-class tourist destinations. Saint Martin emerged as a one-of-a-kind destination until it was no longer considered part of the extended Teknaf beach, considered one of the longest sandy beaches in the world.
However, things have gone south recently with this island, resulting in discomfort, hopelessness, and distaste among the country's travellers.
'Travellers of Bangladesh,' a large Facebook community, hosts many travel updates countrywide. A recent post expressed grave dissatisfaction to a traveller generated from the costs of travelling to Saint Martin island. The post starts with the expression - "If you have not visited Saint Martin's Island, you are safe," and later on expresses unaffordable touring offers at Saint Martin's Island and how those offers are not worth the time and luxury.
Touring around Saint Martin within a short time and travelling to Chhera Dwip or Chhera Island is toilsome and expensive - expressed a Facebook user who recently visited Darjeeling, speaking highly of the place's affordable and stunning tour packages that offer a refreshing experience. The dissatisfaction has grown over time, every year, at an increasing rate. Is a quiet, peaceful holiday lasting for a minimum of three nights too much to ask for inside your country?
According to the posts on social media giving off negative reviews about Saint Martin Island's costly processes, the dissatisfaction surrounds some specific factors: costs increase according to the number of members travelling together, prices come 2 to 3 times more when travellers reach the destination, an insufficient amount of quality cottages, resorts or hotels and those good-service offering places ask for charges that are bound to curse your pockets, they mostly ask for charges starting from a minimum of Tk 7000 for one night.
Among other factors surrounding the dissatisfaction is that local or personal travelling may be unsafe as the regulation in the area is inappropriate for maintaining tourism quality for travellers.
Bangladeshi middle class dreams high and aims high no matter their economic condition, but if quality food is off the table, the experience of travelling somewhere as popular as Saint Martin will surely go sour. According to the whirring dissatisfaction posts, the island's seafood could not get any worse.
Compared to the negativity spreading out about our own tourist spot, chatter about affording a tour to Kolkata - West Bengal's capital, has turned into a real deal to some level.
Tour agencies offering tours to Kolkata offer a 4-night - 3-day duration coupled with a tour guide, food, and resting facilities cost about Tk 8500-10000, only 1500 taka more than spending a bulky amount for quality-compromised, dull tours to the country's most famous island. The budget-friendly packages to Saint Martin cost about Tk 7000. Still, the refreshing joy of visiting a foreign yet closely related place like Kolkata, which has so much to give out culturally, remains a tough competitor and winner in the scenario.
The hype about Kolkata is roiling in the tourism sector of Bangladesh; the neighbouring country's famous destination is now more reachable than ever as monetary conversions, planning, and administration of touring in India - all are managed by the travelling agencies offering tours, at an affordable cost.
Affording around Tk 8500 to 10000 to visit one of India's most influential yet identically relevant cities for extended periods of stay, like three nights, sounds like a catch. The tour packages offer Tk 8500 of cost for ten of the most prominent places in Kolkata.
So, why is our native tourism industry going out of reach unreasonably? The answer is corruption in the tourism industry, syndicates of dishonest business owners and indifference of the authority. If these remain unchecked, the stream of tourists out of the country will only swell.
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